Evaluation on a Landscape Scale: National Heritage Areas

The National Park Service has completed of a series of evaluations of the more established National Heritage Areas. These studies serve as a major contribution to understanding the effectiveness of large-scale regional planning efforts implemented over multiple decades. The National Heritage Areas are a regional strategy to coordinate natural resource conservation, historic preservation, land use, and economic development. Administered by the National Park Service, the program has grown to 49 designated areas over the past thirty years.  The maturing movement faces challenges. Twelve of the early National Heritage Area face de-authorization of federal support. Widespread state and national financial uncertainty have reduced operating funds for all partnership efforts and made them difficult to sustain. At the same time the agency and the larger conservation community have identified management by partnership and working on a landscape scale as an important strategy to address issues of climate change, urbanization, and the protection of both cultural and natural resources. The results of the heritage area evaluations show that these regions achieved positive results in resources conservation, education and interpretation, and recreational development.  The approach leveraged limited dollars and a wielded a complex array of partnerships.  Studies also documented the limits of the work.  Without sustained support to provide operational funding and seed money the long-term viability of many areas is in question.  Recommendations included closer working relationship with park service, enhanced fundraising and better data collection. The presenter will provide the audience with written summary of this work.