Eastern North Carolina NHA Feasibility Public Mtg 3 Jan 19 2012

Eastern North Carolina
National Heritage Area

New Bern, North Carolina
Final Public Meeting
January 19, 2012

Eastern North Carolina National Heritage Area Feasibility
Study

Today’s Agenda

1. Meeting Purpose
2. Overview of Planning Project & Update
3. Discussion of Management Alternatives
4. Questions and Comments
5. Next Steps:
A. Draft Feasibility Study
B. Partnership Commitments
C. Submittal

Study

Feasibility Study Schedule & Process
 Meetings with Commissions and stakeholders (Oct. 2010 - pre
 Site visits - over 80 sites in 40 counties (Oct. 2010 - Mar. 2011)
 First round of Public Meetings (Mar. 29, 30 & 31, 2011)
 Develop Resource Assessment (Oct. 2010 - present)
 Develop Potential Boundaries and Themes (Mar. - Sept. 2011)
 Second round of Public Meetings (Sept. 26 & 27, 2011)
• Final Public Meeting – Agreement on Alternative (Today)
• Write Draft Report (Jan. - Feb. 2012)
• Publicize Draft Report and solicit comment (Feb. - Mar. 2012)
• Collect letters of support (Jan. - Mar. 2012)
• Finalize Feasibility Study report and submit to
National Park Service and Congress (April 2012)

Study

Phase 1

Introduction of a Heritage Area
and
Resource Assessment

National Heritage Area Feasibility Study

What is a National Heritage Area?

A National Heritage Area is a place designated
by the United States Congress where natural,
cultural, historic, and recreational resources
combine to form a cohesive, nationally significant
landscape arising from patterns of human activity
shaped by geography.

National Heritage Area Feasibility Study

What does a National Heritage Area do?

A National Heritage Area uses shared history as
a platform for action to collaborate on
preservation, promotion and sustainable
development based on heritage assets in the
region.

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What National Heritage Areas are NOT…

“National heritage areas do
not appear to have directly
affected the rights of
property owners. To
address property
concerns, the designating
legislation of 13 of the 24
heritage areas and
management plans of at
least
6 provide explicit
GAO Report, March 30, 2004 assurances that the areas
will not affect property
Study owners’ rights.”

Purpose of a Feasibility Study

Before Congress considers designation of a
National
Heritage Area, it needs information about the
quality of the resources and whether the
resources and the region meet the established
criteria for an NHA.

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Eastern North Carolina – Study Area

Study

Study

Phase 2

Proposed Theme and Boundary

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Defining a Boundary
A National Heritage Area has an assemblage of
natural, historic, or cultural resources that
together represent distinctive aspects of
American heritage worthy of
recognition, conservation, interpretation, and
continuing use.
History
Geophysical and topographical features
Culture
Political jurisdictions
Practical intersection of all of the above
Study


ECONOMY LIVING TRADITIONS GEOGRAPHY/ ENVIRONMENT
HISTORY

Study

Rivers to Sounds to Sea

HISTORY ECONOMY LIVING TRADITIONS GEOGRAPHY/ ENVIRONMENT

Agriculture Foodways
Settling a New World
Rivers Sounds Sea
Military
Cultural Arts
The First Americans Defense of a Nation
Maritime Coastal Plain Inner Banks
Religion Outer Banks
Economy
Old World Origins Revolutionary War
(1 8 th century) Agrarian Dismals
Recreational Working Traditions
The Struggle to Settle
Economy
Civil War Forests
(1 9 th century) Recreation (Piney Woods)
Early NC Power

2 0 th- 2 1 st Century Wars
Colonial Life

African Americans

Living with the
Land and the Water

Maritime History
Agriculture Transportation

Fishing
Plantation Agriculture Aviation
Shipping
Hurricanes
Subsistence Farming Railroads

Pirates
Tenant Farming/
Resettlement
Graveyard of
the Atlantic

Lifesaving Lighthouses
Stations


Interpretive Theme—Settling a New World
Facing untold hardship with equal
determination, early habitants
capitalized on eastern North Carolina’s
prominence on the Atlantic coast to
create a home and livelihoods and
eventually to influence the
establishment of a new nation, one
which encompassed the region’s
inherent struggle between freedom
and enslavement.
Study

Interpretive Theme—Living with the Land
and the Water
Eastern North Carolina’s distinctive
landscape of coastal plain, piney
woods, banks and waters gave rise to
all manner of livelihood, from those
who scratched out a living to those
who amassed prosperity from
maritime and agricultural
enterprises, shaping daily life and
impacting regional and national
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historical events.

Interpretive Theme—Defense of a Nation
Since early exploration of the New
World, the military has been a strong
presence in Eastern North
Carolina, giving the region a critical
role in establishing a new nation in the
Revolutionary War, in reflecting the
struggle of a nation torn apart by Civil
War, and in defending America’s ideals
in 20th and 21st century wars.
Study


ECONOMY LIVING TRADITIONS GEOGRAPHY/ ENVIRONMENT
HISTORY

Major Rivers Major Sounds Atlantic Ocean

Coastal Plain Inner Banks Outer Banks

Agrarian Dismals

Forests
Fields (Piney Woods)

Study

Significance of Eastern North Carolina
• The estuarine ecosystem is second in size in the
United States and its protected waters are among
the richest and most diverse in the world.

• The natural history of the environments of the region
have played a major role in the development of
North Carolina and the United States.

• A unique pattern of human interaction with the land
and its most dominant feature, water, has shaped the
rich heritage and culture of the region.

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Overarching Theme—Rivers to Sounds to S

The confluence of human activity and
the interconnected waterways of
eastern North Carolina have shaped
the region’s past, defined its unique
present character and charted a
course for the future.

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Phase 3

Administrative and Financial Management

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Regional Management & Financial
Survey
1. Interviewed stakeholders throughout the 40-county
region
2. Polled key individuals through online survey (state
officials, county personnel, CVBs, others)
3. Examined strengths and weaknesses of existing
regional tourism efforts
4. Identified opportunities for consensus for
administration and financial management for next
stages of planning and long-term operations
5. Prepared findings and recommended alternative
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Feasibility Study – Alternatives

1. No Action – individual programs and no coordination
2. Local Coordination of Heritage Program
3. State Program only
4. National Heritage Area Designation

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Alternative #1
No Action
1. Individual programs and projects continue through
convention and visitors bureaus and at county
level.
2. Coordination is scattered; partnering is limited, at
best.
3. Lack of unifying theme or story that ties region
together.
4. No new funding is available, and existing funding
is competitive.

Study

Alternative #2
Local Coordination

convention and visitors bureaus and at county
level.
2. Coordination is advanced between counties and
CVBs; partnering increases, but is localized.
3. Lack of unifying theme or story that ties region
together.
4. Funding opportunities may increase, but remains
competitive among “partners.”

Study

Alternative #3
State Heritage Area
1. Individual programs and projects continue
through convention and visitors bureaus and at
county level.
2. Coordination is advanced between counties
and CVBs; public-private partnerships begin to
emerge.
3. Coordination is advanced between existing
state programs and other regional heritage
assets.
4. Development of a unifying theme or story that
ties together the region.
5. Funding opportunities through available state
grants and programs.
Study

Alternative #4
National Heritage Area
convention and visitors bureaus and at county level.
2. Coordination is advanced between counties and
CVBs; public-private partnerships increase at
local, state and federal levels, and become region-
wide.
3. Identification of a nationally-significant theme and
story tying together the whole region.
4. Designation brings national recognition and makes
region eligible for funding to assist with planning and
implementation.
5. Other funding opportunities with public and private
partners may increase.
Study

Technical and In-kind Support

• Three Commissions: staffing; office space and equipment
use; benefit of all of their member-expertise. (83.3%)
• State of North Carolina: staffing; access to sites; tourism
promotion and advertising; technical assistance. (83.3%)
• Municipal and County Governments: office and meeting
space and equipment usage. (33.3%)
“keep the grass roots effort on the table at all times.”
• CVBs: marketing and planning; technical assistance.
(83.3%)
• Universities and Educational Institutions: research and
planning; student interns; workshops and educational
seminars; meeting space; staffing. (83.3%)
Study

Technical and In-kind Support

• Agriculture-based Organizations: technical assistance;
research; staff assistance. (50.0%)
• Arts & Cultural Organizations: staff support; research and
technical assistance. (67.7%)
• Preservation & Historical Organizations: staff support;
research and technical assistance; knowledge. (50.0%)
• Natural and Recreational Organizations: technical
assistance; staff assistance; research. (33.3%)
• Other: “Once there is an idea of what is needed and who fits
(organizations/town/county type) they will be willing to take
on a portion and assist in order for the whole picture to
become a reality.”
Study

Alternative #5
NHA with State and Local Involvement

1. Individual programs and projects continue through convention
and visitors bureaus and at county level.
2. Coordination is advanced between counties and CVBs; public-
private partnerships increase at local, state and federal
levels, and become region-wide.
3. Identification of a nationally-significant theme and story tying
together the whole region.
4. Designation brings national recognition and makes region
eligible for funding to assist with planning and implementation.
5. Funding opportunities with public and private partners may
increase.
6. A state program is created, complementing NHA and local
efforts, and enhancing partnerships among North Carolina’s
heritage areas.
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Preferred Alternative
NHA with State and Local Involvement
1. Adopt Alternative # 5 – pursue designation of a National
Heritage Area along with a state heritage area and local
government involvement.
2. Next phase of planning – the management plan – should be
coordinated by the three commissions, with an eye toward
evolving the partnership and identifying a long-term
management entity to oversee the heritage area.
3. Funding for planning will be sought from an array of sources –
federal, state, local and private.
4. Organizations participating in the planning and development of
the heritage area will be encouraged to provide in-kind support
when and where possible.
5. Early implementation projects will be pursued as a way to
further solidify the regional partnership and help advance
projects that demonstrate an overarching theme.
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Questions & Comments

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Next Steps…

• Write Draft Report – January & February 2012

• Publicize Draft Report and solicit comment – March 20

• Collect letters of support – January to March 2012

• Finalize plan, submit to NPS and Congress – April 201

Study

We need you to…

• Respond to surveys, emails and questionnaires

• Review the Draft Report and write letters of support

• Be an Ambassador - help spread the word!

• Support designation

• Stay involved as the heritage initiative moves forward

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Project Support

Project Sponsors

Consulting Team www.hanburypreservation.com/active_projects/encnha
AUGUST R. CARLINO

Study

Eastern North Carolina NHA Feasibility Public Mtg 3 Jan 19 2012

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