President Obama has proposed significant cuts to preservation programs in his FY 2011 budget request. In what many see as the worst preservation budget in a generation, the current proposal calls for the total elimination of the Save America's Treasures and Preserve America grant programs, along with a 50% reduction in funding to National Heritage Areas. In Philadelphia alone, SAT has provided $8.5 million in badly-needed bricks-and-mortar preservation funding to three dozen local landmarks and cultural institutions, including Girard College, Eastern State Penitentiary, the Wagner Free Institute, Mother Bethel AME Church, Christ Church, and the Race Street Meetinghouse. Paired with matching private funds, these grants create jobs and protect historic resources indispensable to the city's cultural health and tourist economy. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has calculated that preservation projects generate 20% to 40% more jobs than comparable investment in new construction.  Our historic resources are not only cultural treasures, they are "shovel-ready" economic engines.

This budget proposal will be reviewed and amended by Congress in the coming weeks and months, so now is the time to let your elected representatives know how important preservation investment is to your community. Click here to learn more at the National Trust's online advocacy center.

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