…when a National Heritage Area is designated, landowners have the option to allow their property to be used or not. There is also a stipulation that if land owners opt in but change their minds later, they can opt out and have their land removed from the designation area. A designation provides a community the freedom to renovate, preserve and market local places that are of state and national significance. For example, Freedom’s Frontier directly supports its sites in two ways. First, it offers grants to fund on-the-ground projects. And second, it works to promote the entire region in a way that smaller entities could never afford on their own. One such tool is the Freedom’s Frontier App, where tourists download themed maps such as the Underground Railroad, Santa Fe Trail, or Civil War. Visitors can then travel to each site learning Kansas history and adding to a town’s economy as they go.
Source: Kansas Reflector
