Sixty years ago, when Congress passed the National Historic Preservation Act, half of the historic places the federal government had documented in the Historic American Buildings Survey of 1933 were already gone. The NHPA and Section 106 were built on that collective grief about the treasures we had destroyed. This legislation created the National Register of Historic Places, established a review requirement for federal development projects, and guaranteed the public, Tribal Nations, and other concerned organizations the right to be consulted on these projects before historic, archaeological, and sacred sites are destroyed. Now, there are active efforts in the Senate and the administration to take away those rights and protections.

On this anniversary, CHAACo is proud to be one of 1,000+ organizations and Tribal Nations that have joined together as 106 Strong, a growing coalition fighting to defend the NHPA from imminent threats. This coalition is combining advocacy, public awareness, and litigation to bring a groundswell of public opinion and material support to this cause.

To learn more about the importance of Section 106, the NHPA, and the sites they serve, watch this 5-minute film from 106 Strong: Before It's Gone.

106 Strong sent their second letter to Congress on October 15 to advocate against Senate bill S.5653 (BAAJA), which threatens to dismantle the NHPA and our rights in the name of streamlined energy development. Read it here.

If the Senate bill is stopped, there is an additional threat from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), which is advancing a sweeping and damaging rewrite of the regulations for Section 106, the part of the NHPA that requires federal agencies to evaluate the effects of federal projects on historic properties and to mitigate them.

Our U.S. cultural heritage sites are under their greatest threats in the last 60 years, and protecting them now requires a concerted effort from the cultural heritage community and our allies.

You can help! Here are several opportunities:

• CHAACo is hosting an Empowerment Hour discussion session especially intended for the cultural heritage conservation/art conservation communities to empower us to defend the National Historic Preservation Act. 

  • • Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 8 p.m. Eastern— Join us to share ideas about how the conservation communities can leverage our particular expertise to help protect the National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106, and our historic spaces. (Interested allies welcome! CHAACo has roots in the conservation community and is open to all who value our mission.) 

    • For more information about the event and how to prepare, email us. 

    • RSVP for the event by filling out this form.

  • Write to your representatives to share how the revisions will negatively impact historic preservation efforts in your area. 

  • Call your representatives with these helpful scripts  from the Cultural Heritage Partners.

  • Get your organizations to join the 106 Strong coalition to suppport the Letters to Congress. Ask your leadership to sign on.

  • Be prepared to submit comments to ACHP to defend Section 106 when the public comment period opens! Watch a webinar from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for great tips on writing an effective public comment. We will update this page when the comment period begins.

  • Send examples to the National Trust for Historic Preservation of success stories where Section 106 led to win-win outcomes.

• VOTE in the midterm elections by November 3! Your participation in the democratic process is essential for ensuring that we can begin to put the brakes on the destructive actions of this administration.

An email from Jay Trainer, National Archives and Records Administration chief operating officer, told employees that two National Archives locations, one in San Bruno, CA, and another in Chicago, IL, would be closed in the next few years and documents would be moved to other archival locations.

The San Bruno facility is officially called the National Archives at San Francisco, and, among other things, it serves as a unique hub for research into Asian and Pacific immigrant history in the United States. The Chicago facility houses records about Midwestern history and indigenous tribes, also critical for local research.

Records would be moved to the Seattle Federal Records Center, Trainer’s email read, and that process could begin within the next few months and render many records inaccessible to the communities most interested in them. The Organization of American Historians has posted a statement condemning this action.

Save Our National Archives, a group formed to stop a prior attempt to shut down the San Bruno archives location 28 years ago, is coming together once again to oppose the closure and start a letter-writing campaign against the decision.

Chicago Area Archivists have also posted a statement and call to action detailing ways you can help oppose the closure of their local facility, such as contacting NARA officials directly.

Take action today!  Sign a petition via change.org about both facilities, here, and send letters to Congress via Save OUR National Archives, here. Additionally, there is a petition for the Chicago facility you can sign via change.org here.

On July 13th, the Trump administration announced the decision to shrink the protected areas of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, two treasured areas in Utah, by almost 90%. National Monument designations are intended to safeguard areas of exceptional historic, scientific, cultural, or ecological value from resource exploitation and pollution. The designations for these two sites were hard-won by a coalition of many indigenous tribal nations, environmental advocates, recreation advocates, and public servants, and. These designations help protect numerous sacred indigenous sites, beloved recreational areas, local ecology, and critical water sources.

Many organizations have issued public statements opposing this decision, including the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, who reconfirmed their commitment to protect their ancestral homeland, and the environmental nonprofits Conservation Lands Foundation and American Rivers. 

Take action today by submitting a prepared, editable letter via the Conservation Lands Foundation, here. 

The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) has notified the National Park Service that it is terminating consultation on the development of a Section 106 agreement fo rthe Triumphal Arch Project in Washington, DC, and Virginia. Read the ACHP's letter here 

This Monumental Arch will be built at Memorial Circle on the George Washington Memorial Parkway, near Arlington National Cemetery and along the Potomac River. The Arch will overshadow the Lincoln Memorial and disrupt the uninterrupted views between the nation's capitol and over the entry to Arlington National Cemetery—the hallowed resting place of 400,000 veterans and their families. 

Consulting parties and the public now have until 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 29th, 2026 to comment their views on the project and its effects on historic properties. 

TO DO BEFORE 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 29th, 2026:

• Review information on the proposed project. 

• Please submit comments to Jaime Loichinger, Director of the Office of Federal Agency Programs, at jloichinger@achp.gov. All comments will be part of the public record and reviewed by the ACHP prior to the finalization and transmittal of its formal comments to the Secretary of the Interior. 

**Suggested comment topics from the National Trust for Historic Preservation: 

• Suggested subject line for email: Comments on the Triumphal Arch at Memorial Circle

• Write in your own words. Personal comments are more effective than form letters. You might say:

  1. What the view between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery means to you

  2. Why a comment period of a few business days is not a meaningful chance to be heard on a project of this significance

  3. That the National Park Service acknowledged this project would adversely affect dozens of historic properties, yet alternatives — another site, a smaller structure, a different design — were never seriously evaluated

An opportunity to exercise your American rights this Independence Day weekend:

Our allies at the American Alliance of Museums are calling for a groundswell of public comments on some highly problematic, politically motivated proposed changes to the way federal grants are evaluated, awarded, and rescinded. They encourage feedback that describes specific potential impacts to your own institution, if possible. The deadline is July 13.

Here's the text of their call to action:

On May 29, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a proposed rule that would negatively impact federal grants across all agencies. The National Council of Nonprofits has put together a summary chart of key provisions.

Some of the most significant concerns from the proposed rule include:

• Political appointees must review all award proposals and relegate peer reviewers to an advisory role.

• Political appointees will review all award proposals to ensure they align with “national interests” and Presidential policy priorities. (This will likely impact anything deemed DEI-related.)

• Any active grant can be cancelled by a political appointee with no chance of appeal.

• A grant can be put on a temporary hold for up to 90 days.

• Agencies can change the terms of the award at any time.

• Adds restrictions on voter registration drives, issue advocacy, and engaging with state governments.

Public comments are being accepted through July 13, 2026, at regulations.gov. AAM will be submitting comments, which you can view the draft here.

Submit Your Own Comments: See the June Advocacy Alert for guidance on submitting comments. A recent Center for the Future of Museums Blog post included some examples of how the proposed rules could impact museums. You can consider these examples as you prepare your comments, but remember, tailor your comments on the impact of the rule to your specific museum.

Our namesake cultural heritage site, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, is under imminent threat from the Trump administration, who want to lease the maximum possible public lands around it for fossil fuel and mineral extraction. Please take a few minutes TODAY to stand up for this unique sacred, historical, and naturally significant UNESCO World Heritage site and National Historical Park. The public comment period ends TONIGHT!

Only have 2 minutes? Use this form to submit a pre-filled letter to your reps and the Bureau of Land Management!

https://protectchaco.org/

You can also personalize it there, and/or submit a letter directly through the BLM website here:

https://eplanning.blm.gov/Project-Home/?id=D949F582-402D-F111-8341-001DD804183B

Previous activists fought long and hard to win a protective buffer zone around it to prevent pollution and damage to the archaeological complexes and ecosystem, but last week the Bureau of Land Management opened an insultingly brief comment period about a proposal to cancel this protection— a single week that ends TONIGHT!

Join cultural heritage professionals nationwide on Saturday, October 18, for the No Kings nonviolent protests. (Look up your local protests at nokings.org or mobilize.us.) Stand together in defense of free speech, the integrity of our work, and the institutions that safeguard our shared past. There is no culture without freedom of expression.

Fight censorship of our history by taking photos of all signs and historical markers at National Park Service-administered sites. Send them here!

Stand with your community this Labor Day by joining an organized action or demonstration.