Grijalva, Giffords back Santa Cruz Heritage Area
By Dan Sorenson
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
More info
To learn more about National Heritage Areas: www.cr.nps.gov/heritageareas
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A National Heritage Area designation intended to promote tourism along the Santa Cruz River from the Pima/Pinal county line to the U.S.-Mexican border got a send-off Tuesday from two Arizona Democrats who will try to push it through Congress.
Although there's a chance the designation would mean up to about $1 million a year in federal funding, backers hope the National Heritage Area title alone will attract tourists.
And, they say, the designation also makes it easier to coordinate multi-jurisdictional support and get federal funding to enhance local historic and cultural assets that will attract more visitors.
Five municipalities — Marana to Nogales — and Pima and Santa Cruz counties, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, the Tohono O'odham Nation and a number of quasi-public agencies and private parties lent support and pitched in toward the $75,000 cost of a feasibility study for the proposed Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area.
Representatives of all of them, and more, were on hand at the Tumacacori National Historical Park as Reps. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., announced plans to introduce the legislation creating what would be Arizona's second National Heritage Area.
Grijalva chairs a House subcommittee that will hold a hearing on the proposed designation. Grijalva said he hopes the proposal will pass Congress by the end of the current session.
There are now 37 National Heritage Areas, nearly all of them in the East. The Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area is one of the few in the Western United States.
Opposition by property-rights advocates to the area planned for inclusion in the Yuma Heritage Area forced changes. But Grijalva said they were insignificant and ended up being positive for all parties.
Grijalva said a Government Accountability Office report found no evidence of National Heritage Areas' infringing on private property or negatively affecting property values, and that should help the plan overcome any private-property rights groups' opposition.
Giffords said the designation is likely to raise property values because of stimulated local economies and tourism.
"Santa Cruz Valley is one of the continent's longest-occupied areas, said Giffords at the ceremony in front of the Tumacacori mission.
"We've not done enough to sing our own praises."
More info
To learn more about National Heritage Areas: www.cr.nps.gov/heritageareas
● Contact reporter Dan Sorenson at 573-4185 or dsorenson@azstarnet.com
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