Historic Preservation & Federal Public Lands
Our Position
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is dedicated to the protection and enhancement of cultural and historic resources on federal public lands. We are focused on ensuring that federal land management agencies recognize and achieve their stewardship responsibilities for cultural and historic resources.
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For over 20 years, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has advocated for the preservation of historic and cultural resources on federal public lands. The Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and the National Park Service control millions of acres of land rich in resources, ranging from Native American cliff dwellings and sacred sites to ranger cabins and early twentieth-century dude ranches.
A variety of factors – inadequate survey information about cultural resources, insufficient funding, pressure from competing uses like energy development and recreation, lack of agency will – combine to expose resources on these lands to many types of threats.
The National Trust's Role
- Strengthen the preservation ethic at the BLM, USFS and NPS.
- Develop survey data on the location and significance of cultural resources to improve agency decisions on appropriate land use.
- Increase funding for resource protection.
- Seek to ensure agency compliance with existing legal requirements.
- Develop increased public awareness, involvement and participation in saving cultural resources on public lands.
- Improve National Trust resources and capacity for dealing with historic and cultural resources on public lands.
The keys to achieving these stated goals lie not only in the National Trust’s efforts to develop partnerships with conservation groups, Native American tribes, and industry and recreational users of public lands, but also in expanding the National Trust’s previous work of identifying and participating in key pilot projects with federal agencies that save cultural resources and historic places on public lands.
Defending Our Public Lands
The National Trust's Legal Defense Fund is actively engaged in protecting prehistoric and historic resources on federal public lands from the adverse effects of inappropriate planning decisions, off-road vehicle use, and oil and gas development. The following briefs represent only a small sampling of our involvement in this effort.
Sonoran Desert National Monument
In 1906, reports of looting and unregulated excavations of archaeological sites on public lands moved Congress to pass the Antiquities Act, which (among other things) authorized the President to "reserve" historic landmarks. In March 2009, the National Trust filed an amicus brief defending the role the President plays in protecting historic sites like the Sonoran Desert National Monument.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
This monument spans nearly 1.9 million acres and contains ample historic and prehistoric resources, which are currently threatened by the use of motorized vehicles. The National Trust filed a brief supporting BLM's authority to restrict motorized vehicle use in order to protect cultural and natural resources.
Greater Otero Mesa
Although only 6-10% of Otero Mesa has been surveyed for cultural resources, estimates show that the area includes more than 50,000 archaeological and historical sites. The National Trust filed an amicus brief challenging BLM's decision to open up a vast majority of the historic resource-rich area to mineral leasing.
Rainbow Bridge National Monument
This Indian sacred ground is suffering from erosion, graffiti, littering, crowding, noise and pollution as a result of increased tourism. The National Trust filed an amicus brief supporting protection of the area from the increased traffic, including a policy requesting that visitors voluntarily refrain from walking under the Rainbow Bridge in an effort to respect the sacred status of the site.
General Public Lands Resources
- Summary of the Public Lands Program: A summary of the Public Lands Program through which the National Trust advocates for the preservation of prehistoric and historic resources managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service.
- National Trust Grants to Federal Land Management Agencies: A summary of grants given by the National Trust between 1997 and 2009 to the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service to benefit significant prehistoric and historic sites managed by these agencies.
- Congressional Testimony on Off-Highway Vehicles: Statement of National Trust President Richard Moe on June 5, 2008, before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee outlining the management of Off-Highway Vehicles, which have become one of the most significant and widespread threats to cultural resources on public lands.
