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Preservation Advocacy Week, hosted by the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) and Preservation Action (PA), brought hundreds of advocates to Washington, DC, last week.

With over 200 meetings with congressional offices, participants emphasized federal legislative priorities for the preservation movement, including funding for the Historic Preservation Fund and support for the Historic Tax Credit.

The week featured advocacy trainings and panel discussions, including National Trust Government Relations team members Lauren Cohen and Shaw Sprague outlining successful advocacy tips and current preservation policy goals. National Trust President and CEO Carol Quillen and Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM) each spoke about the value of preservation to communities across the country.

The week concluded with a wonderful reception on Capitol Hill to celebrate the meaningful relationships that were built through this advocacy effort.

In March 2025, the National Trust for Historic Preservation released our annual report recommending funding levels for vital federal preservation programs. Historic preservation is not just about protecting our past—it is essential to preserving the very places, stories, and traditions that define us as a nation. Programs housed under the National Park Service like the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), Cultural Programs, and more, are vital resources in this effort, safeguarding America’s irreplaceable treasures and driving economic growth, community identity, and sustainability through the reuse of historic buildings.

Looking into FY 2026 the report urges Congress to make critical investments in historic preservation including investing $225 million in the HPF.

By advocating for robust funding for preservation, we ensure that we can continue to protect the places that tell the stories of our nation’s past, present, and future. Together, we can work toward safeguarding America’s heritage by protecting and enhancing these programs.

As the budget cycle moves forward the National Trust remains committed to advocating for funding these essential programs and will update the report as more details emerge.

Reach out to your members of Congress now to urge them to robustly fund and reauthorize the HPF!

A Message from Carol Quillen, President & CEO, National Trust for Historic Preservation

In the past several days, President Trump’s Administration has issued a number of directives whose broad language reaches across many areas of preservation work. National Trust staff are working to understand the implications of these directives. This will take time, and we expect further clarification from the administration. As we learn more, we will share information with you.

In the meantime, our work continues, with you as our trusted partners, supporters, and friends. Together, we activate the power of historic places to serve the public good, improve people’s lives, and enable a shared future in which all people can thrive. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to that work.

President Trump Immediately Issues Executive Orders Impacting Historic Preservation

By the National Trust Government Relations Team
Current as of February 4, 2025

On day one of his return to the Oval Office, President Trump signed a series of executive orders that have significant implications for historic preservation and environmental policy.

The executive orders address a broad scope of activities, but several in particular directly affect historic preservation efforts.

These include Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture, that seeks to advance a policy that federal public buildings should be identifiable as civic buildings and respect regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage, and Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday, the purpose of which is to celebrate America’s Semiquincentennial and to honor the history of the nation. In addition to creating a White House Task Force (Task Force 250) headed by the Department of Defense, the executive order reinstates past efforts to establish a National Garden of American Heroes. The order also seeks to protect America’s monuments from vandalism and cites recent pro-Hamas-related vandalism to specific sites in Washington, D.C.

President Trump also issued an executive order declaring a National Energy Emergency, which seeks to increase domestic energy production by expediting review and approval of energy generation projects.

This executive order threatens to disrupt efforts to balance energy development with the protection of historic and natural landscapes, potentially endangering culturally significant sites and the broader environment.

This declaration halts offshore wind leasing and freezes federal agency approvals for new or renewed wind energy projects. It also includes language placing a temporary moratorium on the wind project in Lava Ridge, Idaho due to potential impacts on the landscape for which the Idaho congressional delegation and preservation advocates have expressed concerns. The proposed project was near the Minidoka National Historic Site, which prompted it to be on the National Trust’s America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list in 2022.

In week two of President Trump’s second term, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo to Federal Agencies ordering a temporary pause of agency grant, loan, and financial assistance programs pending a review to determine if federal financial assistance programs align with the Trump Administration’s priorities.

While the OMB memo was quickly rescinded, the Historic Preservation Fund and the federal historic tax credit were specifically referenced as requiring review.

As of January 31, a second federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump Administration’s freeze on federal aid funding, siding with 22 states that argued against the directive.

The executive orders and the freeze on federal spending continue to create uncertainty around the future implementation of historic preservation programs.

As the Trump Administration’s policy agenda comes into more specific focus, we will continue to support preservation priorities and work to ensure that historic and environmental protections are not weakened.

Stay connected with us with our frequent online posts as we continue to track these developments and sign up for our monthly advocacy newsletter, which will provide you with the updates from the Hill on historic preservation and include opportunities to take action whenever historic places are threatened.

Congress concluded its legislative activities before the December 20th government funding deadline in dramatic fashion as efforts to extend funding came down to the wire.

Washington received a preview of the funding challenges to come when President-elect Trump objected to the proposed funding package negotiated by the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate.

House and Senate leaders then quickly negotiated a smaller funding package to avert a government shutdown and fund the government through March 14, 2025. The funding package extends government funding at fiscal year 2025 levels, provides important aid to the nation’s farmers, and extends Farm Bill authorizations for another year.

Amid the challenging political debate around government funding, there is positive news for historic preservation.

As part of the disaster assistance package, there was bipartisan agreement about providing $50 million in supplemental disaster assistance funding through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF).

In early December, the National Trust and preservation partners led a letter to House and Senate leadership (PDF) urging funding to support historic resources damaged by natural disasters.

This supplemental HPF funding recognizes the important role historic preservation plays in strengthening community resilience and maintaining cultural heritage.

In the coming weeks, Washington will transition to a new Administration and Congress. Historic preservation advocates will have a renewed opportunity to demonstrate how historic preservation addresses critical national priorities like the ability to promote economic development, enhance national identity, advance sustainable development, and foster cultural engagement.

Ahead of the nation’s 250th Anniversary, advocates will be called to support the National Historic Preservation Act and demonstrate how historic preservation is solutions-oriented, creates jobs, and leads to community revitalization.

Educating policymakers about the ways the preservation movement recognizes and honors our diverse cultural heritage is a critical policy objective as the nation reflects on our past and charts our future.

Advocates are encouraged to share their preservation success stories which would not be possible without robust preservation policies in place. How has your community benefitted from the more than $180 million in grant funding appropriated from the Historic Preservation Fund? How are historic tax credits helping spur revitalization efforts in your community? How have legislative efforts to preserve your community’s history enhanced our learning and understanding?

The National Trust’s Government Relations team looks forward to providing the preservation community with detailed policy updates each month through our newsletter, and we will continue our collaboration with Preservation Forum to address critical issues through our webinar series and written commentary.

As we begin the new year, our focus remains on fostering collaboration and ensuring that historic preservation priorities are front and center amidst the evolving political landscape. The coming months will be pivotal, and we look forward to working with our allies to maximize these opportunities and protect our shared history

Your advocacy for historic preservation priorities can be very effective over the winter holidays, and here are three ways to engage with your federal decisionmakers over the next few weeks:

1. Most members of Congress send out a regular newsletter to their constituents. Sign up for newsletters from your U.S. Representative and your U.S. Senators to learn more about what their priorities are, what legislation they’ve sponsored, and if they will be hosting any upcoming town hall discussions. Don’t know who represents you?
   1. Enter your zip code on https://www.house.gov to find your U.S. Representative.
   2. Select your state on https://www.senate.gov/states/statesmap.htm to find your U.S. Senators.
2. Take action from home by visiting our Action Center. You can send personalized messages to your Congressional delegation about current preservation priorities including the Historic Preservation Fund, the Historic Tax Credit, National Historic Trail Designation for Route 66, and more!
3. Invite your elected officials to visit a local historic site that’s important to you and your community.