Three evaluations of National Heritage Areas have been submitted to Congress by the National Park Service. The evaluations assessed the impacts, outcomes, and organizational sustainability of the coordinating entities for Augusta Canal, Essex, and Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Areas which were designated by Congress in 1996. Augusta Canal National Heritage Area: The Power of Water Augusta ...

Call to Action Item #17, Go Digital, along with several other Call to Action Items, focuses on updating, transforming and integrating digital experiences within the NPS to enhance public understanding as well as internal NPS resource management. In February 2010 the NPS approved cultural resource spatial data transfer standards to help document the lineage of ...

The National Park Service developed vision, goals and a strategy for more efficient and innovative opportunities to collaboratively commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War and anniversaries of the civil rights movement. We promote these anniversaries in ways to create awareness about our American history as part of a continuum and interpret stories from multiple ...

The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program encourages private sector investment in the rehabilitation and reuse of historic buildings. It is one of the nation’s most successful and cost-effective community revitalization programs, and the largest such program specifically supporting historic preservation. Administered by the National Park Service’s Technical Preservation Services (TPS) office and the Internal ...

In 2013, NCPTT reached over 150 K-12 students through several youth programs offered at the Center, in support of Action 3: History Lessons and Action 16: Live and Learn.  These programs were designed to promote STEM education and encourage young people to consider careers in the National Park Service’s conservation and preservation program. Classroom Programs Cemetery Headstones ...

The National Park Service’s Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science Directorate continues to answer the Director’s Call to Action #17 Go Digital and #24 Invest Wisely by undertaking a system modernization effort with the National Register Information System (NRIS). This collaborative approach involves the thorough documentation of the existing legacy system, and the development of a ...

In the past year, NCPTT has completed a number of projects and activities in support of the Action 25 Research and Technical assistance priority, which calls for NPS to modernize preservation. These include training, events, conferences, new research efforts, and technical consultation.

On April 30, 2013, the fifth graders from Cloutierville Elementary school participated in the “Rollin on the River” photo scavenger hunt. This all day field trip took the students to various sites within Cane River National Heritage Area including Magnolia Plantation, Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ...

On October 2012, the National Park Service Park Cultural Landscapes Program launched its program website (http://www.nps.gov/cultural_landscapes/). This site is designed for broad audiences as well as preservation community members, to answer basic questions about cultural landscapes but also to serve as a gateway for more in-depth discoveries.

Climate change (Call to Action #21, “Revisiting Leopold”) and NPS workforce collaboration and training (Call to Action #31, “Destination Innovation”) were fused in February 2013 with a workshop on cultural resources, climate change, and planning coordinated by the National Park Service’s Denver Service Center, its central planning, design and construction management project office.

TPS published new online guidance for Solar Panels on Historic Properties to showcase successful projects that have added solar energy systems to historic buildings, districts, and landscapes. The guidance will be updated with additional examples over time.

The National Park Service (NPS) Museum Management Program has re-launched its Web Catalog museum collections website. This project is an ongoing initiative that supports the Director’s Call to Action #17, “Go Digital” by providing online access to thousands of images and records from the NPS museum collections.

Founded in 1999, the Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program (CRDIP) offers unique career exploration opportunities in historic preservation and cultural resource management for undergraduate and graduate students of diverse backgrounds.  The WASO Cultural Resources Associateship partners with the Student Conservation Association in administering this program.  This partnership fulfils the Call to action item #2, “Step ...

DEADLINE EXTENSION-April 2, 2013 The deadline for comments on identifying, evaluating, and documenting Traditional Cultural Properties and Native American Landscape has been extended to April 2, 2013. Numerous requests from Tribes, Federal Agencies, State Historic Preservation offices and other parties requested extensions of the National Park Service (NPS). Originally, written comments and recommendations were requested by ...

In 2012, Secretary of the Interior, Kenneth Salazar called for an Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Initiative.  This initiative seeks to ensure that the rich heritage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is documented and told through the National Historic Landmarks (NHL) Program. It reflects the call to “actively engage diverse communities and strengthen partnerships to ...

“As a storyteller of our nation’s past, the National Park Service is committed to connecting people with the places and stories of the diverse peoples who have come together to create the heritage of the United States,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “Our American Latino Heritage comes alive in this itinerary, the ...

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training supports the development of NPS Career Academies as part of the NPS Director’s Call to Action #30, Tools of the Trade. NCPTT is working across disciplines and drawing from its in-house expertise in educational technology, software development, and preservation technology to advance the career academies. NCPTT staff members ...

Throughout the Civil War sesquicentennial, the National Park Service is “Going Digital” (Call to Action #17) to offer unmatched visitor experiences and provide opportunities to touch millions of Americans and help them find meaning. Parks and partners have collaboratively embraced a strategy for commemorating historical events within an environment that is inclusive and contemplative.

The National Park Service’s Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science Directorate has answered the Director’s Call to Action #17 Go Digital and #24 Invest Wisely by moving our old physical servers into “the Cloud.” Through a partnership with the Office of Information Resources’ National Technology Information Center, we migrated all of our Windows application, web, and ...

From “History Lesson” to “Crystal Clear” Call to Action activities are underway in our National Heritage Areas.  Enjoy this sampling of current activities and visit a heritage area near you. Motor Cities NHA launched the “Making Tracks”, a web site featuring the accomplishments of African-Americans in the automotive Industry. Through this website visitors and members of ...

In the summer of 2011, NPS initiated a focused program on cultural resources and climate change by establishing the position of Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator for Cultural Resources. This position serves as a link between the NPS Climate Change Response Program and the Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science Program.

In the pilot year of summer 2012, the NPS Archeology Program partnered with Groundwork Anacostia River DC to carry out the Urban Archeology Corps at Fort Mahan, one of the Fort Circle Parks and part of the Civil War Defenses of Washington. The work experience aimed to broaden urban youths’ knowledge about the communities east ...

In July the National Park Service awarded 20 grants totaling $748,000 to Federally recognized Indian Tribes, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiian Organizations to assist with the preservation, protection, and promotion of their unique cultural heritage.

The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program encourages private sector investment in the rehabilitation and reuse of historic buildings, and is one of the nation’s most successful and cost-effective community revitalization programs, the largest such program specifically supporting historic preservation.  Administered by the National Park Service’s Technical Preservation Services (TPS) office and the Internal Revenue ...

Call to Action Items #1 (“Fill in the Blanks”), #4 (“In My Back Yard”) and #5 (“Parks for People”), focus on documenting important local and urban resources, and making communities more aware of the important history that surrounds them even in our dense and diverse neighborhoods. The National Park Service’s Cultural Resource GIS Facility (CRGIS) helps ...

In February 2010 the NPS approved cultural resource spatial data transfer standards to help document our cultural resource spatial data, used in geographic information system (GIS) applications throughout the NPS and for the public. Spatial data, used to describe the geographic locations of natural or constructed features, is used in creating maps, websites and other ...

As part of the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program, more than $3.8 million in grants were awarded in June to help with land acquisition at six Civil War battlefields. Grant projects include easement purchases at Cross Keys, Virginia ($181,125); Tom’s Brook, Virginia ($25,000); Buckland Mills, Virginia ($3,350,060); and fee simple acquisition at Mill ...

On May 15, Heritage Documentation Programs conducted an overview of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS), and the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection at the Library of Congress, with Federal Preservation Officers (FPOs) from over thirty agencies.

Introduction The National Register of Historic Places (NR) documents the appearance and importance of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in our Nation’s prehistory and history. To guide the selection of properties included in the NR, the National Park Service (NPS) has developed NR Criteria for Evaluation. These criteria are standards by which every property ...

The National Register of Historic Places/National Historic Landmarks Program of the National Park Service invites Tribal Officials and/or their tribe’s authorized representative(s) to attend one or both of two government-to-government telephonic consultation meetings that will be held to obtain initial planning-stage recommendations from Indian tribes.

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 to help chart a path for our second hundred years. As we look to establish priorities and focus our efforts on areas likely to have the most ...