National Park Service announces $85.15 million in Historic Preservation Fund grants to states and Tribes

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service (NPS) today announced the distribution of $85.15 million in historic preservation grants with $23 million to Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPO) and $62.15 million to states, territories, and partnering nations.

"Through grants to Tribal State and Historic Preservation Offices, the National Park Service is proud to play a role in helping Tribes and communities across the country safeguard their unique history, culture, and traditions," said NPS Director Chuck Sams. "Preserving and sharing our collective heritage honors the people and moments that have shaped who we are today and ensures future generations can learn from these stories."

Since its establishment in 1977, the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) is authorized at $150 million per year through 2023 and has provided more than $2.7 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments, and non-profit organizations. Administered by the NPS, grant programs may be appropriated from the HPF by Congress to support a variety of historic preservation projects to help preserve the nation's cultural resources and history. Revenue from Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leases support the HPF, with the intent to mitigate the loss of a non-renewable resource to benefit the preservation of other irreplaceable resources without using tax dollars.

Preservation in Action

Tribal Preservation Grants

These annual HPF grants fund THPO preservation programs on Tribal lands to ensure preservation of Tribal sites and cultural traditions. This year's grants total $23,000,000 in awards, which is $7 million more than the $16 million distributed in awards last year. Examples of the diversity of work accomplished with this annual funding include:

Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe – The THPO prepared a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Asiniwaakaa'igan/Stone House. Built in the late 1800s, this historic property is believed to have been a site of refuge for children who escaped from the nearby Mt. Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School. Oral history played a major role in gathering stories from family members to document the history of the house.

The Santa Clara Pueblo – The THPO created a Cultural Resource Management Plan (CRMP) to guide decisions and ensure proper management and compliance for all cultural and historic resources within the boundaries of Santa Clara Pueblo Lands. The planning document outlines future actions with goals and objectives to serve as a resource guide to techniques in education and enforcement, outreach, training, consultation, and compliance, as well as assisting the Santa Clara Pueblo to pursue programmatic agreements with Federal agencies to improve the Section 106 process.

State and Local Preservation Grants

These annual HPF grants fund State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) programs and ensure support of local preservation with a required minimum of 10 percent of funding passing through to Certified Local Governments. This year's grants total $62,150,000 which is $5 million more than the $57 million distributed in awards last year. Examples of the diversity of work accomplished with this annual funding include:

Architecture Black Life in Bellevue Field School: Documenting African American Cultural Landscape Along the Chesapeake Bay – Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) participated in a field school aimed at using the cultural landscape of Bellevue, a Black community who made their living on the water in Talbot County. The field school helped to advance historical understanding and cultural conservation of the area and trained students in research methods that support the recovery of lost or erased histories of marginalized people and the places they lived.

Puerto Rico State Historic Preservation Office (PRSHPO) – As part of the efforts to increase the number of properties from Puerto Rico listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and identify historic properties for recovery projects, the PRSHPO has been working to identify, survey, and research a series of historic roads associated with the 19th century over the last four years. The "Plan Carretero de Puerto Rico" successfully nominated three significant roads, including, Carretera Central (Road #1) considered to be an engineering marvel built between 1867-1886, Carretera Núm. 4 (Road #4) built between 1886-1897, and Carretera Núm. 6 (Road #6) built between 1880 -1904. Spanish engineers built more than 12 miles of Carretera Num. 6 between 1880 and 1898, with the remaining 37 miles built by the US Army and American engineers. The road is representative of the exchange between European and American engineering practices. Altogether, the three nominations include 19 buildings, 380 structures, one site, and 113 miles of roads from Puerto Rico into the NRHP. Separately, Carretera Central, Carretera Núm. 4 and Carretera Núm. 6 are the longest roads listed in the NRHP.

Tribal Historic Preservation Office Grants

Tribal preservation grants total $23,000,000 in awards. This annual funding will support 212 THPOs as well as future Tribal Heritage Grants available to all federally recognized tribes. For a full list of awards and recipients please read the release on nps.gov.

State Historic Preservation Office Grants

State and local preservation grants total $62,150,000 in awards. All funding to the states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia requires a 40 percent non-federal match, which leverages state, local, and private dollars for even more funding with the federal HPF investment. States must push 10 percent of funding awarded to their Certified Local Governments. For a full list of awards and recipients please read the release on nps.gov.

For more information about NPS historic preservation programs and grants, please visit nps.gov/stlpg/.

www.nps.gov

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 424 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at http://www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.