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.
There’s Still Time: Take the Survey on Employee Numbers by State
If your organization has not yet taken the survey collecting the number of employees by state, we urge you to do so now! Your participation only takes a few minutes and could be crucial to the fight to protect Section 106. ACRA is aiming to provide is the most current...
Your Congress in Action: September 8, 2026
When the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia over the sweltering summer of 1787, one question loomed as large as any other: should the government be headed by an all-powerful individual, a “national executive?” Pennsylvania delegate James Wilson, a renowned...
An Update from ACRA President Shawn Patch
This post is authored by ACRA President Shawn Patch to members. Thank you for your continued support of ACRA's advocacy to oppose the ACHP's radical overhaul of the regulations that implement Section 106. I wanted to take a moment to provide an update on the latest...
ACRA Letter to Congress on Proposed ACHP Regulations
ACRA has written to Congress expressing its opposition to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's (ACHP) radical overhaul of the regulations that implement Section 106 of the NHPA. Reminding Congress that Section 106 has helped the country strike a balance...
ACRA Meeting with OIRA
ACRA leadership met with the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Monday to express its profound concerns about the ACHP's radical overhaul of the regulations that implement Section 106 and call on the ACHP to rescind and rewrite it. OIRA is...
Department of Interior Secretarial Order on Section 106
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has issued a Secretarial Order intended to accelerate the Section 106 process. The Order, "Timely Completion of National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 Reviews" (Order No. 3452), was issued August 20. Its stated purpose is to...