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Florida Panhandle National Heritage Area designation can mean funding, resources
It will take an act of Congress, but the Florida Panhandle may get federal funding and resources to protect and preserve the things that make this region notable and unique.
A team at the University of West Florida is working to have our region designated as a National Heritage Area, a federal designation identifying places where "natural, cultural and historic resources" combine to tell "important stories that celebrate the nation’s diverse heritage."
Locations that are selected for the National Park Service-administered program are eligible for assistance with tourism, economic development, preservation, restoration and marketing efforts, as well as between $150,000 and $750,000 in annual funding. Currently, there are only 49 heritage areas in the U.S., and there is only one that includes any part of Florida.
Advocating for why Northwest Florida is a prime candidate for the designation, Sorna Khakzad, a cultural resources management specialist at UWF, said, "The maritime landscape of the Florida Panhandle — its rivers, coasts, bays and sounds — contributed to developing the United States' national defense, expansion, industry, tourism and innovation into what it is today. The Panhandle's cultural and natural resources, and heritage are testimonies of this contribution."
Khakzad spent two years assisting in a Florida Public Archaeology Network Coordinating Center study of the Panhandle's heritage tourism. The assessment identified more than 70 significant heritage tourism sites across Northwest Florida ranging from shipwrecks, to museums, to archaeological sites, to unique ecological habitats and to locations of "historic firsts" that shaped the country's past, present and future.
"After we got done with the assessment, we realized we have so many attractions in this area that are not really known or highlighted," Khakzad said. "We thought, 'How can we really use these cultural resources to promote more economic development and tourism well-being in the area?' ... We thought with all these resources we have, we can put them together and have the Panhandle as the first exclusive National Heritage Area in Florida."
The first step in the process is the completion of a feasibility study. The study will define the heritage area — currently proposed as stretching from roughly the Perdido Bay area to the Apalachicola Bay area — as well as assess public support, compile an inventory of assets and ultimately determine if the region is a good candidate for the designation.
The study is sponsored by Reubin O’D. Askew Center for Multidisciplinary Studies in collaboration with Florida Public Archaeology Network.
Wade Jeffrey, director of the Askew Institute, said the designation would provide "increased visibility," for our area, and also "increased infrastructure, maintenance and preservation."
The National Park Service will provide technical support for the study as the university works its way through the process, but ultimately U.S. Congress must approve the designation and pass it into law.
Jeffrey said he believes our area's rich history makes us a very strong candidate, but added nothing is guaranteed.
"One of the side benefits we hope that can come out of this — even if we're unsuccessful in creating the designation as a National Heritage Area — is a heritage tourist's guide so we have all this information for all these sites all along the Panhandle so it won't go to naught," Jeffrey said.
The university is calling for citizens who are in favor of the designation to make their support known by providing feedback at the Institute's Florida Panhandle National Heritage Area website, uwf.edu/fpnha.
From 1-3 p.m. Monday, UWF staff will be at the Governor John W. Martin House in Tallahassee asking state legislators to seek the state legislators to support the initiative.
Kevin Robinson can be reached at email@example.com and 850-435-8527.