Of the four area concentrations, students are least familiar with cultural resources management or CRM. In fact, historic preservation is integral to cultural resources management (identification, preservation, and interpretation of historic resources), both are shaped strongly by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which created the National Register of Historic Places, and a variety of other laws and regulations. For example, both fields require knowledge of historic architecture, but CRM incorporates the study and analysis of cultural landscapes, archaeological sites, natural resources, and Native-American burial grounds.
CRM typically involves the responsibilities of major federal land-management agencies in the United States such as the National Park Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Land Management. With jurisdiction over millions of acres of land and cultural resources (buildings, objects, sites, structures, and districts), these agencies operate within a regulatory system that requires not only careful stewardship of the national domain but also interpretive programs for public education and entertainment.
The training and skills involved in historic preservation and CRM are closely intertwined, both conceptually and organizationally. Separating the two areas of concentration can be difficult, but they do have distinguishing characteristics. Moreover, MTSU's other two areas, Museum Management and Archival Management, also deal with the identification, preservation, and interpretation of "historic resources.