Historic Preservation

Historic preservation is a conversation with our past about our future. It provides us with opportunities to ask, "What is important in our history?" and "What parts of our past should we preserve for the future?" Through historic preservation, we look at history in different ways, ask questions of the past, and learn new things about our history and ourselves. Historic preservation is an important way for us to transmit our understanding of the past to future generations.

Our nation's history has many facets, and historic preservation helps tell these stories. Sometimes historic preservation involves celebrating events, people, places, and ideas that we are proud of; other times it involves recognizing moments in our history that can be painful or uncomfortable to remember.

As manager of one-fifth of the land in the United States, the Department of the Interior develops national policy related to historic preservation and is steward of prehistoric and historic districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects. Historic preservation professionals in fields like history, archeology, museum management, architectural history, and historic landscape architecture work on rural and urban lands to manage and protect resources that tell a diverse story of America’s lands and its people.

Find more information on the historic preservation programs of the Department of the Interior:

Department of the Interior Library: Historic Preservation: https://www.doi.gov/library/internet/historic
Interior Museum Program: https://www.doi.gov/museum/
Natural and Cultural Resources Recovery Support Function: https://www.doi.gov/recovery/about-recovery/ncr-rsf-overview
The National Park Service and Historic Preservation: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/historicpreservation/index.htm
NPS Archeology Program: https://www.nps.gov/archeology/
NPS Technical Preservation Services: https://www.nps.gov/tps/standards.htm
Bureau of Land Management Cultural Heritage: https://www.blm.gov/programs/cultural-resources
Fish and Wildlife Services Historic and Cultural Treasures: https://www.fws.gov/program/historic-preservation
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management National Historic Preservation Act: https://www.boem.gov/NHPA/
Bureau of Reclamation: Cultural and Paleontological Resources: https://www.usbr.gov/cultural/
Bureau of Indian Affairs Environmental and Cultural Resources Management: https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/division-environmental-and-cultural-resources-management-decrm
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement: Archaeological/Cultural Resource: https://www.bsee.gov/what-we-do/environmental-focuses/archaeological-cultural-resources-program
Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards: https://www.doi.gov/pam/asset-management/historic-preservation/pqs
Secretary of the Interior’s Historic Preservation Awards: https://www.doi.gov/pam/asset-management/historic-preservation/historic-preservation-awards
Tribal Historic Preservation Program (THPO): Tribal Historic Preservation Program (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

CONTACT:

Caroline D. Henry
Federal Preservation Officer
Department of the Interior
DOIHistoricPreservation@ios.doi.gov

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