Our newest interpretive program will kick off with the opening of our new rotating exhibit “Creating Home: Indigenous Roots and Connections in the Appalachian Forest”. The exhibit will be open to the public May through October at the Appalachian Forest Discovery Center.
The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation has awarded a $197,000 grant to AFNHA to expand the successful Highlands Creative Economy initiative which will use regional collaboration to enhance cultural heritage, natural, and human assets to grow tourism and benefit communities.
Visitors to Monongahela National Forest may have the opportunity to participate in the National Visitor Use Monitoring survey, which will be conducted from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024. This official survey is conducted on each national forest every five years. The last survey for Monongahela National Forest was done in Fiscal Year 2019. The survey will be carried out by Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area employees at both developed and dispersed recreation sites and along Forest Service Roads.
We held our annual Stakeholder Meeting last month in Lewisburg. We were joined by attendees representing diverse organizations from Greenbrier County and across our region. We spent the day getting to know our new and long-time partners and listening to their perspectives and priorities.
We at AFNHA wanted to share with you some resources that speak to the history of women in the AFNHA region. These resources in no way speak to any political leanings, and they do not advocate for any political organization. They are simply listed to promote learning and growth about our heritage, history, and culture in the AFNHA region. We have updated a few resources for 2023, and hope you find them most helpful.
Since our designation as a National Heritage Area in 2019, our organization has grown from a small staff of three to a strong team of seven. Our Management Plan was approved in August 2023, providing direction for the future. Now, we are preparing for another big change. Our longtime leader, Phyllis Baxter, will step down in 2024, and Logan Smith will step up to become our new Executive Director.
Phyllis has been involved with the Appalachian National Heritage Area (AFNHA) since the beginning. For over 20 years, she has helped achieve all our important milestones. She has provided excellent vision and leadership at every step. She was there for the initial stakeholder meetings that helped establish the Appalachian Forest Heritage Area (AFHA) as a non-profit organization. Phyllis was instrumental in starting our long-running AmeriCorps program and advocating for the congressional legislation that established our National Heritage Area, creating AFNHA.
Logan has been involved since 2008 and, as Deputy Director, has supported much of the day-to-day operations of our organization. Now he will take on a larger role of leadership in managing and planning our programs.
To assist with the long-term development of our organization we have also brought on Larry Jent as Fiscal Sustainability Director. Larry brings deep connections to Appalachian culture and a wealth of experience in nonprofit management. He will help us begin our next chapter as we plan for our future.
Help us recognize these accomplishments and welcome this new era at our upcoming celebration: Friday, January 26, 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. at the Appalachian Forest Discovery Center (101 Railroad Ave, Elkins). Come and go as you please.
Presentation at 5:30.
Light refreshments will be served.
Virtual attendance will be available 5:30 - 6:30: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89433093280
The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation has awarded a $197,000 grant to AFNHA to expand the successful Highlands Creative Economy initiative which will use regional collaboration to enhance cultural heritage, natural, and human assets to grow tourism and benefit communities.
Interpretation Training
Friday, November 3 9:30 am-4:30 pm
West Virginia Wood Technology Center (10 11th St, Elkins, WV 26241)
Workshops will cover interpretation basics, personal and non-personal interpretation, developing exhibits, and interpreting difficult stories. Trainers will include Dr. Dave Smaldone (WVU), Kyle Warmack (WV Humanities Council), and Katie Thompson. Free and open to all and highly encouraged for AmeriCorps members, partners, and grantees doing interpretation projects. Lunch included. Please RSVP by email to afnha@afnha.org
Schedule:
9:30 - 11:15 -- Dave Smaldone - Intro to natural and heritage interpretation and themes.
11:30 - 12:30 -- Interpreting difficult topics conversation.
12:30 - 1:15 lunch (provided)
1:15 - 2:30 - Katie Thompson - giving tours and personal interpretation.
2:45 - 4:30 -- Kyle Warmack - developing exhibits and signs
For the third time, the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree will come from the Monongahela National Forest. Volunteers and organizations in the AFNHA region have supplied ornaments that will adorn the tree, and community members will have the opportunity to see the tree as it travels through our area on its way to Washington D.C..
AFNHA awarded $200,000 in grants to area organizations through our new Appalachian Forest Grants program. These projects will support preservation, interpretation, tourism development, and partnership development.
Grantees include:
Friends of the Cheat: Cheat River Trailhead Interpretive Signage
Future Generations University: Forest on the Go
Mountain Heritage Trails, Inc: Restored Humanity: The African American Burial Grounds of Hardy County
Evergreen Heritage Center Foundation Inc: The Forest Gatehouse Exhibit
Kump Education Center: Woodland Heritage Lecture Series
Woodlands Development Group: Lost Towns/Lost Communities
Randolph County Park and Recreation Board: Historic Schoolhouse Renovation and 4-H museum
City of Frostburg: Glendening Park Signage
Helvetia Restoration and Development Organization: Helvetia Historic Signage
Randolph County Historical Society Inc: Centennial of the RCHS - 100 Years of History
Allegany Museum Inc: Mountain Maryland Traditional Arts Education Center
Arthurdale Heritage, Inc: Essential Museum Upgrades and Masonry Restoration
Greenbrier Valley Archaeology, Inc: Fort Warwick Archaeology and Heritage Tourism
Greenbrier Valley Repertory Theatre: West Virginia History Play
Northern Webster County Improvement Council, Inc: Appalachian Heritage-Historical Area
Pendleton County Convention and Visitor's Bureau: Preparing Pendleton & Sharing Seneca
Friends of Blackwater: Ecotourism and Heritage Tourism with Friends of Blackwater
The Old Brick Playhouse Company: OBP Dynamic History Initiative
West Virginia Highlands Conservancy: Highlands Creatures Coloring Book
Thank you to all who applied. We received almost twice as much requested as we had funds available. So the judgment process was difficult, and inevitably, we had to turn down some very worthwhile projects. We expect to offer this grant program annually.
These grants were made possible by funding from the National Park Service.
The National Park Service has approved the Management Plan for the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area (AFNHA) on August 28, 2023. Completing over three years of outreach and a year of review, the Management Plan will guide AFNHA activities moving forward as a National Heritage Area, based on five main goals. Approval of the plan makes AFNHA eligible for increased federal matching funding.
According to the approval letter signed by National Park Service Director Charles Sams: “The Appalachian Forest Heritage Area Inc. developed a plan that promotes the continued appreciation and protection of the natural, historic, and cultural resources associated with the National Heritage Area, a place important to our nation’s history and heritage. We commend you for completing this well-conceived plan and for involving the interested Tribes, citizens, and organizations from 16 counties in West Virginia and two counties in Maryland. …This nationally distinctive landscape, which contains some of our nation’s most important natural and cultural resources, deserves continued respect and protection.”
Following Congressional designation as a National Heritage Area in 2019, AFNHA worked with Point Heritage Development Consulting through the planning process. We solicited feedback from task group participants, partners, the public, and National Park Service, and incorporated their comments into the draft plan The review draft management plan was released for public input on June 24, 2022. Public review included an in-person workshop, a virtual information and feedback session, and distribution of the plan digitally and in print at public libraries, all publicized by press releases and social media. The submitted plan includes 47 letters of support or comment from federal, state, and local government representatives and organizations, educational partners, tourism entities, and other natural resource, cultural, heritage, and community-based organizations. The plan was finalized and submitted to the National Park Service for approval on August 16, 2022.
Now we move forward to accomplish the ambitious goals of the plan -- to conserve and enhance our area's assets, to share our stories, to build sustainable tourism, to strengthen our partnership network, and to sustain the coordinating organization, AFHA Inc. As we accomplish multiple projects within these goals, we look to partners and supporters to help with their participation and resources.
National Heritage Area funding will help us towards many of these goals, but all of that federal money has to be matched. Your support now will help to draw down federal dollars, accomplish concrete projects, and to implement the AFNHA Management Plan. Please consider making a gift at https://www.appalachianforestnha.org/donate
Visitors to Monongahela National Forest may have the opportunity to participate in the National Visitor Use Monitoring survey, which will be conducted from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024. This official survey is conducted on each national forest every five years. The last survey for Monongahela National Forest was done in Fiscal Year 2019. The survey will be carried out by Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area employees at both developed and dispersed recreation sites and along Forest Service Roads.
Earlier this month we traveled to Allegany County, Maryland to host our annual Highlands Creative Economy Tourism Summit. This year’s summit focused on improving visitor experience for sustainable tourism and featured presentations and discussions from various organizations in western Maryland working in recreation and heritage tourism.
