Management Plan

**View Draft Management Plan and Environmental Assessment**

Each National Heritage Area is required to submit a Ten-Year Management Plan to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior.  The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area developed its plan in three stages: (1) the creation of local heritage development plans for the Qualla Boundary and for each of the 25 counties within the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area; (2) seven regional strategy sessions, conducted during the month of September, 2005; and (3) the final drafting of the Management Plan and an an associated Environmental  Assessment.

The first stage was a massive grassroots undertaking.  The BRNHA enlisted the help of staff from Western Carolina University and five of the State of North Carolina's Heritage Tourism Development Officers, who coordinated and facilitated the planning process.  Literally thousands of volunteer hours were invested in the plans, all of which can be found on the Local Heritage Planning page of this website.

After all 26 local plans were completed, local volunteers were called together with state and national experts, in a series of seven regional meetings, to build upon the local plans and develop regional perspectives and strategies.

A preliminary draft of the BRNHA Management Plan, representing the cumulative efforts of hundreds of Western North Carolina's most creative and civic-minded citizens, was submitted to the National Park Service in late 2006.  The BRNHA then engaged Equinox Environmental Consultation and Design, Inc. to prepare the final draft of the Management Plan and an Environmental Assessment with the assistance of an Interdisciplinary Team of federal, state, local, and tribal government representatives and several periods of public review.

In March, 2008, the final Management Plan and Environmental Assessment was submitted to the Department of the Interior for review and approval.