STATEWIDE PRESERVATION PLAN UNDERWAY

The Hawai‘i State Historic Preservation Division has completed a series of community meetings to gather input into the issues and priorities for historic preservation in the Hawaiian Islands. The public input will be used to identify historic resources and cultural properties, develop goals and objectives, and formulate recommendations for ways to identify, preserve and protect Hawai‘i’s historic resources.  The presentations and discussion notes, as well as information about the planning process and how to get involved, are available at http://hawaiihistoricpreservation.com/

The development and implementation of a comprehensive statewide historic preservation plan is one of the responsibilities of each State Historic Preservation Office, as outlined in the National Historic Preservation Act.

The key features of this approach to historic preservation planning are:

·         The plan has a statewide focus. The statewide preservation plan pays attention to preservation issues and players all across the state.

·         There is active public involvement, not only in developing the vision, issues, and goals of the plan, but also in helping achieve these goals.

·         A wide variety of preservation-relevant information on social, economic, political, legal, and environmental conditions and trends is brought to bear in the identification and assessment of issues affecting resource preservation.

·         The plan addresses the full range of historic and cultural resources throughout the state. This means that within a single plan document, all resources representing the breadth and depth of a state’s history, prehistory, and culture are considered. This includes buildings, structures, objects, prehistoric and historic archaeological sites, designed and vernacular landscapes, traditional cultural properties, and underwater historic resources.

·         There is coordination with other planning efforts in the state, such as federally mandated transportation planning, the statewide comprehensive outdoor recreation plan, and local land-use plans.

·         Plan implementation is linked directly to SHPO expenditures of their federal Historic Preservation Fund grant.