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Report outlines vision for Hudson Valley
by Allan Lester, MidHudsonNews.com
10/11/2005

In a report released today by the Public Forum Institute, more than 180 delegates at a summit for the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area called for an increase in historic preservation projects and improved public awareness as measures to better define a vision for the future of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.

Community leaders, historians, business leaders, elected officials, educators and other interested citizens from the Hudson River Valley answered the call of Congressman Maurice Hinchey, the summit chair, who asked them to "help us better define and understand and develop the kinds of ideas that will make this Hudson River Valley stronger. We need you. your ideas, your thoughts, your approach."

When asked what the first step should be to improve public awareness, 86 percent of the delegates said that it was either moderately or very important to use a centralized website - such as www.hudsonrivervalley.com - to drive traffic to other local sites. Another suggestion that gained broad support (73 percent combined moderately/very important) was the creation of a regular media column on the heritage of the region.

Delegates also prioritized a connected network of sites as another of the summit's key goals. Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Public Forum Institute noted, "I think there's some very simple steps, things like ensuring that everything opens at the same time on the same days. but also making sure there's better coordination between the various modes of transportation, making sure that you actually make the connective pathway. These seem to be very practical and doable steps towards trying to formulate that network."

Much of the discussion was concerning how to keep two primary objectives in balance: environmental sustainability and economic growth. Delegates and speakers noted that methods of economic growth such as tourism and non-invasive industry could best balance these ends. As Carmella Mantello, director of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area said in her address, "We have a gem right in our backyard. let's use it to our advantage."

The Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area is a region rich in history that extends from Waterford, just north of Albany, to the northern border of New York City and has been acclaimed by the National Park Service as "the landscape that defined America." In 1996, the Hudson River Valley was recognized as one of only twenty-four National Heritage Areas, established to recognize, preserve, protect and interpret the region's nationally significant historical, cultural, and natural resources. 

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