NH Division of Historical Resources Announces Approval Of 10-Year Historic Preservation Plan

CONCORD, NH — New Hampshire has a new roadmap for historic preservation after the National Park Service approved the state’s 10-year historic preservation plan, the N.H. Division of Historical Resources announced this week.

The plan will serve as a guide for historic preservation efforts statewide over the coming decade, according to the division, which serves as New Hampshire’s state historic preservation office.

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According to the NHDHR, “New Hampshire’s 10-Year Preservation Plan” provides a snapshot of the current status of historic preservation in New Hampshire, reviews what has been happening statewide, and “looks forward with a vision vital to preserving New Hampshire’s identity.” The division said it collected input from hundreds of respondents through a questionnaire distributed to its contact list, at historic preservation events and at social gatherings that were not centered on preservation.

The plan examines eight topics in depth, including “Who is Doing Preservation in New Hampshire?”, “Financial Opportunities for Preservation in New Hampshire” and “Longterm Community Vision and Planning.” The National Park Service stated that New Hampshire’s “plan exceptionally recognizes the challenges of historic preservation in the state,” and that it “pays special attention to how historic preservation affects every resident of the state, and the goals integrated into the plan focus on how to continue to better the lives of all residents.”

The plan identifies four goals: increasing public awareness and appreciation of historic properties and special places, broadening training opportunities and access to guidance, strengthening historic preservation in local, regional, state, and federal decision-making, and expanding funding, incentives, and the creation of new financial supports for historic and cultural resources.

“Historic preservation is an integral part of who we are in New Hampshire and how we operate, because it simultaneously stewards the past while securing our future,” Adam Crepeau, the commissioner of the N.H. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, said. “Generations of Granite Staters have drawn on our famous Yankee ingenuity — and frugality — to preserve our cultural heritage in ways that also drive economic success.”

Completion of a historic preservation plan is required for state historic preservation offices to receive federal funding from the National Park Service, which is part of the Department of Interior.

A PDF of the plan is available on the NHDHR website at nhdhr.dncr.nh.gov.