ACRA and its allies achieved an important milestone this month when members of Congress introduced the Historic Preservation Enhancement Act (H.R. 6589). This bill would double funding for the Historic Preservation Fund and make it a permanent program for the first time in its history.
Getting the bill introduced was a major step – but now we have to build support for it so that congressional leaders move it forward.
Please take a moment to send a message to your U.S. House representative to ask them to support the Historic Preservation Enhancement Act. You can use the sample email message below or write your own. If you have examples of projects in your community that have benefitted from preservation activities, be sure to mention them.
(Don’t know your House representative? Click here to enter your Zip code or address, and then click on your representative’s page. There, you will find a “Contact” button that will let you send a message.)
Every message Congress receives makes a difference. Please contact your representative today!
For more information or if you have questions about the bill, please email andrew@acra-crm.org.
SAMPLE MESSAGE
Dear Representative:
As a constituent and a cultural resources management professional, I am writing to urge you to cosponsor H.R. 6589, the Historic Preservation Enhancement Act.
For more than 40 years, the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) has supported the preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings and archaeological sites in our state and across the country. It has made possible the survey of millions of acres, led to more than 95,000 sites being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and supported state and Tribal preservation offices as they work to tell our country’s history.
The Fund has been hugely successful in helping preserve important parts of our heritage, but it still receives the same level of funding it did in the 1970s, when it was created. Meanwhile, demand for preservation activities at the state and Tribal levels has steadily increased. Without additional support, our ability to protect our national cultural heritage will be threatened. Worse, the Fund expires next year, which could leave many preservation offices uncertain about whether they will receive the funding they need to carry out their duties.
H.R. 6589 modernizes the Historic Preservation Fund by making it permanent and increasing the amount deposited into the Fund. This bill not only will provide adequate investment into preservation activities at the state, local and Tribal levels; it helps long-term planning by providing a permanent source of revenue.
Cultural resources management plays a critical role in helping communities safeguard and honor their historic assets, and it promotes economic development through the rehabilitation of older buildings and tourism. But we cannot accomplish these goals with funding levels that have been unchanged since the 1970s.
For these reasons, I urge you to cosponsor H.R. 6589 bill so that all our communities can protect the places that tell our story.
Sincerely,
[Your name]