Today marks the 60th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), one of America’s most important and successful good government laws. Yet Congress is now considering legislation that would dismantle its central safeguard: Section 106.
We ask you to contact your Senators this week to oppose S. 5653 as written and demand meaningful changes to its historic preservation provisions.
Section 106 works because it asks federal agencies to do something simple: stop, look, and listen before harming places Americans value. It gives states, local governments, Tribal Nations, property owners, and communities a voice to preserve historic downtowns, battlefields, burial grounds, and sacred sites and prevent them from being damaged or lost.
We also ask you to consider signing your organization onto this letter from the 106Strong Coalition. AASLH and nearly 1,000 other organizations have done so already. 106 Strong welcomes state and local government agencies, Tribal Nations, private businesses, nonprofits, and all organizations and groups whose work touches history, community, place, environment, civil rights, or accountable government to sign the letter.
Defending Section 106 is just one of the ways AASLH is working to strengthen the history field. Learn more about our advocacy efforts.
