636 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



merit. Design should not be allowed to become a meaningless 

 exercise, existing only in paper form to clutter up the municipal 

 library shelves. It must be a living, continuing, dynamic func- 

 tion of city government, made meaningful in the everyday lives of 

 all the city's people. 



There must be a much broader effort made throughout the 

 Nation to preserve historical structures and areas. A higher de- 

 gree of public awareness of what is worth keeping, particularly in 

 terms of local values, must be instilled and developed if preser- 

 vation is to become a source of local pride. The current inadequate 

 program of education for more effective historic preservation must 

 be broadened and intensified. 



Specific action proposals for historic preservation include : 



1. An inventory, throughout the Nation, of major landmarks, 

 taking into account a wide range of historic, architectural, and 

 unique community values. The National Park Service program 

 for classifying and identifying historic buildings is inadequate to 

 do this broader task. 



2. A program of certification of historic and landmark struc- 

 tures or areas, with accompanying legal protection. 



3. The creation of historic districts, wherever appropriate, in- 

 cluding the whole of some historic towns. 



4. A special program of compensation to private owners for 

 losses suffered or for damages accruing from delay or deprivation in 

 legal protection cases. 



5. Special FHA mortgage insurance for improving landmark 

 structures. 



6. Expanded public programs of ownership of historic struc- 

 tures and areas. 



7. Machinery should be developed for a coordinated private- 

 public program of preservation. The Federal Government should 

 take the lead in this endeavor. 



8. The panel underscores the President's call for more funds 

 for the work of the Federally chartered National Trust for Historic 

 Preservation. 



The panel recommends a thoroughgoing overhaul of Federal, 

 State, and local tax policies to encourage the implementation of nat- 

 ural beauty policies. Specific areas for further study would include 

 possible revision of tax policies to encourage greater private invest- 

 ment in the preservation of approved historic and landmark struc- 



