(a) The Department of Natural Resources shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) To promote and increase knowledge and understanding of the history of this state from the earliest times to the present, including the archeological, Indian, Spanish, colonial, and American eras, by adopting and executing general plans, methods, and policies for permanently preserving and marking objects, sites, areas, structures, and ruins of historic or legendary significance, such as trails, post roads, highways, or railroads; inns or taverns; rivers, inlets, millponds, bridges, plantations, harbors, or wharves; mountains, valleys, coves, swamps, forests, or everglades; churches, missions, campgrounds, and places of worship; schools, colleges, and universities; courthouses and seats of government; places of treaties, councils, assemblies, and conventions; factories, foundries, industries, mills, stores, and banks; cemeteries and burial mounds; and battlefields, fortifications, and arsenals. Such preservation and marking may include the construction of signs, pointers, markers, monuments, temples, and museums, which structures may be accompanied by tablets, inscriptions, pictures, paintings, sculptures, maps, diagrams, leaflets, and publications explaining the significance of the historic or legendary objects, sites, areas, structures, or ruins;

(2) To promote and assist in the publicizing of the historical resources of the state by preparing and furnishing the necessary historical material to agencies charged with such publicity; to promote and assist in making accessible and attractive to travelers, visitors, and tourists the historical features of the state by advising and cooperating with state, federal, and local agencies charged with the construction of roads, highways, and bridges leading to such historical points;

(3) To coordinate any of its objectives, efforts, or functions with those of any agency or agencies of the federal government, this state, other states, and local governments having duties, powers, or objectives similar or related to those of the department, and to cooperate with, counsel, and advise them;

(4) To cooperate with, counsel, and advise local societies, organizations, or groups staging celebrations, festivals, or pageants commemorating historical events;

(5) To enter into contracts with both public and private parties in connection with the exercise of the powers and duties of the department under this Code section; and

(6) To send its employees onto property, the title to which is not in the department or the State of Georgia, for the purpose of research and exploration, provided that the express written consent of the owner of such property is first obtained; provided, further, that the findings of such research and exploration shall, by prior agreement, be available to the department in the exercise of its functions under this Code section.

(b) Nothing in this Code section shall prohibit a person from restoring and utilizing an agricultural structure, including but not limited to barns, erected prior to 1965 that previously promoted Georgia tourist destinations to the traveling public for the purpose of advertising or promoting Georgia products or tourist destinations. The department shall approve applications for such structures so long as no public funds from the State of Georgia are used in connection with such restoration or utilization.