Sponsors (2)
The bill brings federal recognition, partnership, and near-term funding to help preserve local natural and cultural resources and boost tourism-led economic activity, but those benefits are time-limited, require local planning capacity, and carry modest taxpayer costs.
Residents, visitors, and rural communities in Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming Counties gain formal recognition and coordinated preservation of cultural and natural resources, improving local conservation and heritage protection.
Local nonprofit (Endless Mountains Heritage Region, Inc.), local governments, and businesses gain federal partnership authority to lead tourism, education, and heritage projects, which can boost local economic activity and nonprofit-led development.
Communities receive up to 15 years of federal technical and financial assistance (without immediate new appropriations), supplying expertise and funding support for conservation and community projects in the near-to-medium term.
Communities and project stakeholders may lose that federal assistance after 15 years when the authorization expires, risking the long-term sustainability of preservation and tourism projects.
The designated nonprofit and local partners must produce an approved management plan within three years, imposing planning costs, staff time, and administrative workload that could strain small organizations.
There will be modest additional federal costs to provide assistance and oversight during the authorization period, funded by taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Designates a new National Heritage Area in parts of Pennsylvania, names a local coordinating entity, requires a management plan within 3 years, and ends federal assistance after 15 years.
Introduced March 26, 2026 by David Harold McCormick · Last progress March 26, 2026
Designates a new National Heritage Area in Pennsylvania covering Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming Counties (and any additional county portions identified in a feasibility study). Names the existing nonprofit Endless Mountains Heritage Region, Inc. as the local coordinating entity, requires that entity to submit a management plan within three years, and ends the Secretary of the Interior’s authority to provide assistance for the area 15 years after enactment.