The National Trust for Historic Preservation's How to Save a Place Toolkits are your preservation primer—a one stop shop for people who love places but aren't sure how to save them. In this series we've shared how to research and know the threat, and how to become an advocate.

Local Level

Local preservation commissions are the principal local public sector preservation allies. Commissions -- which may also go by the name of architectural review board or historic preservation commission -- identify and regulate locally significant properties. They are established through the adoption of a local preservation ordinance and have a wide range of responsibilities and powers depending on state and local laws.

Tip: The local preservation commission is the governmental agency that approves or denies changes to designated historic properties that are privately owned.

Local preservation organizations are private nonprofit groups that serve as a preservation network and represent preservation activities within a community. They advocate for local preservation issues and provide technical/educational assistance. Many also get directly involved in saving properties through loan funds, buying and rehabbing properties, and otherwise helping owners take care of their property. They’re usually a great resource for hands-on preservation assistance and training.

State Level

The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) is the public sector preservation partner on the state level. Their responsibilities include: identifying historic properties; considering National Register nominations; reviewing federal projects for their impact on historic properties; administering tax incentive and grant programs; and providing assistance to federal agencies, state and local governments, and the private sector.

If your preservation work takes place on tribal land, then the Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) would replace the SHPO as the agency to work with. They handle the same responsibilities, with a particular emphasis on maintaining the continuity of the community’s traditional beliefs and practices.

Tip: You might hear your more seasoned counterparts using the words “Shippo” and “Tippo” with the expectation that everyone knows that they mean. These are the ways SHPO and THPO have come to be pronounced, rather than using the initials.

Statewide preservation organizations are similar to local preservation organizations but on a state level. These private nonprofit groups serve as a preservation network and represent preservation activities within a state by advocating for preservation-friendly legislation in the state government, providing technical assistance, and offering training and education programs.

Federal Level

Much to the surprise of many who think of the National Park Service (NPS) only in the context of places like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, the Park Service is also the primary federal-level historic preservation agency. Among their many preservation-related activities, the NPS is responsible for the National Register of Historic Places, preservation grant programs, the certification program for federal historic tax incentives, and management of the certified local government program -- a partnership with the state historic preservation offices to promote preservation at the grassroots level.

Along with the NPS, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) is a key federal agency to know. Their role is to advise the President and Congress on preservation policy, as well as to review and comment on federal or federally licensed projects that affect properties that have been designated as historic.

The “review and comment” function comes primarily through what’s known as the “Section 106” process, which refers to the part of the National Historic Preservation Act that requires federal agencies to notify the public of their goals and consult with the public to resolve impacts on historic properties before proceeding with possibly damaging projects. This can be a hugely useful tool with preservation projects that involve any sort of federal involvement.

Last but not (we hope) least, there’s us, the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Like statewide and local preservation organizations, we are a nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., but with a national focus.

We have staff across the country engaged in preservation work on saving historic places nationwide, and they work on a variety of projects, including advocating for historic tax credit programs, educating preservation professionals via the Preservation Leadership Forum, and sharing the good work of preservationists nationwide via stories on SavingPlaces.org and Preservation magazine.

Of course, this is just scratching the surface of preservation organizations. There is more information about local, state, and federal agencies and organizations in our preservation “Who’s Who”. There are also myriad nonprofits dedicated to saving specific types of places; you can find more details about those by perusing the list of type-specific toolkits we’ve produced.