Local Board defends National Heritage Areas

When "The Mountaineer" ran a story week before last about a local National Heritage Area, we asked for more input if anyone had anything more to share about a local National Heritage Area. The entire Board of the local Heritage Area had a hand in writing the story appearing in this week's "Mountaineer" The picture was provided by local historian Ken Robison. "Mountaineer" contacts for this story were local historian Ken Robison and Cascade County Commissioner Jane Weber.

What Are They? National Heritage Areas are cultural, historic, and natural landscapes that are of national significance in the shaping of America. Several regional landscapes and sites are already identified as nationally significant– National Historic Landmarks and Monuments. In northcentral Montana there are five such places named as nationally significant – the town of Fort Benton, First Peoples Buffalo Jump, Lewis and Clark Portage Route, Charles M. Russell Studio and Museum, and the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. These places are nationally significant to America because native peoples relied on their resources to sustain their families, or explorers made their way to expand the nation, or their location served as a central port to a developing west, or remnants of a legendary western figure's life provide us insight into our past.

Why Have One? First and foremost, NHAs can help bolster our local economy, our tourism economy. Tourism is business and generates secondary service and retail businesses in places where NHAs have been designated. Senator John McCain, has supported an NHA in his state, saying this about the Yuma Crossing NHA, "[It] . . . proven to be a central component in the collaborative effort by local, tribal and federal partners to transform the City of Yuma downtown riverfront." The community of Yuma was able to restore a dry river channel to its original condition and stimulate walking trails, parks, and retail/service businesses in their community.

Chouteau County's Growth Policy appropriately acknowledges the importance of the County's agriculture by identifying it as the FIRST goal. But, the SECOND goal is to "enhance the recreational and tourism opportunities throughout the county, while protecting the environmental, unique geological features, and natural resources of the area." As demonstrated in other places, a NHA designation attracts travelers seeking history, culture and natural landscapes. Bringing people to Chouteau County to visit the Old Fort Benton, the Upper Missouri River Breaks Interpretive Center, and Montana's Heritage Complex of Museums; to overnight in the Grand Union hotel and enjoy coffee in one of our cafés; and shop in a local gift store could only be good for the community. Why not snag those visitors who normally bypass smaller, attractive communities like Fort Benton and encourage them to visit? Why shouldn't Chouteau County capture some of the millions of dollars generated by travelers coming to Montana?

Tourists, especially retirees with discretionary income, are seeking unique places where remnants of our Nation's history remain on the landscape. Montana, especially northcentral Big Sky Country is unique. Creeping industrialization and sprawling suburbia across other sectors of our nation gives new emphasis to Montana's Last Best Place moniker. We have it and should showcase it to the world.

How Does It Work? The effort to create, finance and manage an NHA is in the hands of a local board. One has been started – the Upper Missouri River Heritage Area Planning Corporation, Inc. The UMRHAPC, has obtained its 501(c)(3) ranking as a not-for-profit entity with the IRS, is beginning to fund raise to further the process, and is working to better promote the NHA concept to community organizations and individuals. Board membership continues to grow and expand because it will take many hands to bring this effort to fruition. Government is NOT dictating the membership, local people are. In Chouteau County, the board is seeking members and has reached out to the County Commission, Fort Benton City Council, the River and Plains Society in Fort Benton, and local residents to help spread the word that folks from Chouteau County are needed and welcomed on the board. It is a working board. Every member serves on a committee or Task Force and contributes to the efforts of this fledgling organization. Four standing committees include: Public Engagement, Heritage Data Base/Mapping, Finance, Fundraising. The Board members come from various backgrounds – accounting, education, museum management, history and archaeology, agriculture, park management, tourism promotion, fundraising, hydro-power management, and volunteer management. But more members are needed. Anyone interested in joining this working board is invited to contact Chairman, Jane Weber at 781-0741.

The board's current efforts are focused on the following:

1. Outreach to local organizations and individuals to provide accurate information about what a NHA is (including a website, newsletter, public presentations)

2. Continuing to strengthen the board to represent both counties including landowners and businesses

3. Establishing fiscal policies to ensure the not-for-profit meets all IRS requirements and functions in a fiscally responsible manner

4. Growing the electronic database resource by assembling available information about historic, cultural and natural resources

5. Raising funds to contract professional services to prepare a Feasibility Study (first step towards Congressional designation)

Who Creates a NHA? Only Congress has the authority to create a NHA. The Upper Missouri River Heritage Area Planning Corporation, Inc. must justify to Congress why our area is of national significance and deserves designation. Having four National Historic Landmarks in our two-county area is a strong indicator that our locale already has nationally significant places and stories to offer, but we must demonstrate national significance by preparing and submitting a Feasibility Study to Congress.

What is the National Park Service's Role in a NHA? The NPS provides advice to local communities who are interested in seeking designation. NPS staff has assisted the UMRHAPC in understanding the steps required by Congress and the experiences from other communities who have pursued NHA designation. Contrary to what has been reported by some, the NHA is not run by, supervised by, or managed by the Park Service or any branch of government.

The local board makes decisions because the board ultimately bears the fiscal responsibility for any project or program. Another misleading rumor is the idea that the NPS provides "a million dollars a year or more." All funding provided by the federal government must be matched by the local board which means major fundraising must be an ongoing effort of the board. Yes, the funding comes through the NPS agency, simply because Congress chose them as the most appropriate pass-through agency. Once designated, the local board is eligible to apply for $300,000 to prepare a management plan for the NHA. Again, these funds must be matched. After a Management Plan is finalized, additional federal funding may be available if appropriated by Congress; again any allocation to an NHA must be matched by the local board. Federal funding is not guaranteed and the board must be able to raise enough funds to sustain itself independently.

Cycling back to Senator John McCain's comments about the Yuma Crossing site, he also said ". . . [NHA] designation has enabled the City of Yuma to develop plans to leverage about $80 million in private investments – not federal funding – for the revitalization of downtown Yuma." The UMRHAPC believes we can entice private investments to help revitalize rural Montana communities like Fort Benton and possibly others like Big Sandy, Geraldine, Highwood, Belt, Neihart, Cascade, and Fort Shaw.

What Boundary is being proposed by the UMRHAPC? The short answer is - it is a work in progress. The tentative boundary was generated from a series of public meetings starting with the first meeting in January 2015. Over 100 folks from both Chouteau and Cascade Counties attended the January 2015 meeting and spent time in a breakout session identifying (on maps) places in both counties that might contribute to the national significance criteria. Nearly half the attendees at the January 2015 meeting were from Chouteau County. The local UMRHAPC board took those mapped sites into consideration when proposing the initial, tentative boundary - to include all of Chouteau and Cascade Counties, and parts of Fergus, Phillips and Lewis & Clark counties along the Missouri River. To date, seventeen formal presentations (to over 350 people in four counties) have been given to city and county commissioners, as well as local organizations in all four counties. The tentative boundary was openly discussed at these meetings. From feedback received, the UMRHAPC is currently re-evaluating the boundary and has already eliminated Fergus and Phillips counties from the proposal. Decisions on the final boundary will be refined during the Feasibility Study process and likely be further refined by Congress. The process is very fluid and a final decision will take more discussion. Stay tuned.

What Effect is there on Private Land within the Boundary? As Mark Twain once said, "the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Rumors about the potential effects on private property rights have likewise been often falsely reported. No property owner can be coerced into participating into any activity, project, plan, event, or management idea regardless of whether their private land is within or outside a NHA designation. Simply put, private land is private land. Private landowners cannot be forced to open their property to the public, develop it, or participate in any activity that they find unappealing. Likewise, the NHA designation cannot affect existing local, state, Federal, or tribal regulations. Nor can the NHA designation impact water rights, hunting/fishing rights or create a liability for a private property owner.

In short, whether your private land falls inside or outside a NHA boundary, you maintain control over your own property. No NHA management scenario can take those rights away from you.