The protection and preservation of places of historic, cultural, and natural interest are activities particularly appropriate to state and local governments. The charm of America is accentuated by diversity-diversity of history, geography, economy, and the varied ethnic origins and cultural concerns and values of its people. Few landmarks have significance that is truly national in character. Rather, most have special relationships to particular places or people whose unique interests they reflect. Standards and procedures for historic preservation are thus necessarily related to state and local objectives and can be implemented most feasibly through governmental action on state and local levels. Moreover, the states are the repositories of the powers of the government most useful in achieving preservation objectives-the police power, the power of taxation, and the power of eminent domain. Awareness of the need for the state and local initiative is reflected in much of the recent preservation legislation enacted by the Congress. 1 PArTRis IN STAT PRESERVATION LEGISLATION Few, if any, state legislatures have demonstrated a long continuing concern for preservation of cultural landmarks. American life has emphasized the new-new ways, new ideas, new things. The old has often been the subject of indifference or disdain. Too much state control of historic properties has been thought to deviate from the traditional American concept of the role of government in society. Economic considerations are often overriding deterrents to preservation legislation. Hence, much of the activity aimed at the preservation of places and objects of historic interest has been initiated and carried forward by civic-minded individuals and private organizations. While activity of this kind is often rewarding to the community and results in the preservation of objects of veneration, in other cases the objectives of historic preservation have been obscured by short-range economic motives. The accelerated rate of destruction of historic landmarks in the twentieth century has demonstrated the need for greater governmental participation and has produced accelerated activity by state legislatures. Thus, during the past few decades patterns in state laws aimed at historic preservation have begun to emerge.