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To: XRdsRev

Some people have discovered that adding the words “nationally significant” to their area or region can result in millions of federal dollars funneled through National Heritage Areas (NHAs). What was once a regional or local project with community involvement can be partly underwritten by the government and overseen by the Nation Park Service.

NHAs raise legitimate questions about the role of the federal government. To begin with, the potential scope of heritage areas is enormous. Forty-five million Americans now live within the 27 existing NHAs. Although the National Park Service does not control what happens in these areas—supposedly, decisions are made by “management entities” composed of local groups—the agency provides money and technical expertise, as well as publicity and prestige, to these community projects.

NHAs move the federal government into one more aspect of private life. They provide justification for local governments that want to adopt cultural-heritage-related zoning laws and other land-use restrictions. Although “designation as a National Heritage Area does not involve Federal regulation of private property,” according to the National Park Service (2005a), it gives local preservation interests the backing of the federal government. A heritage area “benefits from national recognition due to its association with the National Park Service through the use of
the NPS arrowhead symbol as a branding strategy,” says the National
Park Service (2005b). If the local management group does not meet the standards of the federally approved management plan, funding will diminish or cease. This creates an incentive to bend to the wishes of the National Park Service.

Despite such worries, NHAs are not a land grab—yet. Some, however, worry because the National Park Service agency has been taken to court numerous times for trying to restrict the freedom of inholders and persuade them to move out of the park boundaries .2 For example, a family that owns 410 acres within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska has been suing the Park Service since 2003, trying to maintain access to its property.

Indeed, one goal of National Heritage Area proponents may be to add national parks. The management board of the Rivers of Steel NHA in Pennsylvania has announced that it wants to create an urban park, the Homestead Works National Park. The location would be on land currently designated for heritage use (Rivers of Steel 2005). This action would seem to undercut the stated claim that heritage areas “allow the Park Service to fulfill this mission [preservation of historic and natural resources deemed nationally significant] without having to acquire or manage more land” (NPS 2005b).

A redeeming feature of heritage areas is that they form only a minute portion of the federal budget. Currently, each heritage area can receive no more than $1 million per year, and all such funding has a sunset date between ten and fifteen years after funding starts. Funding is supposed to be seed money, matched by local private funding. In 2003 congressional testimony, however, de Teel Patterson Tiller, acting associate director for cultural resources for the National Park Service, admitted that “to date, self sufficiency has yet to be achieved with any NHAs, and the first four NHAs established have sought and received Congressional extensions of their funding” (Tiller 2003). The dissipation of taxpayer-funded government resources may be small, but it may still be wasteful.

Creating “heritage areas” is not an inherently bad idea. The preservation of truly significant areas or historic sites opens up possibilities for research, education, and tourism. Around the country, private museums, historical societies, and state and city governments are doing just that. If they are supported by members of the local community, they can achieve the same results as NHAs—without losing local autonomy, wasting federal resources, or risking attacks on private property.

http://www.perc.org/publications/percreports/june2005/ntl_heritage_areas.php

HERITAGE BILLS INTRODUCED, 108th CONGRESS

http://www.cr.nps.gov/heritageareas/LEG/introbills.pdf


50 posted on 08/08/2005 8:01:58 PM PDT by Sweetjustusnow (Help Kill Senate Bill 54....NOW. Another Property Rights Infringement. (Update: TOO LATE))
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To: Sweetjustusnow

Actually I think Tillers testimony may be out of date. the latest figures I saw indicate that at least 5 NHA's are levering their Federal money at rations of 5 private $$$ to every Federal $ or greater. I think one NHA is currently bringing in about 15 private $$$ to every Federal $, which is an excellent result.

As for Rivers of Steel, I am familiar with the attempt to get a National Park there. I honestly don't think they need one but apparently the City of Pittsburg and the NHA feel that it is a good idea to pursue. They are in for a long difficult road if they try to do it. New National Parks in urban areas are very rare.

I only support National heritage Area designation for areas that want it and that have a story to tell of National interest. The reason that Crossroads (which is now a state of New Jersey Heritage Area) is going for National recognition is twofold. 1) the story we tell is of National importance (the American Revolution) and our story directly relates to New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, maryland and Virginia. New Jersey's Revolutionary War story meshes well with existing National Parks in other states such as Independance, Valley Forge, Saratoga etc. 2) The input of the NPS and higher profile of an NHA make tourism a bigger reality. The NPS for all its faults has some excellent programs for interpretation which can be applied across the Heritage Area for a consistent image that a visitor can see and learn from. I am not going to lie to you, the money doesn't hurt either.


55 posted on 08/08/2005 8:25:16 PM PDT by XRdsRev (New Jersey has more horses per square mile than any other U.S. state.)
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