WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) Chair Sara C. Bronin, ACHP Indian Tribe Member Reno Keoni Franklin (Chairman, Kashia Band of Pomo Indians), and representatives of three ACHP members will speak before Members of Congress 10 a.m. November 29 at a Historic and Cultural Preservation Roundtable in Washington, D.C. The gathering is being convened by Representative Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member.
Participants at the roundtable will offer their recommendations for Congress on federal historic preservation policy. Chair Bronin will focus her remarks on the opportunities for Congress to support the implementation of the ACHP’s recent Policy Statement on Climate Change and Historic Preservation, including through additional funding to develop federal government expertise on climate heritage issues, to invest in digitization and mapping of historic properties, and to support private actions that mitigate climate impacts through historic preservation. She also will discuss the ACHP’s recent efforts to streamline permitting procedures to accelerate federal government infrastructure investments.
In addition, Chairman Franklin will address, among other topics, issues related to Tribal nations and Indigenous Peoples, and will invite Congress to review and incorporate the principles included in the ACHP’s recent Policy Statement on Burial Sites, Human Remains, and Funerary Objects. He also will highlight the ACHP’s development of a Policy Statement on Indigenous Knowledge, currently underway.
“I look forward to speaking to Members of Congress about the ACHP’s efforts to respond to the challenges of climate change and the housing crisis, and to address the new opportunity of infrastructure investments,” Bronin said. “We appreciate the chance to fulfill our statutory responsibility to advise Congress on all aspects of historic preservation policy.”
“As the longest-serving member of the ACHP, I have witnessed a move in the federal government toward more fully incorporating and addressing the concerns, knowledge, and issues of Tribal and Indigenous Peoples,” Franklin said. “I will speak to this evolution and urge Congress to continue to respect and honor the voices of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Indigenous Peoples.”
Other topics to be discussed are opportunities to make permanent and increase the Historic Preservation Fund, expand financial support for State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, and encourage specific place-based preservation efforts.
The ACHP member representatives who will participate in the roundtable include Shasta Gaughen, board chair of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers; Erik Hein, executive director of the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers; and Shaw Sprague, vice president for government relations of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
View the livestream here.