Alliance of National Heritage Areas

Meeting with John Cosgrove, ANHA
Glenn Eugster, NPS-NCR
January 18, 2006

Goal: Inform the strategic future of Alliance of National Heritage Areas and the heritage area movement

Focus:

1. Heritage area movement today
2. Directions for the future

Trends:

* Public embrace of heritage
* Heritage area activity at all levels of the government and in the private sector
* Number of National Heritage Area designations

Issues/ Matters of Concern:

* Disconnect between NHA’s and heritage area movement
* The deal versus the reality (6-year self-help efforts versus designations forever). Backdoor forever designations.
* NHA quality assurance
* Capacity building: helping people help themselves protect and prosper
* Impact on NPS funding
* Goal of NPS heritage areas—what does success look like?

Options:

1. Articulate/ clarify/ reach agreement on the goal of NPS heritage areas/ movement

a. Link heritage areas movement not just NHA’s.

Link seemingly independent NPS heritage areas through enabling and
Empowering leadership, communication and coordination.

Although the focus of the heritage areas program seems to be on coordinating the Congressionally funded heritage areas, it would be useful for your office to work across NPS offices to link together other heritage area efforts. For example, in NCR it would be useful if your office could share information between heritage areas and the NPS-lead Potomac American Heritage River Initiative, and other non-traditional NPS units--such as the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail.

Expanding communication, through periodic newsletters, topical
Teleconference calls, and perhaps periodic forums, to include these other heritage areas NPS could increase the insights, experiences and best management practices available to all of us to conserve these special places.


b. Assess heritage areas as an alternative way for NPS to preserve, enjoy, conserve and interpret natural, cultural and recreational values.

Heritage areas were originally proposed as an alternative to traditional NPS park, and other, designations. Advocates stressed how this approach would ultimately save money, reduce land federal acquisition, leverage non-federal dollars, and be more effective overall.

As the number of heritage areas, and the funding they require, continues to increase, it seems to be an appropriate time for NPS to assess the effectiveness of this approach. Is this an effective designation for NPS to use? Has the experience of some of the older heritage areas achieved the expectations that advocates and NPS leaders had for this approach when it was created? What are the tangible benefits, to NPS, of heritage areas versus other types of NPS
designations and management arrangements?

Since many of the NPS heritage areas have been operating for a considerable period of time, there is a depth and breadth of experience that would be useful to tap. Such experience might be useful in shaping future NPS or Congressional initiatives and priorities for heritage areas.


c. Implement the results of the amendment to the National Historic Preservation Act Public Law 96-515, Section 506.

This little known provision was included in the amendments to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1980. The amendment said, “The Secretary shall undertake a comprehensive study and formulate recommendations for a coordinated system of cultural parks and historic conservation districts that provide for the preservation, interpretation, development and use by public and private entities of the prehistoric, historic, architectural, cultural, and recreational resources found in definable urban areas throughout the Nation”. Most importantly the legislation called for recommendations for funding by public and private entities and management by various levels of government. The report was to go to President and Congress within two years.

It appears that the legislation may not have been acted on. If it wasn’t one option is to make an effort to get it implemented.

d. Work with Congress to create a Heritage Lottery, or other, Fund to give grants to a wide range of projects involving the local, state, regional and national heritage of the U.S.

The Heritage Lottery Fund of the United Kingdom was created by Parliament in 1994 to distribute a share of the money raised by the National Lottery for Good Causes. To date the Fund has awarded 3 billion pounds to more than 15,000 projects across the UK.