Happy Anniversary, Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area!

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Mountains to Sound Greenway being named a National Heritage Area! NHAs are places designated by Congress that are identified as having historic, cultural, and natural resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally important landscape. This designation was the culmination of more than a decade of preparation and advocacy, with support from thousands of individuals, and public and private partners who already knew what NHA designation affirmed – that the Mountains to Sound Greenway is a place of national significance and that the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust’s cooperative approach to conservation works.

The Greenway Trust was appointed as the local coordinating entity of the Greenway NHA, charged with developing and implementing a Cooperative Management Plan that supports collaboration between public and private partners. This plan will include:

• An inventory of resources related to a key set of cultural and historic themes, and strategies for preserving those resources;
• An interpretive plan that includes Tribal heritage; and
• Strategies for promoting and supporting collaborative partnerships to implement preservation and interpretation of the Greenway’s natural, historic and cultural assets.

To guide the development of this plan, the Greenway Trust has chartered an NHA Advisory Committee. The committee is comprised of 16 individuals who come from all across the Greenway and who, as a group, bring experience and connections to community engagement, regional history and historic preservation, ecological restoration, marketing and tourism. The Advisory Committee will help shape the Cooperative Management Plan by sharing their diverse perspectives, and by ensuring that input received through public engagement is also considered. The committee will convene to begin the Cooperative Management Planning process in late March.

Cooperative management of the Greenway NHA will also depend on collaboration with tribes, land management agencies, state, county and municipal governments, and other stakeholders. The Cooperative Management Planning process is an opportunity to affirm and deepen partnerships that have already been established through the Greenway Trust’s coalition-based work over the last 30 years. It is also an opportunity to invite and welcome new voices and perspectives to the Greenway table, particularly in the heritage and historic preservation sectors, and in communities of color.

We want to thank you all for your continued support of the Greenway NHA!

Sign up for our newsletter to stay tuned for ways you can participate in this exciting planning process that will give us new opportunities to more effectively conserve natural resources, protect cultural heritage, and contribute to the economic vitality of the region.