Preserving the Enchantment: 2017-2021 New Mexico State Historic Preservation Plan

Introduction: "Nineteen-hundred-and-sixty-six was a landmark year in historic preservation. The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) was enacted by Congress, the most comprehensive and aggressive legislation written in the history of the national for protecting and preserving our heritage. The act's fiftieth anniversary provided an opportunity to evaluate historic preservation's path in New Mexico over the last five years. It also inspired a new framework for conserving New Mexico's diverse cultural resources over the next five. The 2017 edition of 'Preserving the Enchantment' provides a broad thematic approach to the state's history, from 1848 through the present. It is a significant departure from previous state plans, which provided overviews of multiple prehistoric and historic periods beginning with the Paleoindian Period 13,000 years ago, to the first written records with the Spanish in 1541, and their subsequent occupation through 1821, and the territorial and statehood eras. Much more emphasis is placed in this edition on archaeological discoveries made in the late 1900s that shaped the state's economic and cultural development. The effects homesteading, art, mining, healthcare, World War II, and the Cold War had on development and settlement are more thoroughly examined. Strides in documenting the recent past in State and National Register nominations and elsewhere are highlighted, and recommendations for areas in need of further research are included in the 'Themes of New Mexico History' section, which replaces the archaeological and historic contexts from past state plans. ...SHPOs develop five-year plans under a provision of the 1966 act. This document presents an assessment of progress, needs and opportunities. It was conceived as a guide for identifying and preserving a new inventory of cultural resources in New Mexico while better conserving those already documented. 'Preserving the Enchantment' establishes core objectives and identifies possible strategies for increasing preservation's relevancy, diversifying its constituency, and incorporating its principles and practices into economic, planning, and cultural decisions." Project funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by the State, Tribal, Local Plans and Grants division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Preserving the Enchantment: 2017-2021 New Mexico State Historic Preservation Plan

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