Posts tagged ‘National Trust for Historic Preservation’

Sign of the Times: Endangered

by , posted on Monday, June 20th, 2011 at 12:11 pm

Although I can’t claim to study it, I usually at least read the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Annual Most Endangered Historic Places List. This year, I was struck by something that seems to me to be unusual; I can’t remember a list so replete with sites that are endangered not by residential or commercial development, but rather by negative environmental impacts, whether those are represented by erosion and storms, or by mining and oil-well placement.

On the list and endangered by environmental threats are:

Bear Butte, South Dakota
Fort Gaines, Alabama
Greater Chaco Landscape, New Mexico
Isaac Manchester Farm, Pennsylvania

Also of note on this 11 most endangered list is item 11: “Sites Imperiled by State Actions” although I think they could have called this “State Inaction” because it amounts to funding for preservation projects drying up in states that are all experiencing budget shortfalls. And since I think we can all agree that “Our Endangered Economy” is impacting all 50 states, that would amount to just about every corner of the U.S. that is poised to lose important landmarks.

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