National Heritage Area
National Heritage Areas are places where historic, cultural, and natural resources combine to form cohesive, nationally important landscapes. Unlike national parks, National Heritage Areas are large lived-in landscapes. Consequently, National Heritage Areas entities collaborate with communities to determine how to make heritage relevant to local interests and needs. MLAP fully supports the initiative to designate Northwest Florida into a NHA.
FEASIBILITY study
A study and assessment of Northwest Florida cultural and natural resources between 2016 to 2018 revealed that this area encompasses a great number of sites and entities such as museums, state parks, national parks, archaeological and historical sites that are significant in understanding the maritime history and cultural landscape of Northwest Florida (Khakzad and Thomin 2019). The results of the study showed that the maritime landscape of Northwest Florida, including its rivers, coasts, bays and sounds, helped develop the United States’ national defense, industry, economy, tourism and innovation into what it is today. The study also highlighted the inadequate level of attention and knowledge to these resources have prevented the area from maximizing the use and benefit from their resources.
This inspired a multidisciplinary effort by the University of West Florida Askew Institute of Multidisciplinary Studies and the Florida Public Archaeology Network to conduct a feasibility study in order to determine if the region could be designated as a National Heritage Area. Along with many other partner organizations, MLAP supports this ongoing effort.
