“The National Park Service takes our responsibilities to Tribes seriously,” said NPS Deputy Director Shawn Benge. “I know that developing a tribal historic preservation plan takes a lot of work and coordination and I am pleased to welcome the new Tribal Historic Preservation Offices into the federal preservation community.”

The NPS has the responsibility under the National Historic Preservation Act to administer the Tribal Historic Preservation Program. The program assists Indian tribes in strengthening their historic preservation programs managed through Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPO) on tribal lands. Once signed, THPO agreements transfer certain historic preservation responsibilities to Tribes that would otherwise be the responsibility of the state. The NPS Tribal Historic Preservation Program works with each tribal applicant while they develop their program plan, which may take a year or more. The program also consults with the appropriate State Historic Preservation Office and other tribal and federal preservation partners during the process before accepting the final plan and developing the THPO agreement. There are currently 207 Tribes with signed THPO agreements nationwide.

With 574 federally recognized tribes, continued engagement with Tribes supports many potential new THPO programs. For more information about the Tribal Historic Preservation Program, visit the program website: nps.gov/thpoprogram.