Preservation Effort Defunded

Operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the program had used more than $315 million in funding for preservation efforts since 1999.

"'Save America's Treasures was a model public-private partnership that invested record amounts to preserve the icons of our democracy,' said Bobbie Greene McCarthy, the former SAT director at the national trust. 'Its demise is a terrible loss to our country. We were only asking for $5m to keep things going,' she added.

This recent budget cut does not save dollars in terms of tax revenue. 'The SAT appropriation comes out of the Historic Preservation Fund, which is funded by outer continental oil lease revenues, not taxes,' said Hampton Tucker, the chief of the Historic Preservation Grants Division, National Park Service.