The Biden administration should designate New York’s Finger Lakes region as a National Heritage Area, say U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) and several of his home-state congressional colleagues.
“Designating the Finger Lakes region as a National Heritage Area would be in keeping with the stated goals of the program to recognize cohesive and nationally important landscapes,” the New York lawmakers wrote in a letter sent to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. “For this reason, we would like to express our strong support for the favorable consideration of this designation by the National Park Service.”
The members who joined Rep. Katko in signing the letter were U.S. Reps. Joseph Morelle (D-NY), Chris Jacobs (R-NY), and Tom Reed (R-NY), who also requested that the National Park Service (NPS) consider working closely with existing cultural and tourism organizations and local communities as the designation process moves forward.
The Finger Lakes region, they wrote, has served as the proud site of many critical moments in American history, including the location of the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 and as the home of abolitionist Harriet Tubman in her later years.
Other reasons they cited for designating the region as a National Heritage Area include that it contains more than 100 miles of the historic Erie Canal, over 400 registered historic sites and landmarks, and some 135 museums.
And the Finger Lakes themselves, which range from 40 miles in length and 618 feet in depth, are part of a massive and diverse watershed that also includes Lake Ontario. The lakes provide over 650 miles of shoreline and are home to more than 128 species of fish. “In the 14 counties that constitute the Finger Lakes region, these bodies of water are viewed as a treasured resource and a critical part of our local community,” wrote Rep. Katko and his colleagues.
National Heritage Areas are large, lived-in regions where historical, cultural, and natural resources combine to form cohesive, nationally important landscapes, according to the NPS, which coordinates with community organizations and mobilizes federal resources to promote the diverse heritage of the United States that is relevant to local interests and needs.