During the past 15 years, the conservation of historic resources has become a mainstay of planning and economic revitalization efforts in the United States. Fueled by historic preservation tax incentives and given increased visibility with the National Main Street Program, conservation efforts have spread from the protection of individual buildings to the protection of entire residential and commercial districts, battlefields and rural areas. However, as the focus of historic preservation has broadened, so too has the effect of conservation efforts broadened to include a wide array of private property rights and municipal budget issues.