Conservation policy of Canadian parks and historic sites was officially begun in 1983 due to the pressure of a group of inhabitants of Nova Scotia who wanted the federal government to protect Fort Anne at Annapolis Royal. Since then, the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada has undergone continuous expansion. This same board had gone through a particularly flourishing period in the 1960s, but this trend was suddenly stopped in 1976 by the decision of the government to introduce budgetary restrictions on account of the serious economic situation.