Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership
Emerging Issues and Opportunities Draft Report for the Lake Champlain Basin Program Executive Committee
June 20, 2012
Process Overview: The Heritage Area Program Advisory Committee (HAPAC) of the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) met on May 14, 2012 to discuss potential areas of focus for the FY2013 Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) Workplan and Budget. The initial ideas the committee developed provided a foundation for discussion among the various regional stakeholder groups (RSGs) within the national heritage area. The HAPAC considered and discussed suggestions from the various regional stakeholder groups (RSGs) at the committee’s June 18, 2012 meeting. This Emerging Issues and Opportunities Draft Report to the LCBP Executive Committee is the result of this development, outreach and refinement process.
CVNHP Programs Suggested for Continuation in FY2013
- Wayside Exhibit Program Continuation
Funding will support the continuation of the CVNHP/LCBP wayside exhibit design program. Started in 2001, the program provides free design services (a $600-$700 value) to communities and organizations that wish to utilize the interpretive sign content detailed in the LCBP Wayside Exhibit Manual. This award-winning program has provided design services for more than 200 wayside exhibits since it began. In 2011, the program designed 20 wayside exhibits and one interpretive kiosk. Requests for five new wayside exhibit designs have been submitted since December 1, 2011.
Supports OFA Action: Support the development of bilingual materials, interpretation, and services.
Task 9.14.1: Support bilingual interpretation of resources within the CVNHP.
Supports OFA Action: Connect, promote, and improve cultural and natural heritage sites through interpretation.
Task 9.9.1: Continue to provide design services for interpretive materials.
Task 9.9.5: Provide general technical support for interpretation projects.
Estimated Direct and Indirect Cost (FY2012): $11,500
- Annual International Heritage Summit
The CVNHP hosted a summit of key stakeholders, state and federal agency representatives, and policy makers on May 17, 2010 in Montreal. The summit focused on how Vermont, New York and Quebec could work together on implementing the CVNHP Management Plan. In addition to identifying steps for implementing the plan, the summit created new and enhanced relationships among potential partners in the three jurisdictions. The 2012 summit will be held in Burlington, Vermont on August 8-9.
Supports OFA Action: Encourage cooperation and enhance communication among partners within the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
Task 9.14.1: Convene periodic meetings of organizations and regional stakeholder groups within CVNHP.
Estimated Direct and Indirect Cost (FY2012): $8,625
- Regional Stakeholder Coordination
The CVNHP is a 9,000-square-mile region made up of 11 counties in New York and Vermont. Due to the immense geographic area, diverse economies, and varying needs of the region, the LCBP supports a county-based system of regional stakeholder groups to provide grass-roots input into the management of the CVNHP. Meeting on a regular basis, Regional Stakeholder Groups help identify community and county-level actions, clarify regional needs, and provide information on upcoming initiatives”input that is very valuable for the effective management of the CVNHP. Regional Stakeholder Group Coordinators will periodically meet with CVNHP staff and the HAPAC to provide input into upcoming CVNHP budgets, grant priorities and workplans.
Supports OFA Action: Encourage cooperation and enhance communication among partners within the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
Task 9.14.1: Convene periodic meetings of organizations and regional stakeholder groups within CVNHP.
Task 9.14.5: Support the continued success of existing regional stakeholder groups and the creation of new groups for underserved regions of the CVNHP.
Estimated Direct and Indirect Cost (FY2012): $28,750
- Development of CVNHP Marketing and Branding Initiatives
There are many positive marketing efforts underway within the CVNHP, including the I Love NY program and the Vermont, Adirondacks, Lake George, and Saratoga brands. A coordinated effort that markets the various visitor centers, interpretive sites and collateral material (e.g. interpretive water trail guides, Lake Champlain Bikeways brochures, regional maps, etc.) within the CVNHP could greatly benefit stakeholders, residents, and guests. However, to the extent that the CVNHP presence constitutes a brand, care will be taken that it not over-shadow the brands and efforts of local, regional, or state/provincial entities. Designing a process to encourage voluntary inclusion of partners is needed to better highlight the various resources. The partnership approach to management and implementation should be the core of the brand and marketing materials developed by the CVNHP.
Supports OFA Action: Develop and maintain a consistent regional brand related to the interpretive themes of the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
Task 9.16.3: Review existing local, regional, and state/provincial marketing efforts.
Task 9.16.3: Assign the HAPAC to recommend appropriate approaches to branding/marketing of the CVNHP.
Task 9.16.4: Develop a marketing plan for the CVNHP.
Estimated Direct and Indirect Cost (FY2012): $8,625
- High-tech Interpretation Workgroup
The CVNHP will convene a high-tech interpretation workgroup. Interpretation is essential to providing the public with usable information on complex topic. The understanding of these topics leads to appreciation for natural and cultural resources, which leads to stewardship. The LCBP has a long tradition of supporting interpretation, including the Wayside Exhibit Design Program and the Resource Room at ECHO. As new technologies are developed, more opportunities for reaching out to new audiences emerge. The LCBP will identify local leaders in the interpretation, social media, and electronic application (apps) fields to discuss how new technologies can be utilized for interpretation.
Supports OFA Action: Connect, promote, and improve cultural and natural heritage sites through interpretation.
Task 9.9.3: Develop and maintain an online interpretive toolkit for the CVNHP.
Task 9.9.5: Provide general technical support for interpretation projects.
Supports OFA Action: Support a public information program that emphasizes recreational ethics, public safety, sustainable use, and stewardship of cultural and natural resources.
Task 9.8.3: Support the use of new information technology to provide quality information on heritage and recreation resources.
Supports OFA Action: Encourage cooperation and enhance communication among partners within the CVNHP.
Task 9.14.3: Develop an enhanced website that includes a calendar of events, topical information, and other tools.
Estimated Direct and Indirect Cost (FY2012): $0”research and interview with potential partners covered by staff time.
- Wayside Exhibit Mini-grants: focus on CVNHP Interpretive Themes
The CVNHP will provide wayside-exhibit mini-grants to interpet the interpretive themes outlined in the CVNHP Management Plan:
1) Making of Nations
2) Corrdidor of Commerce
3) Conservation and Community
The mini-grants will provide English-French translation (if requested) and design assistance along with complete fabricated interpretive signs”an estimated $1,500 value each”at 15 sites. Budget also covers design and translation services.
Supports OFA Action: Provide support for needed historical and archeological research and accelerate the identification, evaluation, protection, and interpretation of heritage resources, including ethnographies of the cultures within the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
Task 9.1.1: Support historical and archeological research and documentation.
Supports OFA Action: Connect, promote, and improve cultural and natural heritage sites through interpretation.
Task 9.9.1: Continue to provide design services for interpretive materials.
Task 9.9.5: Provide general technical support for interpretation projects.
Supports OFA Action: Support the development of bilingual materials, interpretation, and services.
Task 9.14.1: Support bilingual interpretation of resources within the CVNHP.
Supports OFA Action: Focus on land-use changes and effects of stormwater runoff on water quality.
Task 9.22.1: Promote improved understanding and interpretation of the environmental impact of the successive historical stages in settlement, forestry, agriculture, and development in the CVNHP.
Task 9.22.2: Promote improved understanding of the importance of minimizing pollution from stormwater runoff at cultural heritage facilities and events.
Estimated Direct and Indirect Cost: $30,000
NOTE: This program was offered in FY2012 for American Civil War, War of 1812 and Commercial Evolution of Communities with an Emphasis on Water, but the HAPAC feels that the topics should be expanded to include all aspects of the CVNHP Interpretive Themes in FY2013.
New Programs Suggested for Consideration in FY2013
- Youth-Oriented Heritage Arts Performance Grants
The meanings of cultural and natural heritage will be showcased to new audiences through music, dance, writing, visual arts, and social media. The LCBP will provide small ($2,500) local implemetation grants that involve youth in creating new artistic expressions of the CVNHP through fresh perspectives and new technology. An emphasis will be placed on cultural exchanges between New York, Vermont, Quebec, the Netherlands, Britain and France that build amity among nations and focus on the shared heritage of the CVNHP.
Supports OFA Action 9.9: Connect, promote, and improve cultural and natural heritage sites through interpretation.
Task 9.9.4: Support pilot projects that utilize emerging interpretive technologies.
Supports OFA Action 9.11: Promote cultural exchanges and international scholarship programs.
Task 9.11.2: Encourage youth cultural and education exchanges.
Supports OFA Action 9.12: Produce coordinated education programs for students.
Task 9.12.3: Use the Internet and other media to share CVNHP information with students and teachers.
Task 9.12.5: Work with state education departments to integrate CVNHP education into classrooms.
Task 9.12.6: Provide opportunities for teachers and students to participate in CVNHP-related field trips and restoration projects.
Task 9.12.7: Provide CVNHP-related presentations to schools.
Task 9.12.9: Evaluate the success of CVNHP education initiatives.
- Community-Driven Development of New Water Trails
Lake Champlain, the upper Hudson River and their tributaries offer some of the most scenic boating opportunities along historical shorelines and riverbanks. The LCBP has provided assistance to the Lake Champlain Paddlers Trail, which links access sites and camping for paddlers along the shorelines of New York, Quebec, and Vermont. Grants also were awarded to establish two interpretive water trails: 1) Explore Shelburne Bay and 2) The Narrows.
Interpretive water trails are an effective way to promote recreation on the waterways of the CVNHP while educating boaters on the cultural and natural history of the resource and educating recreationalist on the issues affecting the lake. The America’s Great Outdoor program and the National Park Service are supporting efforts to create more water trails to encourage more outdoor recreation participation on the nation’s waterways, especially among youth. The LCBP will provide local implemetation grants that involve community groups, scouts, and students in the creation of new water trails in the CVNHP.
Supports OFA Action 9.6: Support initiatives that promote sustainable recreational activities that feature the natural, cultural, and historical resources in the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
Task 9.6.1: Develop and/or improve natural and cultural heritage interpretative trails using wayside exhibits and other informative media.
Task 9.6.2: Continue to support regional, multi-jurisdictional programs that promote accessible and sustainable use of resources
Task 9.6.7: Encourage the expansion of facilities and services along the interconnected waterways, such as restaurants, lodging, and equipment rentals, in a manner that minimizes impacts on recreational, cultural, natural, and historic resources and that features environmental sustainability.
- School Bus Mini-Grants
The LCBP will provide grants to underserved schools and at-risk youth programs to visit cultural and natural heritage sites within the CVNHP.
Supports OFA Action 9.12: Produce coordinated education programs for students.
Task 9.12.8: Provide bus transportation grants to improve school access to heritage sites and events within the CVNHP.
- Themed Itinerary Development
The regional stakeholder groups (RSGs) will develop new themed itineraries for school groups associated with the interpretive themes of the CVNHP: Making of Nations, Corridor of Commerce, and Conservation and Community. In FY2013, the RSGs will consider focusing on itineraries for the War of 1812 and the American Civil War. Additional funding will supplement the RSGs for this work.
Supports OFA Action 9.9: Connect, promote, and improve cultural and natural heritage sites through interpretation.
Task 9.9.5: Provide general technical support for interpretation projects.
Supports OFA Action 9.10: Support the use of interpretive themes to link resources within the CVNHP.
Task 9.10.3: Collaborate with partners to develop an interpretive plan for the CVNHP that thematically links sites while preserving their individual identities and interpretive goals.
Task 9.10.4: Support initiatives that highlight the relationships among stakeholder sites and programs through interpretation, while maintaining the individual character of those sites.
Supports OFA Action 9.12: Produce coordinated education programs for students.
Task 9.12.6: Provide opportunities for teachers and students to participate in CVNHP-related field trips and restoration projects.
- International Water Trail Feasibility Study
The interconnected waterways of the CVNHP are three historic transportation corridors that connect the Erie Canal and Hudson River with the Richelieu and St. Lawrence rivers. These corridors are linked to the northwest by Lake Ontario and a series of canals in Canada. During the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial in 2009, the concept of formally uniting these waterways through interpretation was developed, with the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail serving as a model. The CVNHP will work with the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, Parks Canada, and the appropriate agencies in the Province of Quebec and the states of Vermont and New York to determine the feasibility of developing a water trail that could connect these regions.
Supports OFA Action 9.6: Support initiatives that promote sustainable recreational activities that feature the natural, cultural, and historical resources in the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
Task 9.6.1: Develop and/or improve natural and cultural heritage interpretative trails using wayside exhibits and other informative media.
Task 9.6.2: Continue to support regional, multi-jurisdictional programs that promote accessible and sustainable use of resources.
Task 9.6.4: Examine the feasibility of establishing a œnational historic water trail that connects the resources of the CVNHP, Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, and the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor (ECNHA), similar to the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
Task 9.6.7 Encourage the expansion of facilities and services along the interconnected waterways, such as restaurants, lodging, and equipment rentals, in a manner that minimizes impacts on recreational, cultural, natural, and historic resources and that features environmental sustainability.
- War of 1812 Commemoration Grants for 2013-2014
The events leading to the War of 1812, the military activities during the conflict, and the Battle of Plattsburgh had profound effects on the communities along Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River. The conflict had lasting political, social and economic implications for the United States and Canada in places far from the battlefields. Historic sites, re-enactors, and state/provincial and local governments are working together to mark the bicentennial of the conflict”commemorating the war and celebrating the 200 years of peace in the Champlain Valley. Grants of up to $10,000 will promote additional research and interpretation on the conflict, promote the anniversary, and support bicentennial programs and events.
Supports OFA Action 9.15: Support and encourage cooperation to commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War.
Task 9.15.1: Support research, interpretation, and other individual efforts to mark the anniversaries.
· Key Partnership”Preservation Trust of Vermont and the Adirondack Architectural Heritage for heritage preservation programs.
The damage incurred by Hurricane Irene and other smaller storms on the historic structures within the CVNHP have identified a need for readily available information for non-profit organizations and communities working to recover from these natural disasters. The CVNHP will partner with the premier historic preservation organizations in the region to develop a database of potential funding sources for repair and recovery efforts. The key partners will also develop a œdisaster response checklist for organizations with historic properties to prepare for, and recover from, disasters. The checklist will include a database of potential funding for disaster relief.
Supports OFA Action 9.3: Develop a voluntary stewardship program to strengthen non-regulatory protection of cultural and natural heritage resources.
Task 9.3.3: Provide professional development resources to build the stewardship capabilities of non-profit groups to conserve cultural and natural heritage resources.
Supports OFA Action 9.4: Develop and implement CVNHP cultural and natural heritage resource protection programs.
Task 9.4.1: Inventory, evaluate, and post online the federal, state, and local legislation regarding the protection of cultural and natural heritage resources.
Task 9.4.3: Examine mechanisms for providing technical assistance to landowners, communities, non-profit organizations, and other resource conservation organizations that wish assistance.
Task 9.4.4: Provide assistance to organizations that wish to develop comprehensive conservation plans that address individual issues in a regional context.
- 2009 Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Report
The 400th anniversary of the French explorer Samuel de Champlain’s 1609 expedition to the region was the stimulus for the research, interpretation and celebration of the Champlain Valley’s rich history, diverse cultures, and beautiful natural resources. The LCBP/CVNHP provided planning, coordination, and funding assistance for the Quadricentennial in Vermont and New York. The planning process for the anniversary, which began in 2003, fostered a wide array of projects, programs and events throughout the Champlain Valley and in Quebec. In 2012, a researcher/writer interviewed dozens of key participants in the planning and implementation of these elements. The 100+ page document developed through these interviews is the foundation for an official report on the Quadricentennial. This report, which includes the time period roughly from 2003-2010, is intended to reach principally two audiences:
- Future historians and researchers who wish to understand the perspective early 21st-century Quebecers, New Yorkers and Vermonters had leading up to and during the Quadricentennial.
- Current-day enthusiasts and professionals who want to gain further perspective on the relevance and effectiveness of the commemoration in which they took part.
The Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Report will be professionally designed into a bound document and delivered to state archivists, libraries and the region’s universiaties and colleges.
Supports OF A Action 9.1:Provide support for needed historical and archeological research and accelerate the identification, evaluation, protection, and interpretation of heritage resources, including ethnographies of the cultures within the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
Task 9.1.1: Support historical and archeological research and documentation.
POLICY NOTE: the HAPAC recommends that all future CVNHP grant request for proposals include the following questions related to access for the physically challenged, such as:
- will the funded program meet ADA requirements?
- do partnering organizations or businesses meet ADA requirements?
- will promotional material related to the program or project include reference to accessibility?
- will other efforts at marketing to the disabled be made?