Healthier Ecosystems
Preserve America
Preserve America is a White House initiative in cooperation with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation,
the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Commerce,
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development. Introduced by First Lady Laura
Bush in an address to the National Association of Counties on
March 3, 2003, Preserve America advances a citizendriven approach
to historic preservation and conservation by highlighting private
heritage tourism and historic preservation efforts. The objectives
of the Preserve America Initiative include: (1) a greater shared
knowledge or our Nation’s history; (2) support for the economic
health and well-being of our communities through heritage tourism;
(3) increasing local and tribal participation in preserving our
Nation’s irreplaceable heritage; and (4) strengthening regional
identities and local pride.
In April 2004, the First Lady designated 31 Kentucky cities and towns
as the Nation's newest Preserve America communities, the largest and
most unique group honored to date since the first eight community
designations were made January 15, 2004.
The Bush Administration's FY 2005 budget contains a request for $10
million in grant funds for which communities meeting the Preserve
America criteria will be eligible to apply. These matching fund grants
of $50,000 to $250,000 would go on a competitive basis to projects
that preserve and use important historic resources for promotion of
heritage tourism and other economic revitalization projects.