April 25, 2024 |
Photo – Map of Heritage Assets – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Casper City Council signed onto the effort this week that the Carbon County Board of Commissioners already endorsed, making south-central Wyoming home to a national heritage area.
The Natrona County Board of Commissioners are also on board for the effort in the two counties called the Pathways National Heritage Area.
In 2023, Dr. Glenn Haas and Vernon Lovejoy began the process of developing the area which builds on what President Ronald Regan referred to in 1984 as a “new kind of National Park.
Dr. Haas told Bigfoot 99 earlier this year that this new breed of national heritage area will strengthen tourism by bringing national recognition to the historic trails in our area.
According to Haas, the proposed Pathways, will put Carbon and Natrona Counties on a federally managed list of historic locations. He said the designation will not infringe on private property rights.
Haas said the designation is simply a label and does not include any infrastructure or services associated with the National Park Service.
The feasibility study was finished earlier this year. The document focuses on nine of the most historically important trails in Carbon and Natrona Counties. Included on the list are Overland Trail, the Pony Express Trail, and the North Platte River—all of which played significant roles in the story of American expansion.
Carbon County is home to many of the trails and railroad lines that are part of the story of the American expansion westward. Natrona County is home to many of the original trails used by migrants heading west.
Unlike a National Park, a national heritage area will be managed locally and will have none of the federal architecture of a national park.
Lovejoy and Haas, both Colorado residents, are leading the charge to create the National Pathways Heritage area.
Haas said communities that become involved in the project will see a boom in tourism without the oppressive presence of federal authority.
Although Lovejoy and Haas met with little opposition or even questions from the Carbon County Commissioners, they were drilled with questions in Natrona County. Among the questions were: How much authority will local government have over what the Colorado group does in Wyoming. What happens if someone wants to drill for oil or do other exploratory energy work in a designated area? And will a designation open the door to environmentalist groups special interest groups looking to limit development on private land?
To learn more about the Pathways National Heritage Area project, you can visit the website, PathwaysNHA.com. Maps, descriptions and a link to the feasibility study finished earlier this year is available there.
