This week 86 bipartisan House Representatives signed-on to the FY24 House Historic Preservation Fund dear colleague letter. The letter was led by co-chairs of the Historic Preservation Caucus, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and sent to the House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee. The letter requests $225 million in funding for the Historic Preservation Fund, the same level Preservation Action advocated for during Historic Preservation Advocacy Week, including much-needed increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices and critically important competitive grant programs. This letter shows substantial support for the Historic Preservation Fund.

Thank you to everyone that reached out to their Representatives and urged them to sign-on in support of a record funding for the Historic Preservation Fund. Preservation Action would especially like to thank Reps. Blumenauer and Turner for their efforts on these letters and continued leadership on historic preservation! 

Did your Representative sign-on to the FY24 HPF Dear Colleague Letter? Be sure to thank them for their vocal support of historic preservation funding!

Urge Your Senators to Sign-on

There's still time to urge your Senators to sign-on to the FY24 Senate Historic Preservation Fund dear colleague letter! The Senate letter is being led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and also requests $225 million for the Historic Preservation Fund. We've made it easy for you to take action, check out our Action Alert below to learn more and easily personalize and send a letter to your Senators. Time is of the essence, the deadline for signatures is COB Thursday, March 30th. Reach out to your Senators TODAY!

Last week, Preservation Action submitted written testimony to the House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee as they work on drafting the FY24 Interior Appropriations bill. This includes funding for important historic preservation programs like the Historic Preservation Fund and National Heritage Areas.

Preservation Action requests $225 million for the Historic Preservation Fund, including much-needed increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, especially as SHPO/THPOs face increased workloads as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is implemented. Our request also includes increases for the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization grant program, which is helping to foster economic development in rural communities through subgrants for preservation projects. The request also includes increases for programs like the African American Civil Right grants, Underrepresented Communities grants, and the History of Equal Rights grants, that are helping to tell a more diverse and inclusive American story. This marks the same level of funding that we advocated for during our National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week earlier this month. A full breakdown is below.

Preservation Action's FY24 Historic Preservation Fund Request

• $70 million for State Historic Preservation Offices
• $40 million for Save America's Treasures
• $34 million for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices
• $28 million for the African American Civil Rights grant program
• $17 million for Paul Bruhn grants
• $13 million for HBCU preservation grants
• $11 million for the Semiquincentennial grant program
• $7 million for the History of Equal Rights Grant program
• $5 million for Underrepresented Communities Grants

Total: $225 million

Our request also notes the need to permanently reauthorize the Historic Preservation Fund and increase the authorized level from $150 million to at least $300 million. This is especially important this year as the current authorization is set to expire in September.

Preservation Action also requested $33.5 million for the Preservation Partnership Program, which supports National Heritage Areas (NHAs). This request would keep all NHAs at existing funding levels while providing support for the 7 newly authorized NHAs. We also requested $10.5 million for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. The increase in funding will enhance the critical function of the agency in ensuring the nation's historic and cultural resources are protected, while advancing tribal consultations, and finding efficiencies in federal reviews of infrastructure projects. We also included $3 million for the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program, which was established by Congress last year and was included in the President's budget. This program will identify, document, and preserve African American Burial Ground sites whose protection and documentation has too often been neglected or forgotten.

The House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee held member day hearings this week and expected to hear testimony from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland next week. Read Preservation Action's full testimony and stay tuned as the appropriations process continues.

This week, President Biden designated two new National Monuments, the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and the Castner Range National Monument in Texas. Together, both designations will protect nearly 514,000 acres of public land. President Biden made the announcement at the White House Conservation Summit earlier this week.

Located in the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada, the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument is biologically diverse and culturally significant. The area is considered sacred by many tribes. The site contains ancient Joshua tree forests, unique grasslands, petroglyphs and other cultural sites. In 1999 Avi Kwa Ame was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a Traditional Cultural Property.

The Castner Range National Monument is located northeast of El Paso, TX and was the ancestral homeland of the Comanche and Apache people. From 1926 to 1966, Castner Range also served as a testing and training site for the U.S. Army. The site contains an estimated 41 archaeological sites, including three that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

President Biden used his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to designate these National Monuments. The Antiquities Act has been used by both Democrat and Republican Presidents to protect historic landmarks, structures, or other objects of historic or scientific interest.

On behalf of Preservation Action and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, thanks to everyone for helping to make this year’s National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week and our return to in-person a huge success! It was great to welcome everyone back to Washington. D.C. for our first in-person Advocacy Week in three years. We’d especially like to thank our many speakers and sponsors for helping to make it all possible. We were thrilled to have over 180 attendees (including several first-time advocates) representing 41 states and reaching more than 200 congressional offices!

Hill Report Forms/Follow-up

For Advocacy Week attendees, now is the time for the important follow-up from your congressional office visits. Be sure to thank offices and to follow-up with any promised information or materials. Additionally,  please complete a hill report form online for each of your meetings. Knowing who you met with and how those meetings went is essential for our continued advocacy. The deadline for hill report forms is March 31st.

National Park Service: "National Park Service Announces $85.15 Million in Historic Preservation Fund Grants to States and Tribes"

Kentucky: "Kentucky's Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program Expanding From $5 Million to $100 Million"



Nebraska: "Nebraska Senators Consider Historic Preservation, Revitalization Tax Credit Renewal"

Vermont: "Over $370,000 in Barn Preservation Grants Awarded Statewide"

California: "Amid Litigation and a Lost Democratic Seat, Group Urges California Lawmakers to Rethink Costly Capitol Project"