Freedom of Information Act documents from request filed by Angel Cushing, April 2021 with the National Park Service, received July 2021, posted to Western Region Property Rights Coalition Facebook page: July 24-August 2, 2021.
Introduction to 2018 FOIA Documents
by
Norman L. Kincaide, Ph.D. April
The documents for 2018 indicate the growth of the Kansas Nebraska National Heritage Area (NHA) initiative from a four-person steering committee to over twenty individuals by the end of the year. Four individuals comprised this steering committee in
June, 2018: Ashley Olson, Executive Director, The Willa Cather Foundation, Joe Black, Executive Director, Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, Kim Wilson, Professor, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Landscape Architecture Program, and Mark Engler,
Superintendent, Homestead National Monument.
The Kearney Hub reported on this NHA on April 25, 2018: “Potential Seen for Kansas Nebraska National Heritage Area,” Little else was reported to the public on this effort, however.
The National Park Service (NPS) called the Kansas Nebraska NHA a grassroots effort. The Kansas Nebraska initiative was more a special interest group effort involving state (University of Nebraska, Lincoln) and federal government agencies (NPS), a private foundation (Willa Cather Foundation) and a museum (Stuhr Museum). None of these organizations were publicly elected representative bodies.
Three steering committee meetings were held in 2018 in order to grow the number of stakeholders. The NPS emphasized the need for developing a nationally significant story for the region. One Park Service employee was already disenchanted by the steering
committee meetings and the leadership of Prof. Wilson, stating: “I don’t plan to go to that meeting next week [November 13] and I will contact Kim to let her know. They keep
having the same meeting over and over.”
On December 13, 2018 all twenty participants in the steering committee meeting voted to proceed with a feasibility study to designate a 49-county Kansas Nebraska NHA with a population over 650,000.
In spite of warnings from NPS employees that the steering committee needed to identify a nationally significant theme for the region, they proceeded to pursue a feasibility study for a 49-county region. When were the representative bodies of the region to be informed of this federal government program now being pursued by some twenty individuals?