Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1147 To establish the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 11, 2019 Mr. MCKINLEY (for himself, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mrs. MILLER, and Mr. TRONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To establish the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Appalachian Forest 4 National Heritage Area Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 7 (1) the Heritage Area— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1147 IH (A) is comprised of 18 counties that are lo- 1 cated in West Virginia and western Maryland; 2 and 3 (B) taken as a whole— 4 (i) possesses exceptional cultural, nat- 5 ural, and historical resources that form a 6 cohesive and nationally distinctive land- 7 scape; 8 (ii) demonstrates landscapes that 9 arose from patterns of human activity that 10 were shaped by the geography of the for- 11 ested central Appalachian Mountains; and 12 (iii) reflects both modern and histor- 13 ical uses by citizens who continue to affect, 14 and be affected by, the landscape of the 15 forest; 16 (2) there is a national interest in conserving, 17 restoring, promoting, and interpreting the benefits 18 of the Heritage Area for— 19 (A) the residents of the Heritage Area; 20 and 21 (B) visitors to the Heritage Area; 22 (3) nationally significant historical and cultural 23 resources located in the Heritage Area form a 24 unique aspect of the heritage of the United States; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1147 IH (4) with respect to the economic development of 1 the United States— 2 (A) the timber harvesting activities in the 3 region helped fuel late 19th century and early 4 20th century industrial growth throughout the 5 United States; and 6 (B) prominent industrialists of the region 7 were also active in the national economy; 8 (5) workers who participated in the timber 9 boom of the region brought a blending of cultures of 10 European and African-American immigrants; 11 (6) the growth of each community located in 12 the region was impacted by the forested central Ap- 13 palachian Mountains; 14 (7) the rich culture of central Appalachia— 15 (A) includes folklife, music, dance, crafts, 16 and other culturally rich traditions; and 17 (B) is inextricably tied to the forest land 18 of the region; 19 (8) significant historical and cultural sites and 20 resources located in the Heritage Area include— 21 (A) historic sites from the logging era (in- 22 cluding the intact logging company town that is 23 located at the Cass Scenic Railroad State 24 Park); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1147 IH (B) historic sites that evidence conserva- 1 tion efforts (including structures constructed by 2 the Civilian Conservation Corps); 3 (C) 5 national historic landmarks; and 4 (D) segments of 4 National Scenic Byways 5 and 1 All-American Road; 6 (9) nationally significant natural and physical 7 resources in the Heritage Area include spectacular 8 natural, scenic, and recreational resources, featuring 9 the core of the central hardwood forest of the United 10 States, which— 11 (A) as a result of sound forest manage- 12 ment and conservation of public land, grew 13 from the original cutting of the forest; and 14 (B) includes— 15 (i) the remnants of old growth forests; 16 (ii) protected wilderness areas; 17 (iii) 14 national natural landmarks; 18 (iv) Federal and State forest lands 19 that were created to foster the regrowth of 20 the forests of the United States, including 21 the Monongahela National Forest, and 7 22 State forests; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1147 IH (v) experimental forests that dem- 1 onstrate the evolution of forestry manage- 2 ment; 3 (vi) forests managed by public and 4 private entities; and 5 (vii) a dynamic forest industry com- 6 prised of mills that demonstrate the ongo- 7 ing importance of the forest land and for- 8 est products to the region; 9 (10) local public and private partnerships that 10 are based on the visions of the community and re- 11 gion are working together to promote the steward- 12 ship, enhancement, and interpretation of the re- 13 sources of the Heritage Area; 14 (11) to promote the goals described in para- 15 graph (10), local residents, organizations, and gov- 16 ernments support the establishment of a national 17 heritage area; and 18 (12) involvement by the Federal Government 19 would enhance the efforts to promote the cultural, 20 natural, historical, and recreational resources of the 21 region that have been made by— 22 (A) the States of West Virginia and Mary- 23 land; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1147 IH (B) political subdivisions of the States of 1 West Virginia and Maryland; 2 (C) volunteer organizations; and 3 (D) private businesses. 4 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 5 (1) to provide a cooperative management frame- 6 work to the States of West Virginia and Maryland, 7 the political subdivisions of those States, and the 8 citizens of those States to conserve, enhance, and in- 9 terpret the significant features of the forest, land, 10 water, and structures of the Heritage Area; and 11 (2) to foster a close working relationship with 12 all levels of government, the private sector, and the 13 local communities of the region to enable those com- 14 munities— 15 (A) to conserve the heritage of those com- 16 munities; and 17 (B) to continue to pursue economic oppor- 18 tunities for those communities. 19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 20 In this Act: 21 (1) HERITAGE AREA.—The term ‘‘Heritage 22 Area’’ means the Appalachian Forest National Her- 23 itage Area established by section 4(a). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1147 IH (2) LOCAL COORDINATING ENTITY.—The term 1 ‘‘local coordinating entity’’ means the management 2 entity for the Heritage Area as specified in section 3 4(d)(1). 4 (3) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage- 5 ment plan’’ means the management plan for the 6 Heritage Area developed under section 5(a). 7 (4) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map en- 8 titled ‘‘Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area’’, 9 numbered T07/80,000, and dated October 2007. 10 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of the Interior. 12 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 13 the States of— 14 (A) Maryland; and 15 (B) West Virginia. 16 SEC. 4. APPALACHIAN FOREST NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA. 17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Ap- 18 palachian Forest National Heritage Area. 19 (b) BOUNDARIES.—The Heritage Area shall in- 20 clude— 21 (1) the Barbour, Braxton, Grant, Greenbrier, 22 Hampshire, Hardy, Mineral, Morgan, Nicholas, Pen- 23 dleton, Pocahontas, Preston, Randolph, Tucker, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 1147 IH Upshur, and Webster Counties of the State of West 1 Virginia; and 2 (2) the Allegany and Garrett Counties of the 3 State of Maryland. 4 (c) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—A map of the Heritage 5 Area shall be on file and available for public inspection 6 in the appropriate offices of— 7 (1) the National Park Service; and 8 (2) the local coordinating entity. 9 (d) LOCAL COORDINATING ENTITY.—The Appa- 10 lachian Forest Heritage Area, Inc., shall— 11 (1) serve as the local coordinating entity for the 12 Heritage Area; 13 (2) oversee the development of a management 14 plan under section 5(a); and 15 (3) be governed by a board of directors from a 16 geographic balance across the included counties and 17 States and which shall— 18 (A) be composed of no fewer than 7 and 19 no more than 15 members elected by the mem- 20 bership; 21 (B) be selected to represent a balanced 22 group of diverse interests, including— 23 (i) forest industry; 24 (ii) environmental; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 1147 IH (iii) cultural heritage; 1 (iv) tourism; and 2 (v) regional agency partners; 3 (C) exercise all corporate powers of the 4 local coordinating entity; 5 (D) manage the activities and affairs of 6 the local coordinating entity; and 7 (E) subject to any limitations in the arti- 8 cles and bylaws of the local coordinating entity, 9 this section, and any other applicable Federal 10 or State law, establish the policies of the local 11 coordinating entity. 12 SEC. 5. MANAGEMENT PLAN. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 14 date on which funds are first made available to carry out 15 this Act, the local coordinating entity shall develop and 16 submit to the Secretary for approval a management plan 17 for the Heritage Area. 18 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The management plan shall— 19 (1) present comprehensive policies, goals, strat- 20 egies, and recommendations for— 21 (A) presenting to the citizens of the United 22 States the heritage of the region; and 23 (B) encouraging the long-term resource 24 conservation, enhancement, interpretation, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 1147 IH funding, management, and development of the 1 Heritage Area; 2 (2) take into consideration and coordinate Fed- 3 eral, State, and local plans to present a unified his- 4 toric preservation and interpretation plan; 5 (3) involve residents, public agencies, and pri- 6 vate organizations of the Heritage Area; 7 (4) describe actions that units of government, 8 private organizations, and citizens recommend for 9 the conservation, enhancement, interpretation, fund- 10 ing, management, and development of the resources 11 of the Heritage Area; 12 (5) identify— 13 (A) existing and potential sources of Fed- 14 eral and non-Federal funding for the conserva- 15 tion, enhancement, interpretation, funding, 16 management, and development of the resources 17 of the Heritage Area; and 18 (B) economic development strategies for 19 the conservation, enhancement, interpretation, 20 funding, management, and development of the 21 resources of the Heritage Area; 22 (6) include— 23 (A) an inventory of the cultural, natural, 24 historical, educational, scenic, and recreational 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 1147 IH resources contained in the Heritage Area, in- 1 cluding a list of property that— 2 (i) is related to the themes of the 3 Heritage Area; and 4 (ii) should be conserved, enhanced, 5 managed, or developed; 6 (B) a recommendation of policies and 7 strategies for resource management and con- 8 servation, including the development of inter- 9 governmental cooperative agreements to man- 10 age and conserve the cultural, natural, histor- 11 ical, educational, scenic, and recreational re- 12 sources of the Heritage Area; 13 (C) a program of strategies and actions to 14 implement the management plan that in- 15 cludes— 16 (i) performance goals; 17 (ii) resource conservation plans; 18 (iii) enhancement strategies; 19 (iv) interpretation strategies; and 20 (v) specific commitments for imple- 21 mentation that have been made by the 22 local coordinating entity or any govern- 23 ment, organization, business, or individual; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 1147 IH (D) an analysis of, and recommendations 1 for, means by which Federal, State, and local 2 programs may best be coordinated to further 3 the purposes of this Act, including an analysis 4 of the role of the National Park Service and 5 other Federal agencies associated with the Her- 6 itage Area; 7 (E) a business plan that— 8 (i) describes the role, operation, fi- 9 nancing, and functions of— 10 (I) the local coordinating entity; 11 and 12 (II) each of the major activities 13 included in the management plan; and 14 (ii) provides adequate assurances that 15 the local coordinating entity has the part- 16 nerships and financial and other resources 17 necessary to implement the management 18 plan; and 19 (F) an interpretive plan for the Heritage 20 Area; and 21 (7) list any revisions to the boundaries of the 22 Heritage Area proposed by the local coordinating en- 23 tity and requested by the affected local government. 24 (c) DEADLINE; TERMINATION OF FUNDING.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:43 Feb 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1147.IH H1147 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 1147 IH (1) DEADLINE.—Not later than 3 years after 1 the date on which funds are made available under 2 section 11(a), the local coordinating entity shall sub- 3 mit the management plan to the Secretary for ap- 4 proval. 5 (2) TERMINATION OF FUNDING.—If the man- 6 agement plan is not submitted to the Secretary in 7 accordance with this section, the Secretary shall not 8 provide to the local coordinating entity any addi- 9 tional financial assistance under this Act until the 10 management plan is submitted to and approved by 11 the Secretary under subsection (d)(1). 12 (d) APPROVAL OF MANAGEMENT PLAN.— 13 (1) REVIEW.—Not later than 180 days after 14 the date of receipt of the management plan under 15 subsection (c)(1), the Secretary shall review and ap- 16 prove or disapprove the management plan. 17 (2) CRITERIA.—In determining whether to ap- 18 prove the management plan, the Secretary shall con- 19 sider whether— 20 (A) the management plan meets all re- 21 quirements identified in subsection (b); and 22 (B) the local coordinating entity has af- 23 forded adequate opportunity, including public 24 hearin [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]