Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area Act of 2006

Numerous sites of significant American heritage are situated in the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area, from Gettysburg, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, along the Route 15 corridor in Maryland, looping to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, back to the Route 15/20 corridor area to Monticello in Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Included among the numerous historically significant sites, structures, battlefields, and districts are 8 homes of former United States Presidents, the largest concentration of Civil War battlefields in the country, the greatest concentration of rural historic districts in the country, 13 National Historic Landmarks, 2 World Heritage Sites, 15 Main Street Communities, 13 National Park Units, and 47 Historic Districts, and the largest concentration of Rural Historic Districts in the country, which are collectively and individually of national significance in the early history of our Nation.

In 1996, a collaborative public-private partnership effort, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the National Park Service, Scenic America, private citizens, and a 4 State coalition of local and regional governmental and private sector organizations began work to assess historic sites along the Route 15 Area. The initiative issued a comprehensive study of significant sites and structures (cataloguing over 7,000 buildings already on the National Register of Historic Places) in the Heritage Area associated with Native American, African American, European American, Colonial American, Revolutionary, and Civil War history, and concluded that the sites possess historical, cultural, and architectural value of national significance and retain a high degree of historical integrity.

The preservation and interpretation of the sites within the Heritage Area will make a vital contribution to the understanding of the development and heritage of the United States of America for the education and benefit of present and future generations.

The Secretary of the Interior is responsible for protecting the historical and cultural resources of the United States.

There are significant examples of those resources within the Heritage Area that merit the involvement of the Federal Government to develop programs and projects, in cooperation with the management entity, local, and State governmental bodies, to adequately conserve, support, protect and interpret this heritage.

Partnerships between Federal, State, and local governments, the regional entities of such governments, the private sector, and citizenry offer the most effective opportunities for the enhancement and management of the historical sites throughout the 4 State Heritage Area to promote the cultural and historical attractions of the area for visitors and the local economy.

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership would be an appropriate management entity for a heritage area established in this region.

to preserve, support, conserve, and interpret the legacy of the American history created along the Heritage Area;

to promote heritage, cultural and recreational tourism and to develop educational and cultural programs for visitors and the general public;

to recognize and interpret important events and geographic locations representing key developments in the creation of America, including Native American, Colonial American, European American, and African American heritage;

to recognize and interpret the effect of the Civil War on the civilian population of the Heritage Area during the war and post-war reconstruction period; and

to enhance a cooperative management framework to assist the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the State of West Virginia, and their units of local government, the private sector, and area citizens in conserving, supporting, enhancing, and interpreting the significant historic, cultural and recreational sites in the Heritage Area in a manner consistent with compatible economic development for the benefit and inspiration of present and future generations.

In general

The Heritage Area shall consist of the 175-miles of historic transportation routes generally following the Route 15 Area and surroundings from Adams County, Pennsylvania through Frederick County, Maryland, looping through Brunswick, Maryland to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, back through Route 9 in Loudoun County to the Route 15 corridor encompassing Loudoun, Prince William, Fauquier, Culpepper, and Orange Counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and generally following the Route 20/231/22 area through Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The boundaries of the Heritage Area shall include all of those lands and interests as generally depicted on a map entitled The Journey Through Hallowed Ground, numbered SHVA/80,000 and dated February 2006.

Map

The map referred to in paragraph (1) shall be on file in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service.

Publication

The Secretary of the Interior shall publish in the Federal Register, as soon as practical after the date of the enactment of this Act, a detailed description and map of the boundaries established under this subsection.

Authority to accept funds

The management entity may accept funds from any Federal source and from States and their political subdivisions, private organizations, non-profit organizations, or any other person to carry out its authorities and duties under this Act.

Use of funds

The management entity may use funds made available under this Act for purposes of preparing, updating, and implementing the management plan developed under subsection (b). Such purposes may include the following:

presents comprehensive strategies and recommendations for conservation, funding, management, and development of the Heritage Area;

takes into consideration existing State, county, and local plans and involves residents, public agencies, and private organizations working in the Heritage Area;

includes a description of actions that units of government and private organizations have agreed to undertake to protect the resources of the Heritage Area;

specifies the existing and potential sources of funding to protect, support, manage, and develop the Heritage Area;

includes an inventory of the property and resources in the Heritage Area that should be preserved, restored, supported, managed, developed, maintained, or acquired because of its national historic significance;

lists any revisions to the boundaries of the Heritage Area proposed by the management entity and requested by affected local governments;

includes an analysis of ways in which local, State, and Federal programs may be best coordinated to promote the purposes of this Act; including recommendations to the Commonwealth of Virginia, the States of Maryland and West Virginia, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (and political subdivisions thereof) for the management, protection, support, and interpretation of the natural, cultural, and historical resources of the Area;

identifies appropriate partnerships between the Federal, State, and local governments and regional entities, and the private sector, in furtherance of the purposes of the Act;

includes locations for visitor contact and major interpretive facilities;

includes provisions for appropriate living history demonstrations and battlefield reenactments;

includes provisions for implementing a continuing program interpretation and visitor education concerning the resources and values of the Area;

includes provisions for a uniform historical marker and wayside exhibit program in the Area, including a provision for marking, with the consent of the owner, historic structures and properties that are contained within the historic core areas and contribute to the understanding of the Area;

includes provisions for the protection and interpretation of the natural, cultural, and historic resources of the Heritage Area consistent with this Act; and

includes provisions for the development of educational outreach programs for students of all ages to further the understanding of the vast resources within the Heritage Area.

Deadline

The management entity shall submit the management plan to the Secretary not later than 2 years after the funds are made available for this Act. Prior to submitting the draft plan to the Secretary, the management entity shall ensure that—

Termination of funding

If a management plan is not submitted to the Secretary in accordance with this subsection, the Secretary shall not, after that date, provide any grant or other assistance under this Act with respect to the Heritage Area until a management plan for the Heritage Area is submitted to the Secretary.

give priority to implementing actions set forth in the compact and management plan;

assist units of government, regional planning organizations, and nonprofit organizations in—

encourage by appropriate means economic viability in the Heritage Area consistent with the goals of the management plan;

consider the interests of diverse governmental, business, and nonprofit groups within the Heritage Area; and

for any year in which Federal funds have been provided to implement the management plan under subsection (b)—

In general

Priority

In assisting the management entity, the Secretary shall give priority to actions that assist in the—

The extent to which the management plan, when implemented, would adequately preserve, support and protect the significant historical, cultural and recreational resources of the Heritage Area.

The level of public participation in the development of the management plan.

The extent to which the board of directors of the management entity is representative of the local governments affected and a wide range of interested organizations and citizens.

notified in writing by the management entity; and

given written consent for such preservation, conservation, or promotion to the management entity.

require any private property owner to allow public access (including Federal, State, or local government access) to such private property; or

modify any provision of Federal, State, or local law with regard to public access to or use of private property.

Not more than $1,000,000 for any fiscal year.

Not more than a total of $10,000,000.