In order to participate in the federal preservation program and to receive federal preservation funds, a state must develop a preservation planning procedure to guide and energize preservation endeavors. The plan is both a document and a process, to link identification, evaluation, registration, and treatment of historical resources. It is also intended to help the people and organizations and governmental agencies whose activities are somehow connected with preservation to understand how their own roles can, or ought to be, coordinated with the statewide preservation strategy. As part of the process, the DHR circulates an annual questionnaire to elicit public comments and public participation. Each year, the responses have consistently emphasized four program areas for special attention: technical assistance, public education and outreach, and partnership initiatives; local historical surveys (which focus on a community's built environment as a key to understanding its history); context-based community planning; and preservation tax incentives.