National Heritage Area Essential Points in Brief Canyons and Plains, National Park Service, Palmer Land Trust, Guidestone, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, Nature Conservancy, and Rocky Mountain Farmers Union seek a National Heritage Area Designation for six and a half counties: Baca, Bent, Crowley, Kiowa, Las Animas, Otero, and Prowers Counties, comprising more than 9 million acres and 49,000 people. A National Heritage Area is conferred by act of Congress, with a management entity advised by the National Park Service along NPS mission guidelines of comprehensive conservation, preservation, and compatible economic development. The management plan must be approved by the Secretary of the Interior. This is nothing other than a public use, preservationist, protected landscape scheme pushed by the National Park Service, its enablers, infiltrators and surrogates upon the unsuspecting residents of the southeast Colorado. Canyons and Plains and the NPS covet the public trust, they covet managerial authority over southeast Colorado and they covet a stream of federal appropriations and matching public and private funds to make themselves sustainable on the backs of the American taxpayer and the tax base of southeastern Colorado and the unwitting generosity of private foundations. They seek to impose federal zoning on southeast Colorado and control land use policy based upon protecting the landscape from non-compatible economic development that runs counter to the National Park Service mission. The landscape is considered an historical resource within Section 106 of the Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Any federal funds spent on any project is subject to Section 106 scrutiny, which inhibits flexibility and alacrity in implementing economic development projects. Land use policy properly resides with the county commissioners of the respective counties of Southeast Colorado and that is where it should reside, not with Canyons and Plains, the NPS, its various and sundry partners, enablers, stakeholders, and the Secretary of the Interior. County Commissioners are accountable to the residents of their respective counties. Whereas the unelected board members of the NHA management entity are not accountable to anybody, just as the National Park Service and Secretary of the Interior are not accountable to local residents nor anybody else for that matter. To quote Elisabeth Erickson-Noe in her op-ed: “A National Heritage Area is better described as a forced conservation agreement for private land owners without compensation and all who live in it are subject to the views, ideas and management plan of the appointed, non-elected Management Entity.” National Heritage Area designation actual impact upon private property rights. Yuma Crossing NHA, Yuma, Arizona, designated in 2000, boundary revised, 2006 from 26 square miles and 13,000 acres down to 4 square miles within the town of Yuma. 109TH CONGRESS REPORT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 109-294 --TO AMEND THE YUMA CROSSING NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA ACT OF 2000 TO ADJUST THE BOUNDARY OF THE YUMA CROSSING NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA NOVEMBER 15, 2005- Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. POMBO, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following R E P O R T [To accompany H.R. 326] SECTION 1. YUMA CROSSING NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT. Section 3(b) of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 461 note; Public Law 106-319; 114 Stat. 1281) is amended to read as follows: `(b) Boundaries- The Heritage Area shall comprise the lands generally depicted on the map entitled `Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Boundary Adjustment, numbered 903-80071, and dated October 16, 2005.. Amend the title so as to read: A bill to amend the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Act of 2000 to adjust the boundary of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area and for other purposes. PURPOSE OF THE BILL The purpose of H.R. 326 is to amend the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Act of 2000 to adjust the boundary of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area and to extend the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance under that Act. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION When the Yuma Crossing Heritage Area was authorized in 2000, the public in Yuma County did not understand the scope of the project and was surprised by the size of the designation. Citizens originally believed that the heritage area would focus mainly around the historic districts and the wetlands. Furthermore, many property owners were not aware that they were also included in the new designation. Concerns were raised by citizens about the size of the designation and the potential for additional Federal oversight. The fear of adverse impacts on private property rights were realized when local government agencies began to use the immense heritage area boundary to determine zoning restrictions. In an effort to alleviate the property rights concerns and better focus the available funds on the historic areas, H.R. 326 adjusts the boundaries to include only those areas where there is greater consensus of perceived public support. Library of Congress, Thomas, Committee Reports, 109th Congress (2005-2006), House Report 109-294, To Amend the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Act of 2000 to Adjust the Boundary of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area, November 15, 2005. thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp109:FLD010:@1%28hr294%29 A National Heritage Area into National Park. Blackstone Rivery Valley National Heritage Area on the federal dole for 25 years was to sunset in 2012; but in 2013 was on its way to becoming a National Park. [Senate Report 113-62] [From the U.S. Government Printing Office] Calendar No. 116 113th Congress Report SENATE 1st Session 113-62 BLACKSTONE RIVER VALLEY NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK June 27, 2013.--Ordered to be printed Mr. Wyden, from the Committee on Energy and National Resources, submitted the following R E P O R T The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was referred the bill (S. 371) to establish the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, to dedicate the Park to John H. Chafee, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. Purpose The purpose of S. 371 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park in the States of Rhode Island and Massachusetts as a unit of the National Park System and to dedicate the park to former Senator John H. Chafee. Background and Need The Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor (Corridor) was established by Public Law 99-647 in 1986 to preserve and interpret the unique and significant contributions to our national heritage of historic and cultural lands, waterways, and structures within the Blackstone River Valley in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Corridor is the origin of Americas textile industry and influenced the course of the American industrial revolution. Americas transition from agriculture to industry manifested in the Corridor as a long-lasting and significant center of manufacturing that remains intact and visible today. Initially located within 19 municipalities, the Corridor was expanded in 1996 to encompass all or part of 24 communities from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Providence, Rhode Island. The Corridor is now home to nearly 600,000 people, covering 400,000 acres of the Blackstone River Valley. Development of the Corridor has generated numerous local partnerships and provides economic benefits to the associated communities from tourism and recreation. The Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park would encompass much of the area within the Corridor in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including the Blackstone River and its tributaries; the Blackstone Canal; the non-contiguous nationally significant historic districts of Old Slater Mill in Pawtucket; the villages of Slatersville (in North Smithfield) and Ashton (in Cumberland), Rhode Island; and Whitinsville (in Northbridge) and Hopedale in Massachusetts. In 2011, the National Park Service completed a special resource study which identified the industrial heritage resources of the Blackstone River Valley and determined that the Corridor contained nationally significant resources which were suitable and feasible for inclusion in the National Park System. It also identified the continued need for partnerships in the management of the resource. The legislation also established the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission to facilitate the development and implementation of a management plan for the Corridor. The authority for the Commission expires on September 30, 2013. Blackstone River National Heritage Corridor received Federal Funding for 25 years and was sunsetting in 2012; now on its way to becoming a National Park in 2013. Congress of the United States, Senate, 113th Congress, First Session, Calendar No. 116, Report, 113-62, Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, June 27, 2013. gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-113srpt62/html/CRPT-113srpt62.htm Congress of the United States, H.R. 706, 113th Congress, First Session, H.R. 706, In the House of Representatives, February 14, 2013, A Bill to establish the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park. gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr706ih/pdf/BILLS-113hr706ih.pdf
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 18:09:33 +0000
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