An Opportunity to Shape the Future of Historic Preservation in California

Preparation of a Statewide Historic Preservation Plan (State Plan) is required by the National Park Service every five years as a condition of the grant each state receives from the federal Historic Preservation Fund. Per NPS requirements, the State Plan must involve a significant public input process and the plan must include: A summary of the planning process, a clear statement describing the planning cycle, a summary assessment of historic and cultural resources, a vision for historic preservation, goals and objectives, and a bibliography.

The Office of Historic Preservation is beginning the process of public outreach and garnering input for the next State Plan for California. The current State Plan expires at the end of 2017, to be replaced by a new, updated plan covering the years 2018 through 2022. As part of the information gathering process, we are conducting a general survey to be followed in the coming months by interviews with specific individuals, and public listening sessions held throughout the state and online. Your input is critical to developing a plan that reflects the issues and directions in historic preservation that are most important to Californians.

Participate in the State Plan Survey and share your vision for historic preservation in California!

Subscribe to our email to receive updates on the State Plan renewal process and to participate in future public listening sessions. Scroll down further on this page to download a copy of the current State Plan and review the goals and activities outlined in its chapters. More information about State Plan requirements can be found at the National Park Service website. We look forward to working with you to create a meaningful and actionable Statewide Historic Preservation Plan for California!

Sustainable Preservation: California's Statewide Historic Preservation Plan, 2013-2017 






The vision, goals and objectives outlined in the State Plan can’t possibly be achieved by one agency, such as the Office of Historic Preservation, acting alone, or even a few operating in concert.

Rather, it will take the concerted efforts of many individuals and organizations. With that in mind, we thought it would be useful to provide ideas for how you can help support the State Plan based on the “hats” you wear in your life. Below is a list of categories of people--some are traditional preservation partners, and others are not. You probably fit into many of these lists. By using the link for each category, you will be taken to a page with specific activities that you could do in support of the State Plan. For those of you in the preservation community, these lists are made up of the suggested activities included in the State Plan.

As you can see from these lists, there are lots of activities to choose from. If we all took on just one or two of these suggestions each, it would go a long way toward achieving the vision put forward in the plan. Thank you for your help in making this vision a reality.

Are you a …
Local or Regional Government Employee, Elected Official, or Commissioner?
State or Federal Agency Employee, Elected Official or Commissioner?
Historic Site Employee or Volunteer?
Preservation/History Advocacy Group Member?
Tribal Member?
Private Preservation Consultant?
Parent?
Teacher or Youth Group Leader?
Property Developer/Owner?
Business Owner?
Real Estate Professional?
Tourism Professional?
Neighborhood Association Member?
Community Member?

You can also see the activities that apply to the Office of Historic Preservation.

STATEWIDE HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLANNING: Purpose and Process

Each State Historic Preservation Office is required to review and revise the State Plan every five years as a condition for receiving a grant from the federal Historic Preservation Fund. Information about Statewide Historic Preservation Planning is available online from the National Park Service.

As statements of public policy in historic preservation, each State Plan serves as a general-level guide for decision-making throughout the state, rather than as a technical encyclopedia of all that is known about the state's historic and cultural resources.  The State Plan

• Identifies current and emerging historic preservation issues throughout the state;
• Establishes the vision, mission, and priorities for the Office of Historic Preservation;
• Identifies preservation goals and objectives for integrating historic preservation into the broader planning and decision-making at local, regional, and state levels;
• Identifies preservation partners and their contributions needed to accomplish the State Plan’s goals and objectives.

Over the last 20 years or so, the scope of historic preservation planning practice has expanded beyond being concerned primarily with understanding the nature and significance of historic and cultural resources to integrating historic preservation into the broader land use planning and decision-making processes, and incorporating historic preservation into other social and economic concerns such as sustainability, revitalization and community development, affordable housing, disaster preparedness planning and recovery, and environmental quality. 

Key features of this broad approach to historic preservation planning include:

• Statewide focus on preservation issues and players all across the state.
• Active public involvement, not only in developing the vision, issues, and goals of the plan, but also in helping achieve these goals. A series of public listening sessions in a variety of locations, an online survey, interviews with key individuals, focus groups with selected people involved in preservation in the state, and posting information and engaging discussion about the plan on our Facebook page, and through Twitter are some of the ways in which the public is included in the process.  
• Consideration of a wide variety of social, economic, political, legal, and environmental conditions, issues, and trends affecting resource preservation.
• Consideration of the full range of historic and cultural resources representing the breadth and depth of the state's history, prehistory, and culture.
• Coordination with other planning efforts in the state, such as federally mandated transportation planning, the statewide comprehensive outdoor recreation plan, and local land-use plans.
• Linkage of preservation plan implementation with the Office of Historic Preservation’s expenditures of its federal Historic Preservation Fund grant.