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Summit to focus on Heritage Area
by Hallie Arnold, Daily Freeman 
09/29/2004

KINGSTON - Eight years ago, Congress approved the formation of National Heritage Areas, of which the Hudson River Valley was among the first, to interpret and protect nationally significant historical, cultural and natural resources specific to each area.

Bringing together community and business leaders, historians, educators and elected officials to make the most of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area is the aim of a one-day conference scheduled to take place Monday in Hyde Park.

U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey is chairing the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Summit, which is being organized by the Public Forum Institute. At a press conference in his Kingston office on Tuesday, Hinchey, D-Hurley, said focusing on the area's history and culture will attract some people to visit the area, but integrating all of the features of the region will attract many more.

"You have to be able to expand that, and tell people that if they're interested in history and culture, they can also come here and have a very good time," Hinchey said. "They can stay in a nice place, they can have a good meal in a restaurant, they can have a nice trip on the Hudson River, they can take a hike in the Catskills. They can do any number of things here, and that's what we will be focusing on to a large extent at this forum."

The summit will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday in the Henry A. Wallace Visitor and Education Center on the grounds of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum on U.S. Route 9 in Hyde Park.

In addition to Hinchey, speakers will include U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, a Westchester County Democrat, who is co-chairing the summit; representatives from Scenic Hudson, the Albany Institute of History and Art, the Hudson River Valley Institute and the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway; and experts on heritage areas, including Carmella Mantello, director of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, Allen Sachse, executive director of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Area, and Paul Bray, president of P.M. Bray LLC and member of the Alliance of National Heritage Areas.

Bray said that in his work with the state's first heritage area, the Hudson Mohawk Urban Cultural Park, and other related projects, he's learned it's important to merge all four of the main goals of the program: preservation and conservation, education, recreation, and economic development.

"The beauty of the Heritage Area notion is you don't just do an educational program," Bray said. "You also realize it can be done in a recreational way that has economic development benefits and may help preserve a particular site or a particular resource."

He said the success of Heritage Areas depends on partnerships among groups that may not join forces traditionally, including environmental groups, chambers of commerce and other economic development engines, and tourism, education and preservation groups.

"No one entity - be it tourism, preservation or education - owns the franchise. It's got to be a franchise of everybody in the boat, rowing together," he said.

The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Summit is free and open to the public. Those partaking in the optional lunch will be charged $15. Seating is limited and advance registration is suggested. To register visit www.publicforuminstitute.org on the Web or call Holly Braly at (202) 467-2778. For more information on the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, visit www.hudsonrivervalley.com. 

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