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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.

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.

The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Budget Request (PDF) would eliminate nearly all funding for the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), except for a limited allocation for preservation grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

If enacted, this proposal would dismantle the nation's core preservation infrastructure, which provides funding for State Historic Preservation Offices, Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, and several hugely impactful competitive grant programs, placing historic places across the country and the communities they serve at serious risk. To learn more about this federal investment in historic preservation and the grant programs funded through the HPF, visit our Historic Preservation Fund page.

To illustrate the HPF's reach and effectiveness, the National Trust’s Government Relations team developed a new resource titled, “51 Projects for Preservation: The Historic Preservation Fund Across the United States.”

The piece highlights one preservation project from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These examples reflect the wide-ranging benefits of HPF investments, including historic site rehabilitation, community revitalization, economic development, and the preservation of underrepresented histories.

The HPF remains a critical part of the nation’s preservation program, empowering communities to protect and activate historic places that matter.

As the President’s FY26 budget proposes to eliminate nearly all HPF funding, with the exception of support for HBCU preservation projects, this advocacy resource offers timely and compelling evidence of what is at stake.

We encourage advocates to share the projects featured in this piece, along with our annual report, “The Preservation Budget: Select Preservation Priorities for FY26 Appropriations,” with members of Congress and help us amplify the importance of continued federal investment for historic preservation.

These stories are a powerful reminder of how preservation helps tell a more complete American story, promotes economic activity, and provides lasting benefits for future generations.

Contact your elected officials now to urge them to support investment in our nation’s heritage ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

This month, members of the Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus introduced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF), which officially expired at the end of September 2023, but was granted a year-long extension to September 2024.

The legislation, the Historic Preservation Fund Reauthorization Act (H.R. 3418), led by Representatives Mike Turner (OH-10) and Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), with support from Representatives Mike Carey (OH-15) and Sara Elfreth (NJ-03), would extend the program for an additional 10 years.

The HPF remains the cornerstone of federal investment in the preservation of historic sites and cultural resources nationwide. Read more about the legislation here.

In connection with the legislation’s introduction, the Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus also hosted its annual Preservation Month Congressional Briefing on May 13.

Organized by Preservation Action in partnership with national preservation organizations, the briefing provided an opportunity for congressional staff to learn more about federal preservation programs and legislative priorities.

The National Trust’s Government Relations team participated on the panel alongside representatives from the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO), National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO), National Trust Community Investment Corporation (NTCIC), and PlaceEconomics.

These efforts reflect strong bipartisan support for preservation as a national priority.

As the HPF reauthorization legislation advances, the National Trust will continue to advocate for a long-term, fully funded preservation program that supports communities in every corner of the country.

We encourage advocates to contact their members of Congress to express support for this critical bill and to share the local impact of the Historic Preservation Fund.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has joined 16 national organizations in signing a letter led by the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers (NCSHPO) calling on the Department of the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget to immediately release the FY25 funds already appropriated by Congress to the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF).

Read the letter below or download the letter here.

May 23, 2025

Hon. Doug Burgum
Secretary of the Interior
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240

RE: Impact of Federal Funding Delay on State and Tribal Historic Preservation Officers

Dear Secretary Burgum:

The undersigned organizations are writing to share our concerns about delays in fiscal 2025 federal funding support for state and Tribal historic preservation offices (S/THPOs). Delayed distribution of fiscal year 2025 funding has led offices to terminate staff positions and retract preservation project funding. It is impairing the ability of state governments to carry out federally mandated preservation responsibilities and fails to acknowledge the federal government’s trust and fiduciary responsibility to Tribes.

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 established a national historic preservation program that operates as a partnership between federal, state, Tribal and local governments. This well established partnership recognizes the federal government alone cannot and should not be responsible for identifying and evaluating nationally significant historic properties or to manage their restoration and rehabilitation without the close collaboration of state, Tribal, and local governments that are most familiar with a property’s historic significance.

To fund this work, Congress established the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) in 1976 to provide financial support for states, Tribes and local governments to do work mandated by the National Historic Preservation Act. These funds are used to review federal infrastructure and other projects (Section 106), historic tax credit rehabilitations, national register applications, and to maintain inventories of historic properties. In the case of State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs), in recognition of the partnership needed to uphold a national preservation program, states are required to match federal funding by a minimum of 40%, and to pass-through 10% to local governments. For Fiscal Year 2025, $62 million has been appropriated for this purpose. Tribes also receive funds to perform the same functions on tribal lands, though a match is not necessary.

HPF funds are subsequently administered and awarded via formula grants to states and Tribes through the National Park Service (NPS). As a grant program, the NPS requires states and Tribes to apply for these funds on an annual basis. To date, however, the anticipated Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), requiring that states and Tribes apply for federally-matched funding, has not been released.

As a result, more than seven months into the 2025 federal fiscal year, and more than 10 months into many states’ and Tribes fiscal years, SHPOs and THPOs have yet to be granted access to the federally approved funding they rely on to fulfill federally assigned duties. The consequences of this delay are dire – one state has already terminated staff positions and several more are soon to follow. The loss of highly specialized staff is likely to severely hamper or cease SHPO’s ability to fulfill their federally required duties, resulting in irreversible impacts to historic landmarks and cultural and archeological sites. Specifically, this means that Section 106 reviews (approximately 177,000/year), Historic Tax Credit reviews (about 1,000/year), National Register nominations, federal agency consultation and other duties will slow or simply grind to a halt.

We respectfully ask you to proceed with awarding the funds Congress has appropriated and to immediately release the NOFO so that our national historic preservation program may continue to function, awarded preservation projects may proceed as planned, and our nation’s heritage is not unnecessarily put at risk.

Sincerely,

National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers
National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers
National Trust for Historic Preservation
American Anthropological Association
American Cultural Resources Association
American Institute of Architects
Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation
Association for Preservation Technology International
Coalition for Archaeological Synthesis
Historic Tax Credit Coalition
Main Street America
National Alliance of Preservation Commissions
National Preservation Partners Network
Preservation Action
Society for American Archaeology
Society for Historical Archaeology
World Heritage USA