The Role of the State Historic Preservation Office in the Federal Preservation Network

How It All Comes Together . . .

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) is the single most important law governing the policies of federal agencies toward historic preservation. This law presents a national policy of historic preservation at the federal level and encourages it on state and private levels.
The NHPA authorized the establishment of a National Register of Historic Places, a federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and a State Historic Preservation Officer in every US state. The NHPA Section 106 implementing regulations lay out how federal agencies are to protect cultural resources, defined as any district, site, building, structure, or object that is eligible for listing in the National Register.
The National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) are used together to ensure the identification and appropriate treatment of historic properties (including significant archaeological sites) on all undertakings for which there is any federal involvement – which includes undertakings on federal and Indian land, and ones for which any federal funding, permit, license, or other federal approval is required (including undertakings on state, county, municipal, and private lands).
How do individual and local efforts to preserve archaeological resources relate to the federal preservation program? In this November 16, 2023 presentation for Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s “Third Thursday Food for Thought” Zoom webinar series, Arizona State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) Kathryn Leonard provides an overview of the National Historic Preservation Act and the role of the SHPO in ensuring each state’s most fragile heritage resources are considered in project planning. Kathryn is a professional archaeologist and historian who has worked in both the public and private sectors to provide expertise in National Register of Historic Places eligibility, compliance with Section 106 of the NHPA, and Tribal government-to-government consultation for federal undertakings. She is a graduate of Vassar College and holds master’s degrees in anthropology and history from Arizona State University.
As Arizona’s SHPO, Kathryn works with her team to promote historic preservation as a tool for economic development in both rural and urban areas, and collaborates with state and federal agencies, municipalities, tribes, and the development community to ensure that cultural resources are integrated into all aspects of short and long-range planning.
When she’s not being the SHPO, she say she enjoys camping with her family, drinking coffee, knitting, and “reading all the books. Seriously. All of them.”
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s Third Thursday Food for Thought Zoom webinars, on the Third Thursday evening of each month, feature presentations on archaeological, historical, and cultural topics.