House Votes to Create Six New 'Heritage' Areas
By: Administrative Account | Source: CNSNews.com
October 25, 2007 11:37AM EST

By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
October 25, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - The House on Wednesday passed the Celebrating America's Heritage Act (H.R. 1483), which would create new National Heritage Areas, but some critics say the bill "tramples" on personal liberties and property rights.

The bill would establish six national heritage areas (NHAs), which are non-federal lands and communities managed privately in conjunction with the National Park Service. It would also provide funding for nine existing NHAs.

The six new projects include the Journey Through Hallowed Ground NHA in Maryland and Virginia; Niagara Falls NHA in New York; Muscle Shoals NHA in Alabama; Freedom's Way NHA in Massachusetts and New Hampshire; Abraham Lincoln NHA in Illinois; and Santa Cruz Valley NHA in Arizona.

The bill was approved by a vote of 291 to 122, with 222 Democrats voting yes and no Democrats voting against the measure. On the Republican side, 122 Republicans voted no and 69 Republicans voted yes. Eleven Democrats and nine Republicans did not vote.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), lead sponsor of the Santa Cruz Valley NHA, said that NHA designation provides federal recognition and financial support. Through annual congressional appropriations administered by local National Park unit partners, up to $10 million in 50-percent match funding is available to each National Heritage Area over a period of 15 years.

Grijalva said that this "seed money" can help cover basic expenses such as staffing, and leverages other money from state, local, and private sources to implement locally selected projects.

"This initial investment ensures that these areas get a solid start toward financial and operational independence," he said. "Congress can either provide the program the tools and support it needs to continue maturing into a successful preservation model or we can turn our backs on heritage areas and leave local communities to fend for themselves.

"Ever since Congress established heritage areas over twenty years ago, heritage tourism has been growing," Grijalva added. "Today, it has become a significant economic engine. These areas are worthwhile not only as a way to help local economies, but as a crucial tool in preserving our communities' links to their past."

But Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), who opposes the bill and in particular the Journey Through Hallowed Ground NHA that runs through his district, said, "All of our nation's founders knew of the intimate connection between personal liberty, taxpayers' interests and property rights. H.R. 1483 tramples over rather than honors these hallowed principles."

Bartlett's press secretary, Lisa Wright, told Cybercast News Service, the bill is a "big spending increase, it's a 50 percent increase in spending."

"It's an expansion of federal support for what are supposed to be self-supporting organizations and it out-sources from the federal government - with less accountability - the expenditure of taxpayers money by management entities that have racked up a history of actions that benefit their elite, self-perpetuating groups," she said.

Wright added that the non-profits set up by the government to run the NHAs are "exerting undue and indirect influence on local planning and zoning decisions that have elite interests that hurt average taxpayers" by restricting commercial and residential development, infrastructure modernization and automobile traffic.

But Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), lead sponsor of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground NHA, said, "This legislation has been painstakingly drafted to ensure that the rights of private property owners within the district will not be usurped."

Wolf said the designation as a heritage area "increases the rights of property owners giving them an opportunity to learn more about the significance of their own property and an alternative to selling their land for development. Landowners should have the right to choose preservation and protection along with the right to chose to build town homes, malls and highways."

Wright, however, said that Wolf, a senior member of the appropriations committee, pressured Republicans to vote for the bill by threatening to deny an earmark for their districts.

The bill will now move to the Senate for consideration.

Make media inquiries or request an interview about this article.

Subscribe to the free CNSNews.com daily E-Brief.

E-mail a comment or news tip to Monisha Bansal

Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.

Email this Article

Printer Friendly Version