Category: News

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4 Actions to Protect Historic Preservation You Can Take Right Now

Federal historic preservation programs are in crisis. From funding delays, cuts, and staff reductions at NPS to the Historic Preservation Fund being nearly eliminated in the President’s budget request, we need your help!

Here are four things you can do right now that can make a difference.

  1. Invite Congressional staff to attend the Historic Preservation Month Congressional Briefing on May 13th at 12pm in 2168 Rayburn House Office Building. The briefing, hosted by Preservation Action, in cooperation with the House Historic Preservation Caucus, will feature a panel of national preservation experts and is a great opportunity to educate staff on the federal historic preservation program.
  • Help us spread the word! Please share the Preservation Month Briefing Flyer with your Congressional offices. Offices can RSVP for briefing at http://bit.ly/MayBriefing2025. 
  • We’ve put together a sample invite to make it easy. If you have personal contact in your Representative or Senator’s office, reach out to them directly. If you need any help finding staff contacts, feel free to reach out to Rob Naylor at Preservation Action (rnaylor@preservationaction.org). 
  • Live nearby? Join us in person. 
Learn More and Take Action

2. Reach out to your members of Congress and ask them to help facilitate the immediate approval of the FY25 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Historic Preservation Fund and subsequent review and approval of applications.

  • These funds are urgently needed to ensure the work of SHPOs and THPOs continues to aid in the preservation of our nation’s heritage
  • Without prompt funding State and Tribes will be forced to eliminate federally-required staff – jeopardizing billions in investment
  • Share the Historic Preservation Under Threat one-pagers with your members of Congress and let them know how these funding delays are impacting your state and community! This is especially important if your members are on the House or Senate Appropriations Committee.
  • If you have personal contact in your Representative or Senator’s office, reach out to them directly. If you need any help finding staff contacts, feel free to reach out to Rob Naylor at Preservation Action (rnaylor@preservationaction.org). 

3. Ask your Representatives to sign onto the FY26 House Historic Preservation Fund Dear Colleague Letter. This bipartisan letter is being circulated by Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Teresa Leger Ferrnandez (D-NM), and requests $225 million for the HPF – the same amount advocated for during Advocacy Week. The deadline for signatures is COB Thursday, May 15th.

  • Offices can sign-on by using the internal Quill link (this is for internal House use only) or by reaching out to Clare Pavell at Clare.Pavell@mail.house.gov in Rep. Turner’s office or Mark Zientek at Mark.Zientek@mail.house.gov in Rep. Leger Fernandez’s office. 
  • Review the FY26 House HPF Dear Colleague Letter and learn more here. Stay tuned for more details coming soon on a Senate letter.
  • Check out our action campaign to easily personalize and send a letter to your Representative today!
Take Action

4. Encourage your Representatives and Senators to co-sponsor the Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act (H.R. 2941, S. 1459) and include provisions in emerging tax legislation. This newly-introduced bill includes provisions we advocated for during Advocacy Week to restore value to the credit, improve access to the credit, make more projects eligible, and boost the credit for smaller and rural projects.

  • We expect the House and Senate to move very quickly on tax legislation. The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to vote on their portion of the budget reconciliation bill by next week. Now is the time to reach out. This is especially important if any of your members serve on the House Ways and Means Committee or the Senate Finance Committee. 
  • More information and additional resources are available here.
  • Check out our action campaign to easily personalize and send a letter to your members of Congress today!
Take Action
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Urge Your Members of Congress to Sign-on to the FY26 Historic Preservation Fund Dear Colleague Letter

In the face of proposed cuts, we need your help to ensure historic preservation priorities receive necessary funding! The appropriations process is getting underway in Congress which will determine funding levels for historic preservation priorities for the next fiscal year. The Trump Administration released their skinny budget earlier this month which proposed nearly eliminating the Historic Preservation Fund entirely. Thankfully bipartisan majorities in Congress have consistently shown strong support for historic preservation, but they need to hear from you.

Champions in the House are currently circulating FY26 Dear Colleague Letters in support of the Historic Preservation Fund. The co-chairs of the Historic Preservation Caucus, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) are leading the House letter. Stay tuned for details on a Senate letter coming soon!

The letter request $225 million in funding for the Historic Preservation Fund, the same level Preservation Action advocated for during Historic Preservation Advocacy Week. The letters note the important work that State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices do across the country, and highlight preservation projects that are made possible through seven existing preservation grant programs.

To maximize the impact of the letter, we need as many members of Congress to sign-on as possible. We’ve made it easy for you to take action, check out our Action Alert below to learn more and easily reach out to your members of Congress TODAY!

House

  • The House letter is being led by Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM).
  • Signatures due: COB Thursday May 15, 2025
  • If you have a personal contact in your Representative’s office, contact that person directly, especially if you recently met with their office during Advocacy Week, and urge them to sign-on to the HPF dear colleague letter. If they do not handle Interior Appropriations please ask that they pass the message along to the Interior Appropriations staffer. Preservation Action has also made it easy for you take action. Check out our action campaign to easily personalize and send a letter to your Representative today!
Take Action!

Details on a Senate letter are expected soon. Stay tuned for more.

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Raising Our Collective Voice- A Special Message From Preservation Action’s President, Russ Carnahan

2025 has ushered in a new and complex political era in Washington, D.C. As the second Trump Administration has taken office, sweeping Executive Orders and slash-and-burn administrative actions are reshaping the environment in which we work and threaten the people, places, and policies that many of us rely on. At the same time, we are witnessing one of the largest freshman classes in recent Congressional history, with 70 new Members of Congress and historically narrow margins in both chambers. 

We want to acknowledge that this dynamic and the rapid pace of change is extremely difficult. It’s hard to witness our friends lose jobs, see contracts and critical funding cut, watch as key laws are circumvented, voices silenced, colleagues deported, history censored or erased, and basic rights stripped away. Dozens of lawsuits are piling up and some actions have been reversed thanks to the collective loud advocacy directed at elected officials. 

Our recent successful National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week brought 200 advocates from 45 states and territories to the Hill for 250 meetings with Congressional offices. No matter the political affiliation, our message was clear: historic preservation matters to all Americans. The programs we champion — the Historic Preservation Fund and the Historic Tax Credit — have long enjoyed bipartisan support, reflecting their broad economic, cultural, and community value. Our call to reauthorize the Historic Preservation Fund, secure $225 million in appropriations for FY2026, and enhance the Historic Tax Credit remains vital.

In our many meetings on the Hill, the main theme that we heard from Congress was “keep us informed.” Members and their staff are often hearing about federal actions at the same time we are, and are eager to hear how our communities, businesses, and institutions have been impacted. Regardless of the party, Members asked for follow-up examples on how the funding freezes, jobs cuts, cancelled contracts, threats to NEPA and Section 106, GSA buildings sold, etc. are affecting our jobs, employees, and lives. This moment demands that we continue to connect the dots for them, and we are actively collaborating with the bipartisan leaders of the House Historic Preservation Caucus to ensure that preservation stays front and center amid competing priorities.

We need everyone — Hill veterans and new advocates — to mobilize like never before. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for our preservation leaders and practitioners alike to demonstrate the power of local stories, economic impact, job creation, and more to the trusted relationships on the Hill that we’ve built across the country. If you’ve ever wondered whether your voice matters in this work, now is the most critical time to step forward.

We urge you to engage with your members of Congress often to build that relationship, to support our work directly, and to let us know how we can amplify your voice. Preservation Action is the grassroots lobby for historic preservation; your agenda is our agenda. Together, we can make a lasting impact.

Russ Carnahan

President

Preservation Action

Support Our Mission

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House Interior Spending Bill Released Including Funding Levels for Preservation Priorities; Nearly 100 Members of Congress Sign-on to Bipartisan HPF Dear Colleague Letter; Advocates Meet With Congress During HTC Lobby Day; and Stories From Around the States

1. House Appropriations Committee Releases Interior Funding Bill and Holds Subcommittee Markup

2. Nearly 100 Members of Congress Sign-on to Bipartisan Historic Preservation Fund Dear Colleague Letter

3. Advocates Meet With Congress During Historic Tax Credit Advocacy Day

4. Stories From Around the States

Legislative Update: June 28, 2024 →

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Nearly 100 Members of Congress Sign-on in Support of $225 Million in HPF Funding. Did Your Members Sign-on? Be Sure to Thank Them!

This year, 93 bipartisan Senators and Representatives — representing 34 different states and territories — signed on to the FY2025 Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) Dear Colleague letters. Scroll down to see the names of each signer, and be sure to thank them if your elected representative is one of them!

The House letter and Senate letter both requested $225 million in funding for the Historic Preservation Fund, the same level Preservation Action advocated for during Historic Preservation Advocacy Week. $225M includes much-needed increases for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices as well as critically important competitive grant programs. Specifically, the requested funding levels for the HPF include:

  • $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

The letters also noted the urgent need to reauthorize the Historic Preservation Fund. The House letter was led by the co-chairs of the Historic Preservation Caucus, Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), while the Senate letter was again led by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA). The letters were submitted to the House and Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee last month and show substantial support for the Historic Preservation Fund.

Thank you to everyone that reached out to their members of Congress 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. Turner and Blumenauer and Sens. Gillibrand and Cassidy for their efforts on these letters and continued leadership on historic preservation!

Did your Representative and Senators sign-on? Be sure to thank them for their vocal support of historic preservation! Below are the list of signers organized by state.

U.S House Members

  • Raúl Grijalva (AZ)
  • Mark DeSaulnier (CA)
  • Julia Brownley (CA)
  • Judy Chu (CA)
  • Jimmy Gomez (CA)
  • Mike Thompson (CA)
  • Nanette Barragán (CA)
  • Katie Porter (CA)
  • Diana DeGette (CO)
  • Joe Neguse (CO)
  • Joe Courtney (CT)
  • Jim Himes (CT)
  • Jahana Hayes (CT)
  • Eleanor H. Norton (DC)
  • Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE)
  • Jared Moskowitz (FL)
  • Darren Soto (FL)
  • “Buddy” Carter (GA)
  • Nikema Williams (GA)
  • Lucy McBath (GA)
  • Bill Foster (IL)
  • Nikki Budzinski (IL)
  • Darin LaHood (IL)
  • Danny Davis (IL)
  • Jan Schakowsky (IL)
  • André Carson (IN)
  • Sharice Davids (KS)
  • Troy Carter (LA)
  • Garret Graves (LA)
  • James McGovern (MA)
  • Ayanna Pressley (MA)
  • William Keating (MA)
  • John Sarbanes (MD)
  • Kweisi Mfume (MD)
  • Jamie Raskin (MD)
  • Hillary Scholten (MI)
  • Daniel Kildee (MI)
  • Elissa Slotkin (MI)
  • Angie Craig (MN)
  • Ilhan Omar (MN)
  • Alma Adams (NC)
  • Kathy Manning (NC)
  • Andy Kim (NJ)
  • Bill Pascrell (NJ)
  • Melanie Stansbury (NM)
  • Teresa Leger Fernández (NM)
  • Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (NMI)
  • Dina Titus (NV)
  • Steven Horsford (NV)
  • Michael Lawler (NY)
  • Paul Tonko (NY)
  • Jerrold Nadler (NY)
  • Michael Turner (OH) | co-lead
  • Mike Carey (OH)
  • Suzanne Bonamici (OR)
  • Earl Blumenauer (OR) | co-lead
  • Summer Lee (PA)
  • Brendan Boyle (PA)
  • Dwight Evans (PA)
  • Madeleine Dean (PA)
  • Chrissy Houlahan (PA)
  • Jennifer González-Colón (PR)
  • Seth Magaziner (RI)
  • Sheila Jackson Lee (TX)
  • Gerald Connolly (VA)
  • Jennifer McClellan (VA)
  • Abigail Spanberger (VA)
  • Don Beyer (VA)
  • Stacey Plaskett (VI)
  • Rick Larsen (WA)
  • Adam Smith (WA)

U.S Senators

  • Mark Kelly (AZ)
  • Laphonza Butler (CA)
  • Alex Padilla (CA)
  • Richard Blumenthal (CT)
  • Jon Ossoff (GA)
  • Bill Cassidy, M.D. (LA) | co-lead
  • Edward J. Markey (MA)
  • Chris Van Hollen (MD)
  • Benjamin L. Cardin (MD)
  • Angus S. King, Jr. (ME)
  • Debbie Stabenow (MI)
  • Tina Smith (MN)
  • Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) | co-lead
  • Sherrod Brown (OH)
  • Ron Wyden (OR)
  • Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA)
  • Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
  • Jack Reed (RI)
  • Tim Kaine (VA)
  • Mark R. Warner (VA)
  • Bernard Sanders (VT)
  • Tammy Duckworth (WI)