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.

Federal Support

The Preserve America initiative offers technical and financial assistance to Federal agencies that can be used to:

• bolster local heritage preservation efforts;
• support better integration of heritage preservation and economic development; and
• foster and enhance intergovernmental and public-private partnerships to accomplish these goals.

• The Cooperative Conservation Initiative (CCI), through the U.S. Department of the Interior, helps build creative partnerships between land managers, landowners, and others for the conservation of natural resources.
  
  CCI is a bold new step in the stewardship of America's national parks, public lands, and wildlife. It expands the President's commitment to conservation by combining citizen participation, local knowledge and economic incentives. It builds on Secretary Norton's "4 Cs" agenda—conservation through consultation, cooperation and communication—and advances the Department of the Interior's commitment to work with all Americans to preserve, restore, and manage the Nation's lands and resources.

  In the Fiscal Year (FY) 2003 appropriations, the Department of the Interior increased the challenge cost-share components of CCI by $15 million. The President, in his FY 2004 budget request, has proposed an additional $21 million, for a total increase of $36 million for challenge cost-share programs over and above the FY 2002 enacted level.

• U.S. Secretary of Commerce Don Evans will direct the Economic Development Administration to support and promote Preserve America projects as potential investment opportunities. These projects, which celebrate America's heritage and natural treasures, will promote job creation and spur private-sector investment in local communities, including America's rural areas.

• Through the third program, Save America's Treasures, historic sites, monuments, artifacts and documents that tell America's story are being rescued to continue to endure as symbols that define us as a Nation. Mrs. Bush is continuing the work begun by former First Lady Hillary Clinton, helping to lead this public-private partnership as Honorary Chair of Save America's Treasures. President Bush's FY 2004 budget proposal includes $30 million for Save America's Treasures.

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To electronically find and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all Federal grant-making agencies, visit Grants.Gov.

Updated May 27, 2004

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Cooperative Conservation Initiative

Economic Development Administration

Save America's Treasures