Today is the 1 year Anniversary of our designation as a National Heritage Area!
One year ago today, our National Heritage Area designation, as a part of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (also known as the Natural Resources Management Act), was signed into law. With this bill we became Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area. We couldn’t be happier.
Save the dates! Wednesday, May 20th in Buckhannon and Thursday, May 21st in Cumberland will be the first in our series of public meetings for our Management Plan. More details to follow.
Thank you!
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We want to thank all of our stakeholders, members, partners, AmeriCorps members and supporters from years past and present. We also thank our congressional supporters, including Joe Manchin, Shelley Moore Capito, Ben Cardin, and Chris Van Hollen in the Senate and representatives David McKinley, Evan Jenkins, John Delaney, and Alex Mooney, Carol Miller, and David Trone in the House of Representatives.
Designation increases our ability to assist in capacity building of partner organizations and assist them in achieving their goals. It also validates the on-going work we have been doing since our creation in 2001. "Designation as a National Heritage Area, after years of effort, finally recognized the national significance of our Appalachian Forest area, and the great things that we can do together moving forward," says Executive Director, Phyllis Baxter.
What's Next?
Congressman David McKinley speaking at a Designation Celebration at Arthurdale Heritage Inc. last March.
During our first year as a NHA, we started organizing our Management Planning effort. At our first anniversary, we have now been authorized to start receiving federal funding, and we will be moving forward with that planning over this year. We are grateful for your ongoing involvement and support through this process. We look forward to developing our identity as a National Heritage Area as we hit the ground running and engage in local communities. Watch for planning meetings to start in May.
"As we move forward this year with our Management Planning, we look forward to meeting and talking with people from a wide variety of communities, with diverse interests and priorities, about how we can work together to help make things happen," says Executive Director Phyllis Baxter. She has championed the efforts towards national designation upwards of 10 years.
"The Management Planning process will determine the roles that AFNHA will take in the future," says Baxter. "I expect that will include looking for ways we can help conserve and enhance our assets, prepare for and encourage tourism based on our unique forest heritage, and to support communities and organizations to build capacity and move towards meeting their goals." We are expecting to shape our organization to help meet the needs of our partners. With our new federal funding, how can we best support their goals and initiatives?
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Also in 2020, we are looking to launch our Pollinator Initiative and open our our Appalachian Forest Discovery Center exhibit about public lands. AmeriCorps member Willie Weems is responsible for our Pollinator Initiative. Sarah Rosenkrans is serving her second year at the Appalachian Forest Discovery Center. Last year her exhibit Creating Culture was about the different immigrant and ethnic groups that settled in our region; this year she is focusing on Public Lands to coincide with the Monongahela National Forest Centennial Anniversary. AFNHA AmeriCorps member Brandy Harvey, also a second-year AmeriCorps, is working closely with MNF staff and partners to promote their centennial celebrations.
Interested in getting involved?
Senator Joe Manchin shaking hands with AmeriCorps member Meredith Dreistadt.
There are many ways to get involved with the work Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area is doing. One of which is to donate. The funds donated will go to supporting one of our programs, such as our AmeriCorps program or our Pollinator Initiative.
We are also currently accepting applications for AmeriCorps sites for the 2020-2021 AmeriCorps year. Those are due April 5th, 2020.
If you would like to take part in shaping how we serve partners, the communities we encompass, and what programs we create, take part in our management planning processes!
Over the course of the next year, we will be holding a series of public meetings, the first of which on 5/20 and 5/21 (details to come in upcoming newsletters and news releases). To get on the mailing list that informs these meetings, take our survey or directly contact planning@afnha.org.
You can participate when we come to a community near you, or in one of our task groups that will discuss stewardship and enhancement, interpretation and visitor experience, and organizational structure.
We look forward to hearing from you. Again, thank you so much for supporting Forest Heritage.
