Priorities and Positions
“Congress finds and declares that…the increased knowledge of our historic resources, the establishment of better means of identifying and administering them, and the encouragement of their preservation will improve the planning and execution of Federal and federally assisted projects, and will assist economic growth and development”
— National Historic Preservation Act of 1966
Advocacy and government relations are central to achieving ACRA’s goals. Through our Government Relations Committee, and with the support of our government relations counsel Agora, ACRA communicates with federal and state lawmakers, staffers, and agencies to ensure that the voice of the CRM industry is heard. To strengthen our industry, we help Members of Congress and government officials understand the scope of our business, the importance of historic preservation, and the impact of the cultural resource management industry on the economy.
ACRA’s Government Relations Committee has identified the following legislative and regulatory conditions that will allow the CRM industry to thrive:
- Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act is consistently applied to all federal undertakings.
- SHPOs and THPOs have sufficient resources to carry out timely Section 106 reviews. Lack of sufficient resources leads to unnecessary delays on projects, which leads to poor outcomes for clients and resources.
- Small businesses are encouraged to thrive and to contract with the federal government.
Check out our Latest News section for updates on bills we are monitoring, our latest agency comment letters, and ways that you can help advocate for the CRM Industry.
Learn more about the issues ACRA works on below.
ACRA Hot Topic 11/12 & Section 106 Action Center Updates
Join us on Thursday, November 12 for the next session of our Hot Topics series, which give CRM practitioners the opportunity to participate in discussions and problem-solving for pressing issues facing the industry. The topic of this session will be the election...
ACRA Leadership in Recent Media
Members of ACRA's leadership team have been featured in multiple media sources recently! First, ACRA's Chief Lobbyist Andrew Goldberg sat with hosts Nic Frederick and Laura Thorne on the EPR podcast to examine something foundational: how do we build the infrastructure...
ACRA & Preservation Partners Letter to Senate on Permitting Reform
ACRA and its national preservation partners have urged the Senate to reject the historic preservation provisions in the Senate permitting bill in a letter they sent to the Hill earlier today. The letter points out that, while the preservation community shares the goal...
Your Congress in Action: October 19, 2026
Members of Congress are out on the campaign trail, leaving Washington mostly quiet. But that does not mean that work on major issues has halted. With the Senate still poised to take up the permitting reform bill the week after the election, the bill’s threats to...
ACTION ALERT: Tell Your Senator to Oppose the Permitting Reform
Senators have released a “permitting reform bill” that would effectively end Section 106 as we know it – and they plan to vote on it in as little as five weeks. We need you to tell your congressional representatives that this bill will not only threaten historic...
A Message to Members from ACRA President Shawn Patch
Over the last year, I have been inspired by how the CRM industry has responded to unprecedented attacks on Section 106. When the ACHP issued its radical rewrite of the 800 regulations last summer, ACRA and its members mobilized, working with all our preservation...