Government operations and workforce

Executive Order 13287: Preserve America

President: George W. Bush

Directed federal agencies to strengthen historic-property stewardship, support heritage tourism and improve public access to information about historic resources.

Status: In effect as amended.

Is Executive Order 13287 still in effect? Yes. Active as amended; preservation program continues.

What does Executive Order 13287 do?

The order assigned these duties: Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Department of the Interior and federal land-managing agencies — Directed federal agencies to strengthen historic-property stewardship, support heritage tourism and improve public access to information about historic resources.

Checked Preserve America’s interagency and historic-preservation purposes against the signed order and later agency references. The guide distinguishes policy coordination from direct funding or a project-level preservation determination.

Administration position: The order’s policy rationale is described in its text and administration records. Implementation and legal observations below are based on the cited official sources.
SignedMarch 3, 2003
IssuerPresident George W. Bush
Lead agencies or officialsAdvisory Council on Historic Preservation, Department of the Interior and federal land-managing agencies
Express timingAgency stewardship reviews within 90 days; ongoing reporting and coordination

Before and after

Before the order

Federal agencies already had duties under the National Historic Preservation Act, but implementation and public interpretation varied across agencies.

After the order

Agencies incorporated stewardship and heritage-tourism work into existing preservation programs, with the Advisory Council coordinating implementation and reporting.

Who had to do what

Agency / officeActionTiming / position
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Department of the Interior and federal land-managing agenciesDirected federal agencies to strengthen historic-property stewardship, support heritage tourism and improve public access to information about historic resources.Agency stewardship reviews within 90 days; ongoing reporting and coordination

What happened next

EO 13287 signed.

2003–08 — Agencies reported on stewardship and heritage-tourism activities. The Preserve America framework remains a policy overlay on statutory preservation duties.