Sponsors (2)
The bill provides federal recognition and up to 15 years of technical and financial support to boost heritage tourism and preserve cultural and natural resources in four counties, but that support is time-limited, creates near-term planning costs, and may leave some local areas excluded depending on boundary decisions.
Residents and local businesses in Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming Counties will receive federal recognition and coordinated support that can increase heritage tourism and boost local economies.
Cultural and natural resources across the designated counties will gain coordinated planning and access to federal technical and financial assistance for up to 15 years, improving preservation and resource management.
The nonprofit Endless Mountains Heritage Region, Inc. will have a formal coordinating role and eligibility to partner with the Interior Department on preservation and interpretation projects, strengthening local capacity to manage heritage initiatives.
Local governments and nonprofits that begin projects expecting federal support may face funding gaps when federal assistance for the heritage area ends after 15 years.
Residents and communities omitted from the boundaries the Secretary sets (based on the feasibility study) could be excluded from program benefits and related investments.
The coordinating nonprofit and its partners must complete a management plan within three years, imposing administrative and planning costs on local nonprofits and partners.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Designates the Endless Mountains National Heritage Area in PA, names a local coordinating entity, requires a management plan within 3 years, and ends federal assistance authority after 15 years.
Designates the Endless Mountains National Heritage Area in Pennsylvania as part of the National Heritage Area System, covering Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, and Wyoming Counties and any additional portions identified by a feasibility study. Names Endless Mountains Heritage Region, Inc. as the local coordinating entity and requires that entity to submit a management plan for Secretary of the Interior approval within three years. Sets the Secretary of the Interior’s boundaries based on the feasibility study and ends the Secretary’s authority to provide federal assistance to this heritage area 15 years after enactment. The bill creates the designation and planning deadlines but does not itself appropriate new funds or create immediate spending obligations.
Official title: Amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to designate as a component of the National Heritage Area System the Endless Mountains National Heritage Area in the State of Pennsylvania, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 26, 2026 by David Harold McCormick · Last progress March 26, 2026