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. We will celebrate with a Seneca Artisan Showcase on May 18.
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.
In one of the last acts in the 117th Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the National Heritage Area Act (S. 1942) by a bi-partisan vote of 326-95. Days earlier, the Senate passed the same bill without opposition. President Biden signed the legislation on January, 5th.
The National Heritage Area Act creates standard criteria for the funding, management, and designation of National Heritage Areas across the country and provides them an annual authorization of up to $1 million per year for the next 15 years.
The Highlands Creative Economy Council meets virtually once a month to network about tourism development. This open forum gives county tourism leaders and local businesses a chance to discuss successes, issues, and solutions, and to engage with guest speakers. This initiative has sponsored our monthly online meetings, dozens of free workshops and training, a pilot grant program, and the return of our annual Tourism Summit.
We at AFNHA wanted to share with you some resources that speak more to the history of black Americans, not only in the AFNHA but in the Appalachian region as a whole. 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 Appalachian region, of which AFNHA is a part of.
There are plenty of reasons to look forward to spring in West Virginia: apple blossoms, waterfalls rich with snowmelt, baby lambs. If you pay close attention to the trees and bushes around you, you might find another reason to love spring hidden in plain sight. Bird nests! Many of West Virginia’s birds, both residents and migrants, choose their mates, build their nests, and raise their young during the spring. You can watch the whole drama unfold as the days warm up and the flowers open. You just have to know what to look for!
Arthurdale Heritage has a number of ongoing projects to accompany the traveling Smithsonian exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America. The exhibit examines our understanding of rural places and their history. Arthurdale and the other sites in the state hosting the exhibit will be thinking about topics like mental health, labor, and community memory. They will also be discussing the representations of their communities and West Virginia.
Officials from the Appalachian National Forest Heritage Area presented a Planning Exchange Camp Monday at 4H Camp Pioneer. Those who attended were able to give their input and help with planning of the future of the Appalachian National Forest Area. The AFNHA must submit its plans to the National Park Service in the spring of 2022.
