In preparation for its approaching 100th anniversary in 2016, the National Park Service (NPS) has published A Call to Action: Preparing for a Second Century of Stewardship and Engagement (PDF, 5.8MB) to help chart a path for our second hundred years. Working through the parks and our partners, the NPS Cultural Resources programs seek to provide leadership to a national historic preservation program, engage all Americans with the places and stories that make up our national identity, and serve as a model for the stewardship of historic resources throughout the world.
As part of A Call to Action, we will be working with our partners in several areas, including the stewardship of cultural resources, technical guidance, science and scholarship, and the national preservation program. Action 25 of the plan calls for NPS to “modernize historic preservation methods and technologies, show how historic structures can be made sustainable, and support efforts to rebuild the economic vitality of rural and urban communities by updating the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for the Treatment of Historic Properties in consultation with historic preservation partners.” NPS hopes to strategically focus its efforts and align its existing resources on actions that advance these goals.
As we look to establish priorities and focus our efforts on areas likely to have the most impact, we invite your suggestions and comments on Action 25 or any other components of the plan pertaining to Cultural Resources. Please take a moment to review the plan and provide your feedback below. Also, please consult this site for additional information and opportunities to be part of A Call to Action as we work through this process with our partners.
Bangor House, Bangor, Maine, circa 1880. Historic photo: Courtesy, Maine State Historic Preservation Office.
I’ve been involved in historic preservation since Mary Carolyn Pitts hired me in Cape May, NJ to record and research that NHL town.
Carolyn was later called “The Landmark Hunter,” so don’t forget her legacy.
NPS at 100 years? Fantastic!
“Action 25 of the plan calls for NPS to modernize historic preservation methods and technologies …” will be of great interest. Keep up the good work and please keep me posted.
Keep an keen eye on federal legislation that may override environmental impact evaluation and legislation. Then keep on with national, regional and local preservation initiatives.
I agree with Mary Sue, the current crop of lawmakers seem to have little interest in preservation; also, look for the legislation that has passed and then is unfunded into oblivion.
I find this quite ironic, considering the proposed Eisenhower Memorial will essentially desecrate the McMillan Plan and Washington.
This would be a great opportunity to finally recognize the professionalization of the Heritage Conservation (Historic Preservation) field. When the Secretary’s professional qualification standards (36 CFR Part 61) were written, historic preservation as a profession was a relatively new and somewhat vague concept. Over the past 30 years, since the first Master’s degree programs were offered, the profession has matured – there are now very clear requirements for the sub-specialties and to continue to ignore the educational and experiential backgrounds necessary to the profession would undermine attempts at modernizing all other areas of the Secretary’s standards.