State preservationists echo group’s concerns

WASHINGTON -- Nevada preservationists are echoing concerns made by a conservation group this week that millions of potentially historic sites are deteriorating from poor maintenance.

The study by the National Trust for Historic Preservation focused on the U.S. Forest Service and almost 2 million "cultural resources" on 193 million acres managed by the agency.

Only a fraction of the cultural resources have been properly maintained, the trust concluded in the report issued Thursday.

"There needs to be recognition of the importance of our historical places to the fabric of our society, said Mella Harmon, Nevada Historical Society curator. "These very significant historical places tell us stories about who we are and our culture."

While the study focused on one agency, preservationists say it underscores the challenges of caring for potential historic landmarks overall.

Normal wear and tear is compounded by theft, vandalism, fire, damage from off-highway vehicles, oil and gas extraction, mining, timber harvesting and grazing, the study found.

Historical sites in Nevada are most often damaged by graffiti and off-road vehicles, said Alice M. Baldrica, a Nevada deputy state historic preservation officer.

"Some people ignorantly put rocks where there's not rock or may drive over them with their ATVs," Baldrica said.

Nevada has 357 sites on the National Register of Historic Places, with seven designated as national landmarks, including Hoover Dam.

Recognized historic sites in Clark County include schools, archaeological sites, cemeteries, historic theaters and trails.

"Places can be listed at varying levels of significance," Harmon said. "They can be at the national level like the Hoover Dam or something at the local level -- a local school for example."

"Nevada has a fairly large number of properties in the national register," Harmon said. "The key is to get communities to take care of those that are listed and add to them as well."

Nationally, more than 80,000 sites have been designated for the National Register of Historic Places.

Issuing the Forest Service study, Richard Moe, National Trust president, said, "There are literally thousands of other sites. ... that have yet to be identified let alone protected."

"The preservation of these national treasures should be a top priority of our elected leaders, and it's not," he said.

A shrinking budget and priority directives has led the Forest Service to focus on logging and protecting watersheds, leaving many resources vulnerable, the report said.

Only $14 million, 0.3 percent, of the agency's $4.4 billion budget is dedicated to historical preservation.

The study found the agency couldn't even afford volunteer labor. The Forest Service had to turn away more than one-third of people seeking to assist the agency in 2004 because it lacked the funds and personnel to organize volunteer efforts.

The National Trust gave 11 recommendations to the Forest Service including a call for Congress to double the budget for historic preservation.

The agency can also raise revenue by renting popular sites out for parties and fairs, Baldrica said.

"It's not a bad idea to look into ways that these facilities could be maintained and pay for themselves," she said.

Baldrica will bring this suggestion to a June 30 meeting with regional Forest Service officials where she plans to encourage the agency to adopt a priority system, one of the study's recommendations. The region includes Nevada and parts of Wyoming, Utah and Idaho.

Baldrica said the agency is trying to find ways to reuse properties to bring in revenue or sell off some that it cannot keep up.

"There's quite a bit of discussion of whether all of these properties need to be maintained," she said.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau reporter Sara Spivey at sspivey@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.