Your help is needed for National Heritage Areas like the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. Under the current federal legislative model, National Heritage Areas are subject to individual sunset clauses, after which they lose federal funding. For too long now, the lack of a long-term legislative solution has led to a challenging two-year cycle of reauthorizations of individual Heritage Areas. This requires significant, ongoing work and attention from Congressional Committees, Members of Congress, the National Park Service, and National Heritage Area boards and their staff.

The National Heritage Area Act of 2021 (H.R. 1316) would establish a system of National Heritage Areas and confirm their position as an integral part of the National Park Service. The Senate bill extends authorization in perpetuity, while the House bill extends authorization for 15 years. Both allocate standard funding to each NHA in the system. Both will also ensure uniform standards for the way NHAs are funded, designated, managed, and assessed and provide Congress with an enhanced ability to conduct oversight of the program. Both include language codifying the protection of private property rights within NHAs.

Most significantly, this legislation removes the never-ending cycle of funding uncertainty, which regularly takes time and energy away from the important work NHAs do in communities across the country.

Get involved! Let your Senators and Members of Congress know how important National Heritage Areas are and how much this act is needed. Please urge them to get this done this year, and include it in any omnibus package that may come.

Massachusetts

Congressman Jim McGovern https://mcgovern.house.gov/contact

Congressman Jake Auchincloss https://auchincloss.house.gov/contact

Senator Elizabeth Warren https://www.warren.senate.gov/contact

Senator Ed Markey https://www.markey.senate.gov/contact

Rhode Island

Congressman David Cicilline https://cicilline.house.gov/address_authentication?form=/contact-me

Congressman Jim Langevin https://langevin.house.gov/address_authentication?form=/contact

Senator Jack Reed https://www.reed.senate.gov/contact

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/

Speaker of the House/Nancy Pelosi: