(2) to assist the State of New York and the
communities of the Hudson River Valley in preserv-
ing and interpreting these resources for the benefit
of the Nation;
(3) to maintain agricultural viability and pro-
ductivity in the region; and
(4) to authorize Federal financial and technical
assistance to serve these purposes.
(c) DESIGNATION.—Upon publication by the Sec-
retary in the Federal Register of notice that a compact
regarding the Heritage Area and meeting the require-
ments for a compact under section 106(a)(2) has been ap-
proved by the Secretary under the procedures referred to
in section 106(b), there is hereby designated the Hudson
River Valley American Heritage Area (hereinafter in this
section referred to as the ‘‘Heritage Area’’).
(d) BOUNDARIES.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in paragraph (2), the Heritage Area shall be
comprised of the lands generally depicted on the
map entitled ‘‘Hudson River Valley National Herit-
age Area’’, numbered P50–8002, and dated August
1994. The map shall be on file and available for
public inspection in the office of the Director of the
National Park Service.
(2) LOCAL AGREEMENT TO INCLUSION.—Each
of the following counties, cities, and towns in the
State of New York shall not be included within the
boundaries of the Heritage Area unless the govern-
ment of such county, city, or town agrees to be so
included and submits notification of such agreement
to the Secretary:
(A) The counties of Greene and Columbia.
(B) Any city or town within the county of
Greene or Columbia.
(C) The counties of Rensselaer and
Dutchess.
(D) Any city or town (except the town of
Hyde Park) within the county of Rensselaer or
Dutchess and located entirely within the 22d
Congressional District of New York.
(e) ADMINISTRATION.—The Heritage Area shall be
considered to be part of the American Heritage Areas
Partnership Program and shall be considered for all pur-
poses, including but not limited to the management plan
submission requirement of section 107(c)(1) and the pro-
visions of section 108, to have been designated an Amer-
ican Heritage Area under section 105(d) on the date on
which the Heritage Area is designated under subsection
(c) of this section.
SEC. 204. OHIO & ERIE CANAL AMERICAN HERITAGE AREA.
(a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.—The Congress finds
that—
(1) the Ohio & Erie Canal, which opened for
commercial navigation in 1832, was the first inland
waterway to connect the Great Lakes at Lake Erie
with the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers and was a part of a canal network in Ohio
that was one of the most extensive and successful
systems in America during a period in history when
canals were essential to the growth of the Nation;
(2) the Ohio & Erie Canal spurred economic
growth in the State of Ohio that took the State from
near bankruptcy to a position as the third most eco-
nomically prosperous State in the Union in just 20
years;
(3) a 4-mile section of the Ohio & Erie Canal
was designated a National Historic Landmark in
1966 and other portions of the Ohio & Erie Canal
and many associated structures have been placed on
the National Register of Historic Places;
(4) in 1974, 19 miles of the Ohio & Erie Canal
were declared nationally significant, under National
Park Service new area criteria, in the designation of
the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area;
(5) the National Park Service found the Ohio
& Erie Canal nationally significant in a 1975 study
entitled ‘‘Suitability/Feasibility Study, Proposed
Ohio & Erie Canal’’; and
(6) a 1993 Special Resource Study of the Ohio
& Erie Canal Corridor, conducted by the National
Park Service and entitled ‘‘A Route to Prosperity’’,
has concluded that the corridor is eligible to become
a National Heritage Corridor, an affiliated unit of
the National Park System.
(b) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—The purposes of this
section are—
(1) to preserve and interpret for the educational
and inspirational benefit of present and future gen-
erations the unique and significant contributions to
the national heritage of certain historic and cultural
lands, waterways, and structures within the 87-mile
Ohio & Erie Canal Corridor between Cleveland and
Zoar; and
(2) to provide a management framework to as-
sist the State of Ohio and its political subdivisions
in developing and implementing a management plan
for the area and developing policies and programs
that will preserve, enhance, and interpret the cul-