NOW SEARCHABLE!
The Stewardship Archive: Safeguarding Essential Information to Protect America’s Public Lands, Waters, and Places of Cultural Heritage
Amid growing concerns about the removal of public information from the websites of federal agencies charged with protecting the country’s public lands, waters, and places of cultural heritage, the George Wright Society (GWS) created The Stewardship Archive to preserve publicly available information from several federal agencies.
What is The Stewardship Archive?
The Stewardship Archive is a repository of more than 3 terabytes of publicly available content captured from federal agency websites between December 12, 2024, and January 19, 2025. It was created by GWS to ensure that this information remains accessible if it is removed from, or altered on, agency websites.
Here is an example. The upper image shows a portion of the landing page for the National Park Service’s LGBTQ Heritage Program as it existed before the current Administration took office; this version of the page is now preserved in The Stewardship Archive. The lower image shows the page as it looks today (accessed April 14, 2026). References to Transgender and Queer Americans have been removed, and important text deleted or edited.
A new search tool allows users to search an index of the Archive and request copies of specific pages by email.
What kind of information is preserved in The Stewardship Archive?
The Archive focuses on content related to: climate change; environmental protection and the conservation and monitoring of the nation’s natural and cultural resources; perspectives and experiences of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups; and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
This material was created through decades of scholarship in the natural and social sciences and the humanities. Much of it is essential to the scientific and scholarly research needed for sound resource decision-making to protect public lands, waters, and places of cultural heritage.
Some of this content may still be available on the respective agency websites, either at the same URL or in a different location. By comparing archived content with what currently appears online, users can identify whether changes have been made to agency web pages.
Which federal agencies are represented?
The Archive contains content from seven federal agencies: the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Park Service. Additional material was captured from the Department of the Interior.
How does the search tool work?
You can search the Archive’s index at https://the-stewardship-archive.web.app/. Enter a keyword or phrase, and the tool will return a list of matching page titles. Each result includes a link to the original agency webpage so you can check whether that page is still active. If it is no longer at the address, you will get a “Not Found” error. Two things to keep in mind: (1) If the link works, the material you are viewing may have been edited starting January 20, 2025. (2) If you receive a “Not Found” error, it doesn’t necessarily mean the material was taken down; it might have been moved to a new address.
To receive archived copies of pages that interest you:
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Check the boxes next to the pages you want. You can submit items from different search result pages in a single request.
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Enter your email address at the bottom of the screen.
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Click “Request Selected URLs via Email.”
GWS staff will review your request and send the archived files to you by email as soon as possible. Response times may vary depending on the volume of requests.
Why do I have to request files by email rather than downloading them directly?
The Archive contains more than 3 terabytes of data, which is far too large to host entirely online. The email request process also allows GWS to maintain secure management of the collection and ensure that archived materials are delivered accurately and responsibly.
How many pages can I request?
Because we must retrieve material manually, a maximum of five items can be requested.
How may I use materials from the Archive?
Almost all materials in Archive are in the public domain because they were created by federal public servants as part of their official duties. These materials may be used freely. In a few instances, the Archive may contain copyrighted material whose owners have allowed it to be published on an agency website. This material will contain a copyright notice, and any further use of it will require the permission of the copyright owner.
Will my requests be kept confidential?
Any information you provide when submitting a request, including your email address, will be used solely to respond to your request. GWS will not sell, share, or use your personal information for marketing or any other purpose without your permission. You may choose to opt in to our mailing list to receive updates, but we will only add you if you sign up voluntarily.
How can I refine my search to get better results?
The search tool supports Boolean operators (such as AND, OR, and NOT), which can help you narrow or broaden your results. You can also use truncation—adding a wildcard character (usually an asterisk) to the root of a word—to capture multiple variations. For example, searching “conserv*” would return results for “conservation,” “conserve,” and “conserving.” Enclosing a phrase in quotation marks will search for that exact phrase.
What does the link in each search result connect to?
Each search result includes a blue hyperlink that connects to the original agency webpage, not to the archived copy. Some of these links will lead to active pages; others may return a “404 Not Found” error if the content has been removed from the agency’s website. If a page is no longer available, you can request the archived version by following the steps above.
