FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Oct. 19, 2007
CONTACT:  Chelle Somsen, (605) 773-3804, Chelle.Somsen@state.sd.us

State Historical Society-Archives to develop statewide disaster preparedness training through FEMA-funded national initiative

PIERRE, S.D. -- State and local government agencies throughout South Dakota will be better prepared for emergencies thanks to a $2.6 million grant recently awarded to the national Council of State Archivists (CoSA) by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

When state and local governments are faced with natural or manmade disasters, certain records help them respond to and recover from the emergency. The Intergovernmental Preparedness for Essential Records (IPER) project will develop workshops for delivery nationwide designed to teach state and local governments how to identify and protect their most essential records and recover those damaged by disasters.

The funding for the national IPER initiative will enable the South Dakota State Historical Society-Archives to provide critical training and services to state and local government agencies throughout South Dakota.

The benefit to South Dakota will be immense, said Chelle Somsen, South Dakota State Archivist.

“South Dakota is prone to tornadoes, floods, and wildfires and any one of these threaten lives or destroy the history of a community,” Somsen said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues within the region and around the country to ensure that the records of government so essential to our lives are protected.”

The IPER initiative will develop a national curriculum and create Web-based seminars, which will be customized to meet specific needs and concerns at the state and local levels.

A team from South Dakota will add guidance and resources specific to this state and then deliver the training to state and local government agencies statewide. The South Dakota team will be coordinated by the State Archives and the Records Management program and include representatives from the South Dakota Office of Emergency Management, Bureau of Information and Telecommunications, and local governments. The regional offices of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Denver will actively support this effort.

According to Vicki Walch, Executive Director of CoSA, the need for IPER became apparent in 2005 during the organization’s response to Hurricane Katrina.

“Archivists discovered that records were not identified as an asset of government in the National Response Plan,” Walch said. “We knew from experience that whether a disaster is a localized fire or a widespread terrorist attack, the governments that have good records management in place are best prepared to respond to and recover from an emergency.”

The South Dakota State Archives is open Monday through Friday and the first Saturday of the month from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. You can contact the archives by phone at (605) 773-3804 or e-mail archref@state.sd.us.