A large swath of the Appalachian Mountains crossing West Virginia and Maryland was recently designated by the National Park Service as a National Heritage Area to celebrate the forest’s natural beauty, historical role in providing natural resources fueling America’s growth, and an appreciation for the area’s unique mountain arts, music, and culture.
The Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area joins established in the Baltimore National Heritage Area and the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Heritage Area that also spans multiple states including Maryland.
As a newly designated National Heritage Area, the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area, will now begin in earnest a multi-year approach of regional coordination of historic, natural, and cultural tourism. Economic development and support for small local businesses is a main focus of the Area as well as addressing sustainability, biodiversity, and conservation.
This work of the Heritage Area will be led by Phyllis Baxter as Executive Director and will build on the past 15 years of community building prior to the federal designation. Stakeholders and all those interested in the work of the Heritage Area are encouraged to sign up for their newsletter and attend their first stakeholders meeting in May in West Virginia.
Stakeholders Meeting: The Heritage Area invites all stakeholders to a public meeting on Monday, May 6, 2019 at WVU Potomac State College in Keyser, WV. Local heritage tours will be given in the morning followed by a series of programs at Potomac State College’s Davis Conference Center in the afternoon. Sessions will include a local heritage tourism panel, an introduction to AFNHA and our AmeriCorps Program, and rolling out our first public planning session to begin development of our National Heritage Area management plan.