By Chris Moore, Executive Director

On Friday, May 2, the Trump Administration released its proposed budget for federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. It is a disaster for historic preservation. The proposal eviscerates the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) and nearly eliminates funding for the National Park Service’s National Recreation and Preservation Programs (which funds National Heritage Areas). Moreover, it cuts National Park Service operations by a staggering $900 million. What’s worse, the proposed budget cuts appear to be part of a broader strategy to gut the statutory framework in place for historic preservation overall. Federal projects impacting historic places would no longer require any review, resulting in the loss of significant community assets. Here is just a sampling of impacts in Washington State if these proposed cuts are realized:

Historic Preservation Fund

The HPF provides federal funds to State and Tribal Historic Preservation Offices across the country to support implementation of programs mandated by federal statute. The proposed cuts would decimate the statutory work of states and Tribes and erase the potential for community-based stakeholders to provide any input into federal decision-making.

HPF funding also supports a handful of competitive grant programs administered through the National Park Service. Grants like Save America’s Treasures and the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants Program are among the only federally-funded “bricks and mortar” grant programs that directly support rehabilitation. HPF funds are also used for important survey and documentation efforts—projects that work to identify places and spaces associated with communities whose histories have not been fully recounted in the national narrative. All of these programs are slated for elimination in the president’s FY26 budget proposal.

In Washington State, the cuts would dramatically impact preservation work. The Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation (DAHP)—our State Historic Preservation Office—administers the National Register of Historic Places Program, the Historic Tax Credit Program, and oversees the Certified Local Government program (more than 80 municipalities with a certified local preservation ordinance on the books) for the benefit of historic places in Washington. The proposed cuts constitute a loss of more than $1 million annually to DAHP and would effectively end implementation of the above programs in Washington State. Both DAHP and the nearly 30 Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs) across Washington would be forced to eliminate federally required staff who review federal projects, identify and protect historic properties, and support communities. Loss of funding to DAHP and THPOs in Washington State risks losing billions in investment.

The Maritime Washington National Heritage Area

Designated by Congress in 2019 and managed locally by the Washington Trust, the Maritime Washington National Heritage Area works to support Washington’s coastal communities in preserving, sharing, and celebrating our state’s maritime heritage. The proposed cuts would eliminate federal support for this program, resulting in a loss of staff and ending our ability to deliver trainings and resources to 58 partner organizations (ranging from ports and county governments to museums and nonprofits, to small businesses and local tourism providers), host public events and educational programs for 1,000+ people per year, promote heritage tourism, and support historic preservation.

Youth Heritage Project

Now in its 12th year, Youth Heritage Project (YHP) is an annual summer program that connects high school students to Washington’s historic and cultural sites. YHP takes place in a different location around the state every year, with the 2025 iteration taking place in the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area this July. By teaching students that the future of any resource—historic, cultural, or natural—is the result of deliberate strategies and choices, YHP seeks to educate the next generation to be thoughtful and responsible leaders, community members, and voters, especially when deciding the survival of our state’s historic and cultural resources. YHP is made possible in large part through the support of the National Park Service, one of the founding partners of the program. Cuts to NPS would mean an end to YHP.

Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant

As announced last fall, the Washington Trust was awarded a 2024 Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant from the National Park Service to create a subgrant program in support of preservation projects in communities threatened by damaging tidal events. The subgrant program, originally expected to launch in 2025, would distribute grant funds to coastal sites in rural areas that contribute to local historic character and serve an important function in the social and economic fabric of their community, such as contributing buildings in historic districts; museums, theaters, and other community spaces; and historic buildings housing local small businesses. The administration is considering canceling grants like ours—grant funds already appropriated by Congress—for failing to meet a variety of Executive Orders. If funding is cut, we will not be able to provide pass-through grants to preservation projects looking to protect historic buildings from damaging tidal events.

How You Can Help

It’s critical to convey the importance that historic places hold for our communities and support funding and programs intended to save these places. We must tell our elected officials that historic preservation and heritage are too important to our country and to our communities to be scrapped.

Contact your Congressional delegates—whether Democrat or Republican—and let them know that you want to see them fighting for continued funding for preservation and heritage, including the Historic Preservation Fund, National Heritage Areas, and more. Look up your Congressional delegates here.

Donate. Individual contributions are key sources of unrestricted support for nonprofits—and all the more important as federal funding is cut or in question. Donate to the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation or to one of our local partners such as Historic Seattle, Historic Tacoma, or Spokane Preservation Advocates.

Stay in the loop. There are undoubtedly battles to come, and we’re stronger together. Join our Advocacy Alerts email list to receive communications about state and federal issues affecting historic preservation.

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