Whole areas of your town (or county), or specific pieces of land may have historical significance. Designating an area or a piece of property as a historical landmark poses significant hurdles for any developer and Wal-Mart developers especially. Usually there is a local, community-based historical society or commission empowered to designate and preserve historical landmarks. In addition, there are state and federal level programs that recognize and protect areas and sites of historical significance. Find out if a proposed Wal-Mart development impacts a historically significant area or site and at the very least get your local historical society involved. Remember that the Wal-Mart development need not be adjacent to the historic area or site – it merely needs to impact preservation or public access.