Coming Together in MotorCities NHA

Henry Ford said "Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." 

Lincoln Home National Historic Site and the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area partnered to secure a 2012 National Park Foundation America's Best Idea grant. Even though the project was partially created, the grant allowed for the website to be completed and for presentations at the Boys and Girls Club of Central Illinois. The students created short video reflections on their lives after having gained inspiration from knowing that Lincoln, Douglass, Tubman, and King, all persevered to achieve greatness. 

 

The program developers hope that children who participate are inspired in their lives, in their appreciation of history, and desire to visit other National Parks, historic sites, and museums. For more information: www.nps.gov/liho/forteachers/journey-to-greatness

The Niagara Falls NHA dedicated March as "Discover Niagara: Local Heritage Month" in partnership with the Niagara Falls City Council and the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Area. 

 

Discover Niagara,

 

Ten innovative education and preservation projects will get off the ground this year with funding support from Erie Canalway Grants. Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor is investing $65,530 in grants, which will be matched by an additional $478,000 in private and public project funding raised by grant recipients. The grants are aimed at inspiring people to learn more about New York's legendary canals and further explore the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.

 

The newest project for the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor (SCNHC) is making sure people get outside and "get a little dirty" while enjoying outdoor adventures. From fishing in the charming seaside towns to kayaking in a black water river and zip-lining through the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they do not lack opportunity or landscape variety. The SCNHC staff is working with communities to promote unique outdoor assets through marketing research and campaigns, environmental education training, resource inventory, and signage.   

 

SCNHC will launch an outdoor feature online during National Great Outdoors Month in June. It will be a one-stop-shop for a visitors and locals to find everything they need to know about experiencing the outdoors in South Carolina. Did you know:

• South Carolina's Edisto River is the longest free-flowing black water river in North America.
• South Carolina's four National Scenic Byways feature major outdoor recreation hot-spots.
• South Carolina has the highest waterfalls in the southeast.
• Some of the rarest plants and birds are found at Lake Jocassee and the gorges were named a destination of a lifetime by National Geographic. 

The Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area in Alaska is gearing to launch several projects including elementary education video curriculum featuring narration by students and colorful stories of some of the KMTA's most notable characters and historic events. 

 

Ohio Canal Corridor, an Ohio & Erie Canalway National Heritage Area founding organization, is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of River Sweep - Ohio's largest done-in-a-day cleanup event. Over 25 years, 16,458 RiverSweep volunteers have recycled 22,880 illegally dumped tires and clear 419 tons of rubbish.

  

Before: Volunteers at Scranton Flats

RiverSweep is done with purpose - areas are cleared where future trails and parks are planned. Within a few years, volunteers can see their efforts result in new green spaces and Canalway trails, cementing the worth of the effort and keeping volunteers coming back.

 

 

RiverSweep sites with new parks and trails include: Cleveland's Flats (future home to Canal Basin Park - a nationally significant park for the historic northern terminus of the Towpath Trail)

After:  The newest RiverSweep site to become a park is Scranton Flats, a $9M Towpath and riverfront restoration project.

Cleveland Metroparks Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation, Washington Reservation, and West Creek Reservation as well as Hart Crane Park, Mill Creek Falls, and the Morgana Run Trail.

 

See them in Action

Executive Director Tim Donovan invites you to come to one of the nine clean-up areas on May 10th in Cleveland's Cuyahoga River Valley and join 800 high school students, businesses, and civic groups. "We're especially proud of the event's educational outreach," added Donovan.

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership collaborated with the Town of Williamsport and the Maryland Forest Service to plant 120 trees as part of the organization's Living Legacy Tree Project. This project was created to commemorate the Civil War Sesquicentennial by planting or dedicating one tree for each of the 620,000 soldiers who died, as a living memorial for their individual and combined sacrifices. 

 

Through this collaboration, soldiers who died in Williamsport and soldiers who were from Williamsport and died during the Civil War will be included in the tree dedications.

 

Upon completion, the Living Legacy Project will be the first 180-mile landscaped allée in the world dedicated to honoring the most defining moment in American history.  The project will create a unified color palette that reminds visitors that they are, indeed, on hallowed ground, where many soldiers died during the American Civil War.

 

National Park Conservation Association's monthly NHA feature highlighted the work of Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area including:

• Restoring the 350-acre Yuma East Wetlands, replacing non-native vegetation with more than 200,000 native cottonwood, willow, and mesquite trees. The restoration has attracted hundreds of bird species and migratory waterfowl- and along with it, an eco-tourism boom.
• Transforming the Yuma West Wetlands from a dump to a beautiful 110-acre riverfront park, including a gigantic creative playground, lake, picnic areas, boat ramp, and beach.
• Creating Gateway Park, a 40-acre downtown riverfront recreation area which includes Pivot Point Interpretive Plaza featuring a restored 1907 Baldwin Locomotive.
• Designing and building the Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center, a riverfront hotel in keeping with its location within a National Historic Landmark, features photos and artifacts of Yuma's history on the river. 

Read the article: http://www.parkadvocate.org/

 

In February, the Schuylkill River Heritage Area opened a unique exhibit at Valley Forge National Historical Park, entitled Bringing the War of Independence to Life: 19th Century Illustrations of the American Revolution. 

 

The exhibit is the result of a partnership between the Schuylkill River Heritage Area and Valley Forge National Historical Park, as well as Morristown National Historical Park, and Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area, in New Jersey. This partnership enabled the Schuylkill River Heritage Area to reach a wider audience and tell a broader story of the American Revolution.

 

The exhibit features 42 illustrations of the Revolutionary War by 16 artists whose work originally appeared in 19th century publications. All the works were culled from the personal collection of Schuylkill River Heritage Area Executive Director Kurt Zwikl. They will be on display in Valley Forge Visitor Center through April 28. The exhibit will be on display from June 23- August 26 in Washington Headquarters Museum at Morristown National Historical Park.

 

"We are pleased to be able to tell the story of the war through these fascinating illustrations, and through a partnership that allows us to emphasize the Revolutionary War connections between two national parks in Valley Forge and Morristown, and between two National Heritage Areas: the Schuylkill River Heritage Area and Crossroads of the American Revolution," said Zwikl.

A special Native American ceremony was held on the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail to bless the trail and the participants in the Inaugural Scranton Half Marathon. Chief Jake Edwards and others from the Seneca Nation traveled from Onondaga, NY, to consecrate the trail at the site of a Native American Chief sculpture. The race course included the sculpture and other carvings and artifacts created by artist Tom Austin in 2013 to showcase the region's Native American heritage. 

 

This was kickoff of a new annual event that attracted 2,800 participants. The Half Marathon traveled through several Scranton neighborhoods, the downtown business district, and the Heritage Trail. A growing number of people are using the Heritage Trail for health, fitness, recreation. People who use the trail also bring business to local establishments. Learn more: http://www.lhva.org/

Poudre Heritage Alliance Working to Enhance Region

Arthur Ditch diversion dam on the Cache la Poudre River.

In February, the Department of Interior approved the Cache la Poudre National Heritage Area management plan. The Poudre Heritage Alliance, the governing nonprofit of the area, is working with partner organizations and municipalities to develop the historic resources and potential of this amazing cultural and natural treasure. 

 

The Cache la Poudre River NHA, created in 2009, includes many sites of historic significance that with the approval of this plan may become important heritage tourism sites and boost the regional economy. Whether celebrating the irrigation ditches that connect water to agriculture and breathe life into the dry plains, partnerships with museums with exhibits about the history of water law, or using new technologies to inform trail users of the river's natural history, the Cache la Poudre River NHA has much to offer.

 

The Alliance's plan will help coordinate stakeholders' efforts to achieve goals such as developing maps and brochures, establish signage, create educational program to nurture public appreciation for the diverse communities, cultures and environments in the Poudre region and offer authentic regional heritage opportunities. They aim to enhance visitor experience by identifying and creating outdoor activities and programs, recreational and eco-tourism opportunities and facilities. They plan to engage area youth to establish a larger sense of community and recognition of the history and resources in the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area.

 

National Parks journalist Kevin Grange, and photographer Jason Varney, visited the Essex National Heritage Area in August 2013 to learn about the special places and faces of Essex National Heritage Area. In their article, Stewards & Storytellers, readers can meet the people they met, journey to the place they visited, and discover how the "Essex National Heritage Area in Massachusetts is one of dozens of heritage areas making America's best idea even better."

 

Stewards & Storytellers is featured in the Spring 2014 edition of National Parks, the award-winning quarterly magazine by the National Parks Conservation Association. 

Ohio Budget Includes Funds for Wright Brothers Factory

Artist rendering of Wright Company factory once restored. Courtesy of NAHA.

 

The state of Ohio has bolstered efforts to restore the historic Wright brothers' airplane factory in Dayton by including $250,000 in funding in its 2015-2016 capital budget bill.

 

"The funding is an important recognition of the importance of the Wright Company Factory Project," said Tony Sculimbrene, executive director of the National Aviation Heritage Alliance (NAHA).

 

It comes as NAHA prepares to launch a feasibility study for a major fundraising campaign to acquire, preserve and restore the buildings. NAHA estimates it needs to raise between $3 million and $5 million to carry out this work.

 

Inventors Wilbur and Orville Wright formed the Wright Company in 1909 and built its first factory building in 1910 about two miles from their bicycle shop. It was the first American factory built for the purpose of producing airplanes. They added the second building in 1911. Three buildings of similar style were added in later years. 

 

The factory became the nucleus of a General Motors auto parts plant until it closed in 2008. In 2009, Congress added the factory to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. The site is now in the hands of a redevelopment company that is working with NAHA, the NPS and others to restore the historic factory buildings while preparing areas of the site for commercial redevelopment. 

 

Augusta Canal's identity as a National Heritage Area is getting a boost from a comprehensives signage and re-branding  effort. The first phase of the program rolled out in early 2014. 

 

"A well-developed sign system is a vital management tool in 21st Century land management, especially within the context of an easily accessible, urban trail experience such as the Augusta Canal NHA," explained  Rebecca Rogers, ACNHA Director of Marketing, who organized the project. 

 

Consisting of directional, regulatory, informational and interpretive panels, the sign program features an updated Augusta Canal logo and color scheme in brown, tan and gold tones.  "We also felt it was important to reflect our partnership with the National Park Service," Rogers stated, so the signs feature the well-known NPS arrowhead logo at the bottom of each panel. The custom-designed powder-coated aluminum signs replace signs installed by various entities over the past 25 years.

 

The signage will encourage appropriate trial use and dissuade visitors from creating unauthorized access routes. Signage will support access to the Canal, appreciation and understanding of the resources, make rules better understood and adhered-to, thus mitigating damage, abuse and vandalism.