Home News ACHP Chairman Calls for Better Partnerships to Promote Historic Preservation

March 20, 2002, Washington, DC—In his remarks today at the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers' annual meeting in Washington, DC, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) chairman John L. Nau, III, called for better partnerships with States and others to aggressively promote economic incentives for historic preservation.

ACHP Chairman John Nau is welcomed by Ted Sanderson, president of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, at its annual meeting March 20, 2002, in Washington, DC. In his remarks to the members, Nau stressed the role of partnerships in promoting historic preservation.

"Unity is the heartbeat that pumps life into any economic project," said Nau. "I am excited about ACHP's future and our potential to partner with others, including States and other Federal agencies, to help us in our objectives."

An independent Federal agency, ACHP serves as primary policy advisor to the President and Congress on historic preservation matters, leads the Nation's historic preservation program, and oversees a review process to ensure Federal activities do not inadvertently damage historic properties.

Recently reorganized, ACHP will devote more resources to promoting the economic and cultural benefits of historic preservation. It will continue its traditional role of administering Section 106, the process that requires Federal agencies to take into account the effects of their undertakings on historic properties.

Nau agreed that the Section 106 process is an integral part of preservation and that all State Historic Preservation Officers play an important role in the process. He stressed, however, that ACHP is more than Section 106. "The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation not only has the mandate to preserve, but to lead," he noted. "We must create partnerships with State Historic Preservation Officers, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Federal agencies, as well as foundations and the private sector, so that preservation is no longer seen as a ‘roadblock' to economic growth, but an asset."

Nau sees heritage tourism—visiting our Nation's vast array of historic resources—as an economic engine that can ensure that historic assets are preserved. "No one has to build a 100-year-old home; it's already there," he said. "We need to develop strategies that will preserve these assets, through partnerships with the private sector."

The Bush administration is committed to preservation "for a purpose, and it is our job to create the imperative for that purpose," concluded the chairman. "The values that continue to be the foundation of our country are found in historic sites."

President Bush appointed Nau, of Houston, Texas, as chairman of ACHP. Its membership includes four historic preservation experts, four citizen members, a Native Hawaiian, a governor, a mayor, and four Federal agency heads, all appointed by the President. The Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, the Architect of the Capitol, the president of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, and the chairman of the National Trust for Historic Preservation round out the membership. John M. Fowler serves as Executive Director. ACHP is headquartered in Washington, DC, with an office in Denver, Colorado.

Updated May 8, 2002

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