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The House and Senate have both advanced their FY 2026 Interior Appropriations bills, setting the stage for critical decisions about historic preservation funding in the months ahead. This funding bill has jurisdiction to set annual funding levels for programs and agencies housed within the Department of the Interior, like the National Park Service, as well as some independent agencies, like the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP).

Thanks to persistent advocacy, key programs are seeing continued support—though there’s still work to do. Check out this recent letter to Congressional appropriators, signed by over a dozen national organizations, urging robust funding for the HPF in FY 2026.

The House bill includes:

• $168.9 million for the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) — matching FY 2025 levels and rejecting the administration’s proposal to eliminate funding.
• A one-year extension of HPF authorization.
• Major cuts elsewhere: 33% cut to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and 35% cuts to the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities (NEA and NEH).
• Provisions blocking funding for the Lava Ridge wind project, protecting the Minidoka National Historic Site, which was included on the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list in 2022.
• A $213 million cut to the National Park Service, including a 21% reduction in park construction funding.
• $4.655 million for Japanese American Confinement Site grants, level with FY 2025 enacted funding.

The Senate bill offers:

• $168.246 million for HPF (slightly below FY 2025).
  • Increased funding for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices.
  • Level funding for Save America’s Treasures, African American Civil Rights Grants, HBCU Preservation, and other HPF subprograms.
• $15.6 million in new Congressionally Directed Spending for HPF projects.
• Level funding for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
• $207 million each for the NEA and NEH (much higher than the House bill).
• A robust $3.27 billion for the National Park Service — significantly more than the House or the President’s request.

While we aren’t seeing increases to preservation funding, these bills show that advocacy works. Your outreach—alongside national coalition efforts—helped protect the HPF from elimination and severe cuts and reinforced bipartisan support for preservation.

But we’re not done yet. The full House and Senate still need to pass their bills and reconcile funding level differences. With no floor votes scheduled and the Congress in recess until September, now is the time to speak up.

Let your members of Congress know that historic preservation matters. Urge them to:

• Protect and increase funding for Historic Preservation Fund
• Protect the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
• Support strong investments in preservation programs nationwide.

Send a message now and help ensure that America’s historic places have the resources they need to thrive.

Thanks to advocates like you, long-delayed FY 2025 funding for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices is finally moving forward.

On July 1, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the long-stalled Notice of Funding Opportunity for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (SHPO and THPO) to apply for their FY 2025 annual funding, despite being fully funded by Congress in March 2025.

Your voice made a difference.

But the future of preservation is still at risk. The Administration’s proposed FY 2026 budget would slash the Historic Preservation Fund almost entirely, threatening the places, stories, and communities we work to protect.

Congress is now deciding next year’s funding for federal agencies and programs.

Tell your lawmakers: robustly fund the HPF in FY 2026.

Across the nation, critical funding allocated for historic preservation has yet to be dispersed, and the impacts are already significant.

Many of the State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs) have yet to receive their FY 2025 funding allocations from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). These dollars were already appropriated by Congress, but bureaucratic delays threaten jobs, programs, and the places that tell our shared story.

In Ohio, one-third of the SHPO’s staff have been laid off, including 12 employees who played critical roles in reviewing historic sites and administering historic tax credit programs.

Several other SHPO offices warn of similar cuts if their allocated funding is not received in the next several weeks. These offices depend on HPF funding for up to 60% of their budgets, and without it, they cannot adequately meet their statutory obligations.

As we enter the final quarter of the federal fiscal year, SHPOs are making painful choices—cutting staff, shuttering programs, and delaying preservation work while they await their federal funding.

This puts nationally significant historic resources at risk and undermines programs like the federal Historic Tax Credit and National Register of Historic Places, which help preserve neighborhoods and fuel local economies.

At a recent congressional hearing, Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) raised serious concerns about these delays with Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. Representative Pingree made it clear that SHPOs need these funds immediately to continue performing the vital functions of their offices. Despite Congress appropriating these much-needed funds, there is no clear timeline for their release.

Grassroots voices make a difference! Please contact your federal elected officials and share your story about the importance of the HPF, the critical need for release of FY 2025 funds, and the support for HPF funding in FY 2026.

On June 14, 2025, the National Trust submitted written testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, urging strong federal investment in historic preservation programs for FY 2026.

The President’s Budget Request for FY 2026 would virtually eliminate funding for the HPF, apart from level funding for the competitive grant program supporting preservation projects at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Eliminating or underfunding the HPF would deal a severe blow to preservation nationwide:

• State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs and THPOs) rely heavily on HPF grants to staff their teams, review federal projects, manage historic registers, and administer state and federal historic tax credit reviews.
• Certified Local Governments (CLGs) would lose support for local preservation planning, and many Tribal offices could shut down entirely, threatening cultural sovereignty.
• Without HPF support, key infrastructure projects could slow or stall, and thousands of shovel-ready, bricks-and-mortar projects that create jobs would be at risk.
• The HPF also serves as seed funding, often leveraging additional local, state, and private investment. Without it, many preservation projects—especially those using the Historic Tax Credit—may never happen.
• Preservation efforts would vary drastically by geography, leaving many underrepresented and underserved communities without the support needed to protect their history.

Read the full testimony here (PDF), and be sure to reach out to Congress to urge them to support federal preservation funding in FY 2026.

The Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) is under threat — and so are the historic places and stories it protects.

The President’s proposed FY 2026 budget would eliminate nearly all HPF funding, except for limited support for HBCU preservation grants.

This would dismantle the backbone of our national preservation infrastructure — including funding for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices and critical grant programs — and put preservation efforts across the country at risk.

Worse still, although Congress passed funded for the HPF for FY 2025, those dollars still haven’t been released, delaying vital work and endangering countless jobs.

We can’t afford to lose momentum — especially as we approach America’s 250th anniversary in 2026. Now is the time to invest in our shared heritage, not abandon it.

Tell Congress: release the FY25 HPF funds now and fully fund the HPF in FY26.

Your voice matters. Urge your Congressional leaders to protect historic places to tell the full American story.