ABSTRACT
As for understanding the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and its considerable influence in California during the past half-century, this chapter begins with a brief overview of actions to preserve the state's cultural heritage prior to 1966. From the 1880s onward, The Native Sons of the Golden West were instrumental in creating a monument to the discovery of gold and saving both Sutter's Fort in Sacramento and the old Custom House in Monterey. Meanwhile, three organizations, the Historical Society of Southern California, the Association for the Preservation of Missions, and its successor, the Landmarks Club of Southern California, sought to protect Spanish missions, other historical buildings, and pertinent records. In 1970, Governor Ronald Reagan signed into law the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEQA was patterned after the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and at first did not explicitly address archaeological or historical resources.
