Glossary Of Terms
Certified Local Government (CLG):
The CLG program is a partnership between the state historic preservation office and local
jurisdictions which meet national and state requirements for certification. It is part of
the nationwide program established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 to
preserve historic properties including buildings, structures, sites, neighborhoods, and
other places of importance in the historical and cultural life of the nation.
Cultural and /or Historic Resource:
Buildings, structures, sites, objects which provide evidence of the pre-history and history of the community.
Historic Context (as defined for eligibility for listing on the
National Register of Historic Places):
Information about historic trends and properties
grouped by an important theme in the prehistory or history of a community, state, or the
nation during a particular period of time. Historic contexts are organized by theme,
place, and time, and link properties to important historic trends.
Historic Integrity (per National Register criteria):
The authenticity of a property’s historic identity, evidenced by the survival of physical
characteristics that existed during the property’s period of significance. These
characteristics include integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship,
feeling, and association.
Historic Preservation:
The protection of a property or site to save its historic character.
Historic Property:
Building, site, district, object, or structure evaluated as historically significant.
Historic Resources Advisory Committee (HRAC):
The local historic preservation commission for the CLG consists of seven members with the following
positions; an architect, a licensed contractor, an historian, an archaeologist, a person
knowledgeable in the customs and language of the Tlingit and Haida people, an owner of
locally recognized historic property, and a member of the general public. The duties of
the HRAC are; to review and make recommendations about local projects that might affect
properties identified in the local historic preservation plan; to review and develop
nominations to the National Register of Historic Places; and to cooperate and consult with
the Juneau historic district commission, the planning commission, the design review board,
and the Alaska State Historic Preservation Officer on matters concerning historical
districts and historic, prehistoric, and archaeological preservation.
Historic Significance (per National Register criteria):
The importance of a property to the history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, or
culture of a community, state, or nation. Historic significance is achieved in meeting one
or more of the following criteria:
Association with events that have made a significant contribution to
the broad patterns of our history;
Association with the lives of persons significant in our past;
Embodiment of the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or
method of construction or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high
artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose
components may lack individual distinction; or
Yielded, or potential to yield, information important in prehistory
or history.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU):
A document which when signed by cooperating parties will set the stage for project review early in the planning stages
to assure the least impacts to historic and cultural resources.
National Register of Historic Places:
The National Register is the official Federal list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects
significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture.
These contribute to an understanding of the historical and cultural foundations of the
Nation. The National Register nomination process is outlined in Appendix H.
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA):
A federal act to provide for the protection of Native American grave sites and the
repatriation of sacred objects.
Office of History and Archaeology (OHA):
The primary office in the state with expertise in historic preservation. OHA provides statewide leadership in
advocating and carrying out the identification, evaluation registration, and protection of
historic and archaeological properties in Alaska and provides staff assistance to the
Alaska Historical Commission.
Rehabilitation:
Adapting an historic property for contemporary use while preserving the features significant to its
historic, architectural, and cultural values.
Section 106:
Under the National Historic Preservation Act,
Section 106 provides that any federal agency having direct or indirect jurisdiction over a
proposed federal or federally assisted or federally permitted undertaking must take into
account the effect of the undertaking on any district, site, building, structure, or
object that is included in or eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic
Places. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, an independent federal agency, must
be given the opportunity to comment with regard to such undertaking.
Stabilization:
The process of making an historic property that
is unsafe and deteriorated, stable and weather resistant.
State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO):
Established by the
National Historic Preservation Act, the SHPO is appointed by the Governor to carry out the
historic preservation program including recommending properties for nomination to the
National Register of Historic Places.
