RESTORE Act Allocates $3M Annually for 6 Years to Preserve Historic Black Towns and Freedom Settlements

The Revitalizing and Empowering Freedom Settlements Through Opportunity, Resilience, and Education Act, or the RESTORE Act, sets up a brand-new federal effort to recognize, research, and preserve historic communities founded by formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. These are the places known as Freedom Settlements or Black Towns, established so African-American families could build self-sufficient lives away from Jim Crow and discrimination.

This section of the bill establishes the National Freedom Settlements Preservation Program, placing it under the National Park Service (NPS) within the Department of the Interior. The core purpose is to formally recognize the history and legacy of these settlements—places like Nicodemus, Kansas, or Tulsa’s Greenwood District—and to correct the historical record where these communities were neglected or erased (Sec. 2). The bill requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a formal study to pinpoint these sites and maintain a comprehensive, regularly updated registry.

The Program’s Mission: Finding and Funding Forgotten History

Think of this program as a focused effort to bring investment and recognition to places that have been historically overlooked. The NPS will be able to award grants to eligible applicants, which include property owners, local governments, and community organizations that demonstrate local leadership (Sec. 3). These grants can be used for several critical activities, including research and documentation, developing cultural heritage and tourism programs, building capacity for site operation, and creating educational programs.

For those busy people who run nonprofits or work in local government, this is a clear funding opportunity. Congress has authorized a specific pot of money for these grants: $3,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2031. This six-year funding window provides a stable runway for groups to plan and execute preservation projects. For a small, historically significant town, this funding could mean the difference between a crumbling church and a thriving heritage center that brings in tourist dollars.

Protecting Private Land and Getting Community Input

One thing the bill is very clear about is protecting private property rights. The Secretary of the Interior cannot force any changes or affect the management of private land unless the owner provides written consent (Sec. 3). This is important for the descendants and current residents of these settlements, many of whom still own the original land. However, if a property owner does accept a grant, the Secretary can set land management guidance as a condition of receiving that federal money. It’s a voluntary trade-off: funding for preservation comes with federal oversight on how the land is managed.

To ensure the program stays grounded in community reality, the bill mandates the creation of the Freedom Settlements Advisory Committee. This committee will be made up of people who actually live in or are descendants of these settlements, along with experts in African-American history (Sec. 3). This structure is designed to ensure that the people who lived this history—and their descendants—have a direct voice in how these sites are identified and preserved, rather than leaving it solely to federal bureaucrats.

What This Means on the Ground

For everyday Americans, this bill is about equity and recognition. If you live near one of these historic settlements, this legislation could bring federal resources for infrastructure, cultural tourism, and job creation related to historical preservation. For historians and educators, it means a formal, federally supported effort to document and teach a vital, often-neglected part of American history.

While the $3 million annual authorization is a targeted investment rather than a massive federal spending spree, it is focused on correcting systemic neglect. The key challenge, given the medium vagueness rating, will be the formal study process: ensuring the Secretary's team correctly identifies and verifies settlements, balancing academic rigor with the oral histories and community memory that often hold the only records of these places (Sec. 2).