2022 September Preservation ePost

Tribal Advisory Group Nominations

California's Fifth Climate Change Assessment is accepting nominations for individuals with climate and/or Traditional Ecological Knowledge expertise to serve on the Fifth Assessment Tribal Advisory Group. The Advisory Group will be key to ensuring the integration of tribal expertise and Traditional Knowledge into the Fifth Assessment process and outcomes. Group members will meet regularly and will be compensated for their time.

To nominate members, please email a CV/Bio/Resume and letter of recommendation from a tribe to Patricia Kennedy, California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment Tribal Research Manager, at

patricia.kennedy@opr.ca.gov, 916-758-0579.

Nominations Deadline: September 9.

New Wildfire Planning Resources

The Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) recently published new wildfire resources to support local agencies and communities as they plan for wildfire events at the community scale. The new resources include an updated Fire Hazard Planning Technical Advisory (TA) that helps cities and counties, through their general plans, address wildfire risk. The Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Planning Guide complements the TA by providing specific examples and best practice case studies for communities to reference as they plan and implement wildfire solutions.

A free, informational webinar about the new resources is being offered on September 14, at 1:00 p.m. Registration is required.

Photo courtesy of CBS News.

Funding for Preservation

The following grant programs are accepting applications:

History of Equal Rights Grant Program (HER): Grants support efforts to preserve sites related to the struggle to achieve the ideal of equal rights in America. (National Park Service)

Application Deadline: September 13.

National Trust Preservation Funds (NTPF): Grants support preservation efforts at the local level. Dedicated funding is available for California. (National Trust for Historic Preservation)

Application Deadline: October 3.

African American Civil Rights Program (AACR): Grants support the documentation, interpretation, and preservation of sites and stories associated with the struggle for African American civil rights in America. (National Park Service)

Application Deadline: November 8.

Photos courtesy of the NPS.

Designating California!

St. Isidore Catholic Church, Los Alamitos, Orange County, is one of the California properties listed this year on the National Register of Historic Places in association with the Latinos in Twentieth Century California Multiple Property Submission. The church building was originally constructed by parish members in 1926 in the heart of the then small, rural town of Los Alamitos. Parishioners came forward again in 1933 to build the existing church after the original suffered major earthquake damage. The church was constructed in the same Mission Revival style as the original with a simple rectangular plan, terra cotta tile roof, and wood-framed stucco walls featuring an east-facing primary façade marked by a shaped parapet and bell-gable capped by a wooden cross.

St. Isidore held an active place in the early development of Los Alamitos as an agricultural community organized around a large sugar beet processing factory, and in the life of Los Alamitos’ Latino community, specifically the Mexican immigrants who worked on the town’s farms and at the factory. The church was named for the patron saint of farmers, and served a diverse group of American, European, and Mexican Catholics living in and around Los Alamitos. In 1960, the Diocese leadership decided to close St. Isidore when a new, larger Catholic church was built in town. Loyal parishioners successfully advocated for St. Isidore to be reopened. It continued to serve as a Catholic church until it was once again closed in 1999. After years of negotiation, loyal parishioners and other concerned citizens joined together to purchase the property and create the non-profit St. Isidore Historical Plaza, which continues to operate St. Isidore today as a non-denominational chapel within a larger community center complex.

St. Isidore Catholic Church achieved listing on the National Register of Historic Places on February 11, 2022.

Photo courtesy of stisidorehistoricalplaza.org.

State Historical Resources Commission

The SHRC meets quarterly each year. Commission meetings are open to the public and live-streamed through the Cal-Span network. Meeting dates, times, and agendas are posted to the SHRC Meeting Schedule and Notices page of the OHP website.

For upcoming nominations, visit the Pending Nominations page. Nominations already heard by the Commission are listed on the Actions Taken page, and video recordings of SHRC meetings are posted to the Meeting Recordings & Summaries page.

Learn more about the responsibilities and role of the SHRC.

News, Education, & More

Update on Maritime Heritage Grant Ideas Submission

The deadline is now past for submitting project ideas for Maritime Heritage Grants. Thank you to all who submitted ideas as they will help to generally inform our office as we prepare our grant application to submit to the National Park Service (NPS). If we are successful in receiving funding to create a Maritime Heritage sub-grant program or programs, we will then put out a call for formal proposals for projects to be reviewed on a competitive basis. Contingent on the NPS time frame for awarding grants, and our receipt of a grant, a formal request for grant proposals would go out no sooner than early to mid-2023. We will post updates here in our monthly ePost and also on our Incentives and Grants page.

Home, Safe Home Webinar Series Continues in October

The fourth session of Home, Safe Home: Seismic Safety and Retrofitting Historic Homes takes place October 6, 2022. This free webinar series is offered by the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) through a grant from FEMA, and in collaboration with the California Preservation Foundation (CPF) and other preservation partners. Previous sessions can be viewed via the OHP Webinar Archives page and the CPF YouTube channel. Please join us for this informative and beneficial series!

Webinars from the California Preservation Foundation

September 6 (free): Surface Design on Modern Landscapes: California and Beyond

September 20 (free): Book Club: The American Shopping Mall with Alexandra Lange

September 22 to November 10: Historic Preservation Bootcamp for Local Governments: Essential Training in Three Sessions

September 27-29 (free): Historic Sites and Revitalization: A Toolkit for Northern Californians

Free Online Training from the NPI

The National Preservation Institute (NPI) is offering a timely, online, on-demand course, Finding New Sources of Funding in Challenging Times: An Introduction. The course is free with registration required.

HistoriCorps Training Opportunities in California

This fall, HistoriCorps is offering two on-site volunteer opportunities in California to learn hands-on preservation skills while helping to preserve historic resources and sites:

October 9-14: Bunker Hill Fire Lookout Tower, El Dorado National Forest

November 6-11 & 13-18: Silver Bell Ore Bins, Joshua Tree National Park

Visit the HistoriCorps website to learn more about their organization and other training opportunities.

Still Time to Apply for ACHP Fellowship

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Foundation is accepting applications for the 21st Century Leaders Fellowship Program. The program provides "early-career preservation professionals the opportunity to explore how national preservation policies and programs are created and carried out and acquire skills to prepare for a leadership role in historic preservation." The Fellowship comes with a stipend and commences in January 2023.

Deadline to apply: September 15, 2022.

WCAPT Annual General Meeting Accepting Registrations

The Western Chapter of the Association for Preservation Technology (WCAPT) is accepting registrations for their 2022 Annual General Meeting. This year’s meeting takes place Saturday, September 17 at the Los Angeles Arboretum and Santa Anita Racetrack. The meeting includes tours of historic resources and presentations by local preservation professionals.

Historic Roads Conference Takes Place This Month

This year, Historic Roads will hold their Preserving the Historic Road International Conference September 22-24 in Portland, Oregon. Historic Roads is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving historic roadways throughout the United States and beyond. The conference provides an opportunity to learn about and share the latest technology, engineering, research, and advocacy dedicated to identifying and preserving historic roadways.

CGLHS 2022 Annual Conference is in Los Angeles

California Garden & Landscape History Society (CGLHS) announces their 2022 Annual Conference: “Past, Present, and Future of the Los Angeles River,” taking place in-person, October 14-16. The conference will explore, through tours and lectures, the history of the river, its historic bridges, and the communities along the river’s channel. Registration is open now through October 7, with early registration discounts ending September 22.

Registration is Open for 2022 PastForward Conference

The National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) is accepting registrations for their 2022 PastForward Conference. Three themes will be explored this year: Historic Preservation is Climate Action; Encouraging Inclusion and Diversity Through Historic Preservation; and Understanding Preservation's Role in Real Estate Development. The conference takes place online, November 1-4, with early, on-demand sessions offered in October. Registration is required for both conference and on-demand sessions.

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