In a letter to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Coalition for American Heritage (CAH) urged the agency to carefully consider cultural resources when revising their oil and gas leasing and development regulations. CAH supports concurrent, synchronized, timely, and efficient review processes that ensure the public’s voice is heard in decision-making. We will support efforts to streamline the regulatory process, provided that best practices for cultural resource management are applied by the USFS in its consideration of potential adverse effects on cultural resources.

The USFS manages land that includes some of the most sensitive cultural heritage sites in our nation. Therefore, changes to their regulatory policy could put at risk cultural and historic landscapes, archaeological sites, and traditional cultural properties. These resources are irreplaceable.

We ask that the USFS include a statement of operator responsibility that unequivocally requires operators and their cultural resources consultants to meet or exceed Secretary of the Interior standards and guidelines for the identification, evaluation, and treatment of cultural resources that may be impacted by their operations. We also urge that meaningful consultation among interested parties, including the agency, SHPO, local Tribes, and other consulting parties remains a paramount goal in any iteration of proposed rule changes.

CAH is confident that the USFS can attain greater efficiencies in the permitting process while maintaining crucial safeguards for America’s irreplaceable cultural resources. For further details, read our letter here.

Hear directly from Congressional candidates on the biggest issues in preservation today!

Joe Walton, who works in information technology at a university, is running for Congress in suburban Richmond and Spotsylvania, Virginia.

Joe designed and maintained the web site of a local historic society. He points to numerous local sites of historic significance, including early English settlements, Civil War sites, and a revolutionary war foundry.

To learn more about Joe’s thoughts on historic preservation issues, read his answers to our candidate survey below:

1. What is your name?

Joe Walton

2. In which Congressional district are you running for election?

Virginia’s 7th District

3. Is there a historically significant place that is important to you in your Congressional district?

Yes, there are numerous sites. In the County of Powhatan, where I live, the French Huguenots were the front lines of the English settlement areas. There are numerous civil war related sites, and a revolutionary war foundry as well. Chesterfield County has its coal mines in Midlothian. This is just to name a few!

4. What do you think of current proposals in Congress to require Congressional approval of the President’s decision to designate national monuments?

This is difficult decision and ideally national monuments and parks should be designated collaboratively between the executive and the legislative branches. However, Teddy Roosevelt and early 1900s precedent of the president being able to protect land through the Antiquities Act is a useful tool for the executive branch to designate land protections unilaterally. However, we disagree that current law allows the de-designation of monument or park status. The 1906 law was intended to protect land and the only way to de-designate is through the congress. Of course Congress can amend the 1906 act, too, but they have to act.

5. The National Historic Preservation Act requires federal agencies to consider the effects of federal undertakings on historic properties before approving a project. Federal undertakings include: projects that need a federal permit, receive federal funds, or are located on federal land. How do you think this law impacts our communities and development timelines?

It is important to balance the preservation of historic resources with the impact such preservation may have and the public’s ability to have access to the resource (to see it or ‘use’ it, which is the purpose of the preservation). We hear of cases where these impacts can be lengthy and costly but we think the agency oversight can be effectively managed to produce a good public policy decision.

6. Have you had the opportunity to meet with the State Historic Preservation Officer and/or State Archaeologist? Have you met with any local preservation groups?

We have not met with state representatives. When Joe was on the Board of Supervisors in Powhatan, he met with local historic society folks (he actually designed and maintained their website for years) and was active regionally in historic preservation efforts by regional authorities.

7. How do think that federal funding of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Science Foundation impacts our district?

We believe there are important and valuable impacts to the 7th district for each of those conservation efforts. There are numerous landmarks in the County of Powhatan, Joe is on the board of a local theatre company which collaborates with other arts organizations in central Virginia that receive NEA funds.

 Note: Joe’s opponents, Rep. Dave Brat and Abigail Spanberger, also received surveys. They chose not to respond.

Hear directly from Congressional candidates on the biggest issues in preservation today!

James Tosone, a businessman, is running for Congress in northern New Jersey!

James says that the National Historic Preservation Act “will lengthen development timelines, but that is the price of preservation.”

To learn more about James’s thoughts on historic preservation issues, read her answers to our candidate survey below:

1. What is your name?

James Tosone

2. In which Congressional district are you running for election?

New Jersey 5th

3. Is there a historically significant place that is important to you in your Congressional district?

New Bridge Landing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Bridge_Landing)

4. What do you think of current proposals in Congress to require Congressional approval of the President’s decision to designate national monuments?

Approve

5. The National Historic Preservation Act requires federal agencies to consider the effects of federal undertakings on historic properties before approving a project. Federal undertakings include: projects that need a federal permit, receive federal funds, or are located on federal land. How do you think this law impacts our communities and development timelines?

It will lengthen development timelines, but that is the price of preservation.

6. Have you had the opportunity to meet with the State Historic Preservation Officer and/or State Archaeologist? Have you met with any local preservation groups?

I have met with the Harrington Park NJ Historical Society, which maintains and preserves two historic cemeteries in Harrington Park, the Perry Cemetery, and the Old Burying Ground

7. How do think that federal funding of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Science Foundation impacts our district?

I am unaware of any impact.

Note: James’s opponent, Rep. Josh Gottheimer and John McCann, also received a survey. She chose not to respond.

Hear directly from Congressional candidates on the biggest issues in preservation today!

Jesse Colvin, an Army Ranger and business consultant, is running for Congress in the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Jesse says that the Federal Historic Tax Credit program recently helped save the Phillips Packing Plant in Cambridge, MD, a local site that is personally important to him. While Jesse also says that federal permitting and approval timelines should be improved, he believes that “permitting and approval serve a valuable purpose: ensuring developments of federal property are indeed beneficial to our society.”

To learn more about Jesse’s thoughts on historic preservation issues, read his answers to our candidate survey below:

1. What is your name?

Jesse Colvin

2. In which Congressional district are you running for election?

Maryland’s First Congressional District

3. Is there a historically significant place that is important to you in your Congressional district?

Yes, the Phillips Packing Plant in Cambridge MD. The plant is the last vestige of what was once a 60-acre campus that employed thousands and fed our troops during the world wars. It was recently saved by $3 million award from the federal Historic Tax Credit program. This investment shows that we can retain historic sites and develop them to improve the greater community. And by doing so, we retain the important character that historically has made, for example, our Eastern Shore a wonderful place to live and create a business, while also creating jobs for local residents.

4. What do you think of current proposals in Congress to require Congressional approval of the President’s decision to designate national monuments?

I disagree with plans to require Congressional approval of these presidential designations. The Antiquities Act of 1906 is one of the great legislative accomplishments in American history. Since it was championed by Congressman John F. Lacey and signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt, the act has helped to preserve invaluable places like the Grand Canyon, Mount Olympus, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, and, in our district, the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad in Church Creek. The law provides the president the authority to save important locations from destruction — and it has worked wonderfully.

Congress already has the inherent power to remove a monument designation if it believes a place has been designated improperly. By requiring Congressional approval of new monuments, Congress would go against the intent of the Antiquities Act — to provide for expeditious protection of important land already under federal control.

5. The National Historic Preservation Act requires federal agencies to consider the effects of federal undertakings on historic properties before approving a project. Federal undertakings include: projects that need a federal permit, receive federal funds, or are located on federal land. How do you think this law impacts our communities and development timelines?

In Section 1 of the Act, Congress declared its intent to preserve, inter alia, (1) our nation’s “historical and cultural foundations . . . in order to give a sense of orientation to the American people” as well as (2) “historic properties significant to the Nation’s heritage”. These intentions are worthy of a great nation that doesn’t think and act rashly, but strategically. That doesn’t think merely about the next few months, but next few decades.

Federal permitting and approval timelines can and should be improved — we all want societally-beneficial development to move forward. But permitting and approval serve a valuable purpose: ensuring developments of federal property are indeed beneficial to our society. As on most topics, I believe we shouldn’t just simply strive to get it done fast, but to get it done right. And that is especially true when it comes to developments that could harm sites important to our national heritage. Should we build a hotel or apartment complex on the site of Liberty Hall? Or, rather, should be value and preserve the site in order to teach each generation about the importance of liberty and sacrificing for a common ideal? In my opinion, the answer is obvious — and part of that is the requirement that our government ensure such sites are protected from (or during) development.

6. Have you had the opportunity to meet with the State Historic Preservation Officer and/or State Archaeologist? Have you met with any local preservation groups?

While I have not met the State Historic Preservation Officer and/or State Archaeologist, I and my staff have been in touch with Preservation Maryland, a local non-profit dedicated to preserving Maryland’s unique heritage. Like Preservation Maryland, I believe we should strengthen the federal Historic Tax Credit to help spur development in rural areas and small towns, which are such important parts of my district. If elected, I look forward to working with preservation groups to do just that.

7. How do think that federal funding of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Science Foundation impacts our district?

These agencies play a key and direct role in our district. Just this year, the NEA has awarded millions of dollars to nonprofits in our state, including a grant to the Ward Foundation, Inc. at Salisbury University. Similarly, Maryland Humanities used NEH grants to allocate money to the Wor-Wic Community College in Wicomico County on the Lower Eastern Shore, which will use that money to inspire Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas, and enrich their communities. And the NSF provided funding to retain science professors at UM-Eastern Shore, one of our Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

These programs not only provide funding for our local communities, they inspire each of us to be better people and more engaged Americans. As Maryland Humanities executive director, Phoebe Stein, wrote in the Baltimore Sun last year regarding the grants provided by these agencies, “One of the high school students who participated in our veterans oral history program proclaimed it ‘life-changing.’ And a Wicomico County teacher said Maryland History Day taught his students ‘to research topics, to draw conclusions. They learned to address social issues, they learned to work well with others, they learned history, but most importantly they found their passion that led these young people to realize their dreams of college and a future they never knew was possible.’” Such results are the dream of everyone who cares about our country and its future. It seems to me that these programs are worth the comparatively few pennies we give to them.

 Note: Jesse’s opponent, Rep. Andy Harris, also received a survey. He chose not to respond.

Hear directly from Congressional candidates on the biggest issues in preservation today!

Phillip Aronoff is running for Congress in Houston, Texas. Phillip cites the Orange Show art exhibit as a local Houston treasure.

To learn more about Phillip’s thoughts on historic preservation issues, read his answers to our candidate survey below:

1. What is your name?

Phillip Aronoff

2. In which Congressional district are you running for election?

29th

3. Is there a historically significant place that is important to you in your Congressional district?

The Orange Show art exhibit, because of the determination of one postal worker to inspire generations of people through art.

4. What do you think of current proposals in Congress to require Congressional approval of the President’s decision to designate national monuments?

I think the current system in place is sound. There are times when action needs to be taken to preserve the most important landmarks of our country. Congress can decide, after the fact, if it needs to be reduced or removed.

5. The National Historic Preservation Act requires federal agencies to consider the effects of federal undertakings on historic properties before approving a project. Federal undertakings include: projects that need a federal permit, receive federal funds, or are located on federal land. How do you think this law impacts our communities and development timelines?

It prolongs the development timelines, but the due diligence is there to maintain the most positive impact on the communities involved. If we are going to do something, we have to do it smart, and it must be sustainable for the affected community.

6. Have you had the opportunity to meet with the State Historic Preservation Officer and/or State Archaeologist? Have you met with any local preservation groups?

I have not met with State Historic Preservation Officer and/or State Archaeologist. I have met with Preserve Houston.

7. How do think that federal funding of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Science Foundation impacts our district?

New grants were opened after hurricane Harvey, which expanded funding for preservation in Houston.

Note: Phillip’s opponent, Sylvia Garcia, also received a survey. She chose not to respond.