Our Unprotected Heritage: Whitewashing the Destruction of Our Natural and Cultural Environment

Most Americans agree that our heritage?both natural and cultural?should be protected. Then why does development run rampant, aided?rather than limited?by government inaction? Tom King has been a participant in and observer of this system for decades, as a government worker, heritage consultant, and advocate for local communities. In this hard-hitting critique of the heritage-industrial complex, King points the finger at watchdogs who instead serve as advocates, unintelligible (often contradictory) regulations, disinterested government employees and power-seeking agencies, all of whom conspire to keep our heritage unprotected. His solution to this crisis will be uncomfortable to many in power, but may help save more of our cultural and natural treasures.

Thomas F. King is one of the leading consultants in cultural resources management in the United States. He teaches dozens of workshops each year on this topic for SWCA Environmental Consultants and is author of many major books in the field including, Saving Places that Matter (2007), Cultural Resource Laws and Practice (2004) and Federal Planning and Historic Places (2000). Former staff member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, he has been in the heritage management business for four decades.