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Home > The
Special Resource Study > Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a special resource
study -- and what initiated the Harriet Tubman special resource
study?
The National Park Service undertakes a professional
evaluation process, ending with a range of options and a recommendation.
When the study is finished, NPS publishes a report and sends it
to Congress. The National Park Service does not create parks - it's
Congress or the President that creates parks.
The Harriet Tubman study was requested by a law
passed in November 2000, sponsored by the Senators from New York
and Maryland, which specified five sites in Auburn, New York, and
two sites in Cambridge, Maryland, to be evaluated as potential NPS
areas. In addition, the law directed the NPS to look at other potential
sites and to examine a potential national heritage corridor.
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What is a "unit"
of the national park system? Is it the same thing as a "park?"
The national
park system consists of more than 390 units. They go by many
names - national park, monument, historic site, historical park,
seashore, recreation area, and many others, but all are referred
to as parks. In total there are more than 20 different park "titles"
within the Park System. For example, a national park is a large
natural place having a wide variety of attributes, including significant
historic assets, a national historic site usually contains a single
historical feature that was directly associated with its subject,
and a national historical park is a group of historic sites or properties
or buildings. A relatively new designation, although not a unit,
is a national heritage area, "a place ... where natural, cultural,
historic, and scenic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally
distinctive landscape arising from patterns of human activity shaped
by geography."
Designations are tailored to the place that's
being protected and interpreted. The special resource study helps
determine options for protecting resources. There are many variations
of management for a park area, including some in which the land
is owned by a state and others, some that have a mixture of federal
and other ownership, and others in which the land is owned entirely
by the federal government. Congress specifies in its laws, the type
of area the National Park Service should operate.
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How does this study relate
to the Underground Railroad program?
The National Park Service has a program called the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom through which groups propose sites, facilities, or programs to be officially designated as part of the Network. These sites are authorized to use the National Network to Freedom logo, receive funds (when available) to preserve the sites, and provide interpretation to the public. Four of the Underground Railroad program managers are contributing their expertise to this study as team members.
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Could there be more than
one national site dedicated to Harriet Tubman?
Since there is more than one area where Tubman lived and worked, the study might recommend a combination of sites if they meet the established criteria.
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If the Secretary of the Department of the Interior recommends a national park designation, when would that happen?
The timing is up to Congress. If Senators and Representatives are interested in having a park area, they will introduce a bill. The bill goes through the normal legislative process, which may take years. Public support for a proposal influences congressional action.
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Let's say a national park
area is created by Congress, what happens then?
After a park area is established, NPS begins evaluating
the resources in depth, setting up programs for the public, and
beginning a long-range plan. It takes many years for a national
park area to become fully operational. Most management plans, which
guide parks for 15 to 20 years, take three or four years to be completed.
Such plans are done with a great deal of consultation with the general
public and specific stakeholders.
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Who is doing the study?
A National Park Service professional team of planners, landscape architects, and historians includes four managers of the National Network to Freedom program. While the study is based in the Northeast Region Boston Office, team members are also located in Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta, and Omaha. In addition, the team draws on expertise from NPS advisers and outside consultants. Other important sources of information are the many groups and activists associated with Harriet Tubman’s legacy. The study team relies on existing research rather than conducting original research.
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Where is the study team
holding public meetings?
Public meetings will be held in December 2008 in Auburn, New York, and Cambridge and Preston, Maryland. Dates, times, and places will be posted on website and in local newspapers.
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How can I give my input
and make suggestions?
Go to the comments page or send a letter by regular mail to:
Barbara
Mackey
National Park Service
15 State Street
Boston MA 02109
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