In this Issue

	Senate Passes PA/SAT Bill
	736 Communities Designated; Applications Available
	Preserve America Stewards Honored
	Preserve America Grants Announced
	Register Now for Section 106 Courses

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Preserve America News |January  2009

Senate Passes PA/SAT Bill

The U.S. Senate passed S. 22, the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act, which contained the Preserve America/Save America's Treasures legislation that has been in the legislative process for months. The bill passed by a margin of 73-21 on Jan. 15. The bill is now awaiting action in the U.S. House of Representatives. It contains provisions to permanently authorize both Preserve America and Save America’s Treasures.

Both programs promote the enhancement of heritage tourism and public-private partnerships in historic and cultural preservation. Preserve America also fosters reuse and interpretation of cultural resources that form the social, educational and economic fabric of communities. The Save America’s Treasures grant program funds “bricks and mortar” improvements to historic structures and assets.

736 Communities Designated; Applications Available

Just before leaving the White House, former First Lady Mrs. Laura Bush designated 23 more Preserve America Communities, bringing the total number of designated communities to 736. These include Preserve America Communities across all 50 United States and its territories. The program continues, and the next quarterly deadline for designation is March 1. Click here for more information.

This most recent designation round included the following: Valley, Ala.; Tombstone, Ariz.; Batesville, Ariz.; Fayetteville, Ark.; Hot Springs, Ark.; North Little Rock, Ark.; Randolph County, Ark.; Tyronza, Ark.; Livermore, Calif.; Bloomington, Ind.; Greensburg, Ind.; Logansport, Ind.; Wabash, Ind.; Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.; Miles City, Mont.; Halfmoon, N.Y.; North Castle, N.Y.; Waterford, N.Y.; Lancaster, Penn.; Blythewood, S.C.; Austin, Texas; Belton, Texas; and Bryan, Texas.

Monroe County Courthouse, Bloomington, Ind.

Preserve America Stewards Honored

Eleven Preserve America Stewards were officially designated and recognized for their exemplary volunteer efforts. In mid-January, former First Lady Mrs. Laura Bush, former Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett, and ACHP Chairman John L. Nau, III made the announcement of this first round of designations.

The Preserve America Stewards program recognizes programs at the state, tribal, local or regional level that have demonstrated a successful use of volunteer time and commitment in order to help care for our shared cultural heritage. The program is administered by the ACHP in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management.

The following were named Preserve America Stewards: Alutiiq Museum (Kodiak, Alaska); Chimney Rock Interpretive Association (near Pagosa Springs, Colo.); Cornerstones Community Partnerships (in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and California); Glasco Community Foundation (Glasco, Kan.); InfoAge Science-History Center (Wall Township, N.J.); Monterey State Historic Park (Monterey, Calif.); New Mexico SiteWatch (statewide); Oberlin Heritage Center (Oberlin, Ohio); San Juan Mountains Association (Southwestern Colorado); U.S. Forest Service Passport in Time program (nationwide); United States Lighthouse Society (near Annapolis, Md.).

Read about the honored projects and Stewards details here. Don't delay; download an application here to nominate a worthy stewards group in your community for national recognition!

Stewards at the Alutiiq Museum, Kodiak, Alaska

Preserve America Grants Announced

The first round of Preserve America Grants for FY 2009 was announced in mid-January and includes 31 projects in 17 states and one tribe totaling nearly $3 million.  The Preserve America Grant program is administered by the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service (NPS) in partnership with the ACHP. The competitive matching grants fund Preserve America Communities, State Historic Preservation Offices and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices to support their preservation efforts through heritage tourism, education and historic preservation planning.

Over the course of seven competitive rounds since 2006, just over $20 million in Preserve America Grants has been awarded to 259 projects in 49 states. In FY 2006 and 2007, just under $5 million was available. In FY 2008, a total of $7.2 million was available. In all, the NPS has received 619 applications requesting more than $58 million. Each project requires a 50/50 match leveraging more than $40 million for heritage tourism and related work at the local level.

Read more about the grants here.

Vizcaya's Maze Garden. The city of Miami, Fla., received a $50,000 Preserve America Grant to produce a multilingual audio tour of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. (photo courtesy Vizcaya Museum and Gardens)

Register Now for Section 106 Courses

Preserve America Practitioners: Sign up now for training in Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Courses are taught by skilled historic preservation specialists from the ACHP, the only federal agency responsible for administering the National Historic Preservation Act’s Section 106 review process. This is useful for community leaders and members of the public who are dealing with projects in your community that involve any sort of federal involvement.

Click here to find out about the courses, offered nationwide throughout 2009.