I hope that I have not violated Fair Use standards, but I believe that the topic is of utmost importance to Preservationists. I don't know if my attempt to e-mail the article from the NYT website to the list worked.

nburlakoff

New York Times November 12, 2003

The Road to Preserving History

Tucked inside federal transportation law is a small phrase that has done a fairly heroic job of protecting some of the nation's most important historic areas for almost 40 years. These few words in the 1966 Department of Transportation Act say that a federal highway project cannot destroy any historic area if there is a "prudent and feasible alternative." These words have blocked, for example, highways from paving parts of the French Quarter in New Orleans and Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

But as Congress begins negotiating a new transportation bill, the Bush administration and the highway lobby are trying to weaken those protections in the name of "streamlining" the process of building the nation's roads.

Instead of acting as a powerful deterrent against building roads through national treasures, the administration's proposal would rely on transportation agencies to decide what is historic. The agencies would then consult with communities over a site's importance. That sounds a lot like the old-fashioned way of building an interstate highway - the "decide, announce and defend method." Consultation with property owners or communities would end up being a weak defense against the big bulldozers run by the highway crowd.

Beyond the obvious need to preserve historic sites for local communities, saving historic treasures can also help economic rebirth. Retaining a community's local color keeps one shopping mall from looking the same as the next. In central Georgia, for example, residents of Macon have been fighting a plan to put a road through the ancient Indian mounds called the Ocmulgee Old Fields. The fields, part of the Muscogee, or Creek, heritage, deserve to be part of the Ocmulgee National Monument near Macon. If the law is changed, it is not clear that those who want preservation will have an important voice in the decision.

Irritated motorists caught in traffic jams may think the answer is more roads, and they certainly have friends in Congress. But those same motorists, if asked, could hardly want the roads of the future to destroy what is left of their nation's past.

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).