Transcripts For CSPAN2 The 20240704

The great privilege of representing virginias fourth congressional district. You know, virginia is home to so many incredible sites with deep historical cultural ecological and environmental significance for our state in our nation. Is our job to Work Together to be stewards of these areas and ensure the preservation for future generations so they can learn about our history and experience these wonderful areas firsthand. Among the many important sites throughout our state is the Great Dismal Swamp located in the Hampton Roads region of my district. I want to slow chris lilly whos on on this call with us. Hes doing a great job with the swamping and keeping it going. I always chuckled to myself when i think about Great Dismal Swamp because well, it is great. Its not nearly the million acres that it used to be about tenth of the size. Um while allegedly as a swamp is does not look like a swamp. If as you think about it nor does it dismal theyre doing a really great job of keeping it up keeping your vibrant and i couldnt be more proud of them. What you may not know though, is that the Great Dismal Swamp was once a home in a refuge to a generation of africanamerican and indigenous populations who create a vibrant selfsustaining community hidden away from the threat of enslavement. The swamp also served as an economic hub of commerce between indigenous populations formerly indentured africanamerican communities and those who were escaping slavery. Due to this robust activity between these communities the Great Dismal Swamp contains heavy concentrations of important archaeological and cultural artifacts. You didnt know this either did you the swamp is also one of the only known waterbased stops on the underground railroad those fleeing and slavery would use the swamp for cover as they traveled north to freedom. Theres immense historical archaeological cultural environmental value in the region and we must do everything we can to protect it. Despite the importance of the Great Dismal Swamp and continues to be threatened. As i said at one time the swamp covered more than a million acres across, virginia and North Carolina. Today is about a tenth of its original size due in large part. To over development and threats of Climate Change and sea level rise. The other shrinking size of a Great Dismal Swampsion be a concern for everyone not just those of us who called the commonwealth home. They just was home has a great you as a unique and fragile ecosystem is home to a wide array of rare animals plants insect species. It also plays a vital role in the continued mitigation of the climate crisis. You see as fast ecosystem assists in the fight against climate crisis. By helping to absorb harm harmful gases in the atmosphere that contain to our Global Temperatures up. The greatest or swap is vital to understand our nations history and helping to ensure a Healthy Future for the next generation. And thats why ive been proud to fight for his preservation ever since i came to congress. I was proud to help lead many members of the virginia delegation and introducing a bicameral. Piece of legislation to assess the sustainability of feasibility of designating the Great Dismal Swamp as a National Heritage area this legislation is an important first step to the fight in the fight to conserve the vital Resources Wildlife and historical importance of this region. Not only will this designation as a National Heritage area preserve the regions integrity. It will also help stimulate the commonwealth economy through tremendous job of creation and local economic activity. I also had the privilege an opportunity to submit a funding requests to the House Appropriations committee committees consideration for the house appropriation committees consideration impossible inclusion in the upcoming appropriations process folks that starts in late july, so please keep your fingers crossed pray if you pray but we really would like to get some federal help for the region. This farming requests would provide the city of chesapeake. But the resources it needs to move and preserve the coinland school one of the oldest africanamerican schools in the Hampton Roads region. I want to salute and commend preservation, virginia for his efforts to shine a light on the importance of the coinland school and for including it on the list of one of the most endangered historical sites in our area. The radius will swap is truly one of our nations greatest historical cultural environmental treasures. In the fight for his preservation continues. I like to extend my thanks to preservation, virginia and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. For their continued efforts to protect endangered sites throughout the commonwealth. Please know that i am your partner and your colleague whenever and wherever you need me. Ill continue to advocating on the federal level the swanse preservation. We look forward to our continued collaboration protect to protect this incredible region. Thank you for allowing me to join you today. Im sorry the press of business requires me to jump off the call, but i wish you i hope you all have a wonderful conversation and know the were only a phone call away. God bless you. Thank you so much representative makita in both for being with us today and for all that youre doing. Take care. Take care. Now. You need your job. All right, as i mentioned preservationists and conservationists are increasingly recognizing the important connections between historic and Cultural Resources and our Natural Resources. A conservation easements heritage trails National Heritage areas are just some of the tools that are being used to advance these efforts and we have a superb panel today to talk more about National Heritage areas. With a focus on the recent interest in creating a nha National Heritage area for the Great Dismal Swamp as you heard congressman mceachern talk about a bit. In addition to our panel members. Id also like to point out we have two dhr staff with us elizabethford and mark wagner and theyre gonna be on the webinar to answer any questions. You you might have of dhr. And just one quick housekeeping note speaking of questions. We will take questions at the end if we have time. Hopefully well so please put them in the q a if we dont happen to get to him today because we have a number of excellent speakers. We will be sure to get back to you. So with that lets turn to our our panel members. Ill introduce them and theyll speak one at a time and then as i mentioned you will have some questions. First up. Id like to introduce jen hurst wender who virginia in 2008. And is now our director of Museum Operations and education jen oversees the interpretation preservation and general operational details of preservation virginias portfolio of nine properties. Um and six of these properties are open to the public including ill put in quick plug here Patrick Henry scotchtown the John Marshall house Bacons Castle smiths fort historic jamestown and the cape henry lighthouse. A urge you all to come visit. And jen will briefly share some information on using openspace space at these Historic Sites, jen. Thank you jeff. So i i know that most all of this panel is going to be talking about the dismal swamp, but before we get to that, im just going to be talking about some of the ways that preservation, virginia is Historic Sites are utilizing our open space and the and the landscape that surrounds us so im gonna give a brief little overview of just some of the projects that were involved in so im going to go ahead and and share my screen real quick. And lets see. All right. So, lets see if there we go, okay. So the first site that were going to kind of dive into is going to be Patrick Henry scotchtown. And so this is a great aerial shot of the property and next to this. I have a a map that was drawn up in the 60s. I believe 63 and its upside down so you can see the orientation of the site, but i did want to did want to point out that at this point scotchtown is in the process of developing a master plan for the entire property so that were not specifically focused on our historic structures, but ways that we can integrate the landscape for all of our visitors and the general public and so we own about 23 acres around around scotchtown historically, weve only done the archeology in this in this area closest to closest to the workyard. And so we have so much archeology or so much work to do so much. Thats thats remained uncovered. We know from historical record that there were enslaves quarters on this property. We have yet to find them. So thats a goal of ours and we also want to make sure that that were working with for virginia indian representatives. Do have a better understanding of how this land was used prior to 1717 when the original land was patented via a colonial grant to charles. Chisel. So that just kind of gives you an overview of what the space looks like. But while were still undergoing lots of research we are utilizing the space and in as many different ways as we possibly can and this is really through partnerships and everything that im going to be talking about in in the rest of my time is all about partnerships. I think that thats really the only way that we can possibly possibly move forward. So things partnering with local 4 age groups to utilize heritage breed livestock partnering to bring naturalization ceremonies to scotchtown. With hanover master gardeners to develop learning gardens and dye gardens and with local entrepreneurs and businesses to bring festivals like the beast feast to scotchtown. So those are very traditional ways of partnering and using the landscape that we have. And then well move on to Bacons Castle. And again, heres a great aerial shot of the of the property corresponding with in an older map. So Bacons Castle is kind of in the same situation as scotchtown. We have 40 acres that comes with this property and were looking forward to developing a master plan thats going to to help us develop a plan to integrate all of that landscape in with the historic fabric that that already exists and so archeology again is a major factor in how this is going to to play out, but with Bacons Castle, we are fortunate that we have this historic view shed of of farmland and forests. Thats pretty much been there through the four centuries that the structure the structure of Bacons Castle has existed. This original building was built in 1665 and its pretty much been an agricultural use ever since. So one of the projects that were working on in collaboration with with chip oaks state park is actually to do a historic road trace. And so the plan is is to reopen this three and a half mile. Road trail that would go from Bacons Castle to chipotes and in the distance in this area shot back here. You can see the james river. So this gives you an idea Bacons Castle was not built on the water. There is a creek where skiffs could get up and down the creek, but any any navigable channels would have to go to the deep water port here on the james river. And so so were working with the state park landowner to see if we can reopen that road trace which would open the property up to to bike walking and and horse trails. So definitely a partnership. Were looking forward to and so moving on to another Historic Site that we have in surrey. We have smiths fort so smiths fort has this manor house. Thats built in the 1750s, but really the name smith sport comes from a 1619 fort that john smith began but wasnt able to complete that it overlooks grace creek. And so grace creek and and became part of the john smith water trail and up in the right hand corner. You can see some representatives from Missouri Garden Club and other folks and surrey that were commemorating this event taking place. And so we have a water trail designation. We have a walking trail that goes from the manor house at smiths fort back to the fort site and just other ways that were also utilizing the property the local or whose property surroundsmiths for has been planting zinnias in on our property for now for several years, which is a really great way that its just bringing a lot of tourism to the site for people to pick their own city of flowers. Moving on to cape henry, so cape henry is located on an active military base and we have worked in partnership with the active military base and also the National Park site has a Cape Henry Memorial National Park site. So our interpreters provide a walking tour that takes people through different areas. You can see in the bottom right hand corner. Theres a world war ii era casemate mine case may and thats built into the dune of the lighthouse and working with the joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek Fort Story we have been able to to utilize that space with our with with our interpreters to take guests through that area and look in there and really just get an idea of how this cape henry area was used for. The past 400 plus years. So then the last project that i want to talk about is something that its actually coming up next week. So John Marshall house in richmond, virginia has the least amount of property out of out of all of the Historic Sites that preservation virginia owns and operates and so theres not much landscape in the rights, matt dab in the middle of downtown richmond. However, this project is called the freedom constellation project is taking place next week where 160 foot banners are going to go on 9th and marshall street, and these banners are representing a project to to work towards ending juvenile incarceration. And so this project is in partnership with the Mayors Office and the Marshall House will be the main viewing station for this. This is an augmented reality project. So when were working with with landscapes, you can download the qr code on your phone and youll be able to see these 160 foot panels come to life with video and poetry and sarah will kind of go up into the sky in the clouds. So this is this is very much a partnership that kind of dropped into our laps, but its really a great way. To tie current judicial issues back to our Historic Site of chief justice John Marshall. So thats just a really quick sampling of some of the ways that that preservation virginia sites are using our historic landscapes. All right. Thanks jim. Now we will hear from elizabeth veemeyer who is a Program Coordinator with the National Heritage Areas Program at the National Park service in dc along with administering financial and Technical Assistance to 55 of these. Areas in 34 sites excuse me. Shes also. Working im sorry having a little technical issue here and along with the ministering financial and Technical Assistance in 55 these areas and 34 states the nha Program Provides Technical Assistance on the Feasibility Study process for emerging nhas. Shes also worked as an archaeologist grants Management Specialist with the National Park service and for the American Battlefield protection program. Elizabeth thanks chip, and i just want to say thank you to preservation, virginia for the invitation this afternoon. Im happy to be here. Im going to give an overview of the National Heritage area program and what National Heritage areas are and a little bit about what they do benefits that heritage areas bring to communities and the nation and a little bit about how nhs are designated in the Feasibility Study process . So first, what are National Heritage areas . The quick answer is there large lived in landscapes of National Importance and they designated by congress . However, heritage areas are both a place and an organizational model for conservation and preservation efforts. The organizing model which is done through a local Management Entity and processes. There is really grassroots and a Grassroots Level. Its a communitybased decisionmaking model with focus on interdisciplinary interdisciplinary approaches to programs and projects. Um a Management Entity or what we call local coordinating entity is designated via the legislation that creates the heritage area and those entities can be nonprofits state or local governments academic institutions or federal commissions. In the legislation that creates a heritage area the the Management Entity along with kind of this partnership with the federal government is tasked with goals of conservation Outdoor Recreation cultural and Historic Resource preservation education. And then the last one i have there in parentheses, which isnt sometimes always noted in the legislation but is a direct byproduct of the other goals and processes of a National Heritage area is Economic Development for that community or that region. Um many nhas activities address multiple Conservation Strategies and one single project. So while these are kind of called out separately a lot of projects and programs combine them and i can talk about a little bit more examples later on but in general, this is a broad approach towards a large landscape and it sometimes can cultivate new ways of seeing and learning from a landscape from its resources and really at the core from its people. So where are the nhs i noted that nhas are not only in organizing model, but theyre also a place as trip mentioned. There are 55 heritage areas across 34 states in the country. Um, they are you can tell here from this map that they vary in size but in general there are in a strategic assemblage of resources that allows an important interplay between the landscape and its features to tell a story. There are usually nationally distinctive landscapes. Meaning. This is a place. This is the the best place to tell this story in america um, they can represent. Different types different errors of history or different elements of our story in america and that can be industry events or people are or people or person. So some examples. And in terms of telling a story of industry and how industry played across landscape includes motor cities National Heritage area in michigan rivers of steel National Heritage area in the pittsburgh area of pennsylvania. Or silos and smokestacks National Heritage area in iowa which tells of an Agricultural Industry and then you have events or kind of trends in. Our history and that can relate to the transportation so we have a bunch of canal systems that are part of the heritage area program. We also have with the first one the first designated heritage area being the illinois and michigan canal connecting the great lakes to the mississippi. Then we also have what i mentioned theres people or person we have Abraham Lincoln National Heritage area in central, illinois how his life was shaped by that area. And then we also have the gullegi National Hair Cultural Heritage corridor along the coast there from North Carolina down to florida and you know the golgichi people and how they interact with the landscape and have a landscape influence them. I also encourage anyone to go on to our website and check out this map thats there and you can see how your life has interacted with heritage areas across the country, or see maybe you didnt realize you were in one and benefit it from some of the programs and sites there. So what do they actually do . How is this . You know, how do they fulfill their their legislation and their mandate from congress . Mainly its through a Publicprivate Partnership, which really is a model of costeffective way to preserve these nationally important natural cultural historic and recreational resources. And its kind of through a creation of working partnerships. Um, they expand upon traditional conservation approaches really looking at a large scale approach. Its Community Driven like i noted its really at that Grassroots Level that projects and programs are developed and carried out. But at the same time theres that grassroots in that local effort. The connection is clear with the mission of the park service and furthering that mission across a larger landscape than just what the park service owns in a park unit boundary and part of that is, you know, making those connections to other sites that maybe the park service doesnt doesnt own and manage themselves. But also helps tell a larger story of our shared heritage and some of that is through expanding upon previously underrepresented communities helping tell stories that maybe havent been told previously making connections and partnerships with groups that maybe havent had an opportunity in the past to tell their story. It helps them give them a platform in a space. Heritage area is also usually provides subgrants and thats a way to help Capacity Building for their their networks at that local level and that could help to do carrying out certain projects like Water Quality interpretation Historic Preservation signage and brochures. I just wanted to point out here two heritage areas that are located in virginia. You may be familiar with them. And so maybe that you know, youre oh their heritage area now. I understand. I understand what they do. So you get a sense of how it heritage areas operate across the country with just these two examples one journey through hollowed ground one of their premier. Projects or programs is the National History academy, which is happening partly right now. Its usually a Summer Program for middle school and high school students. And which switch to virtual last year was able to make that switch and i think this year theyre also doing some virtual programming. Theres also the Shenandoah Valley battlefields National Historic district. Which despite its name is part of the program in general and they carry out battlefield preservation activities interpretation with a Visitor Center at third winchester battlefield signage walking tours and events such as conferences and other research sharing events. So what dont think do there is some confusion because they are tied to the park service whether or not they are units or how theyre connected to us. So just wanted to be clear. They do not become units of the park service when they are designated in nha. I did want to point out though on the right here a photo or give an example of how other how federal land is connected to a heritage area though. So, this is Muscle Shoals National Heritage area in northern alabama. There is a wildlife refuge within the boundary of the heritage area the Wheeler National wildlife refuge. Um, they the heritage area worked with the the wildlife refuge. And when they were doing their planning and Management Planning and how they can provide more interpretation about the Tennessee River there in this part of the state to the general public or to visitors. And so they were you know active participants in the planning and understanding how interpretation can be expanded. Heritage area designation does not impact private Property Rights meaning there arent regulations that come with it meaning people, you know can or cant do certain things with their property or have to go through some design review. Thats not part of what nhas are. Also, it does not require Public Access to sites or land. Its all voluntary if you want to work with the heritage area according entity to provide Public Access to your private property or you know work on other projects that may come down the pike. Its not required at all. Its just voluntary and the last thing i just want to mention that they dont operate from top down and there i mean the park service isnt dictating and youre neil. Were not there every day managing what happens its really defined by the local corning entity how we work with them and what type of may need from us. And that leads into a little bit more but so how does the park service actually play into this program . And what do we actually do . We are part of the public side of the Publicprivate Partnership thats created through a designation of a heritage area. And i say part because there are other public entities right there could be state entities or other federal agency landowning agencies that come and play with the partnership as i know it with the fish and wildlife with the wildlife refuge. We offer Technical Assistance to existing heritage areas. They are required to do a Management Plan when they are first designated. So we help with that process we can offer Technical Assistance across the park service. Not just the nha Program Staff, but you know connects to other park Service Staff members who are experts in interpretation and education. As well as Resource Preservation and connected conservation approach to a larger landscape. There is funding assistance thats provided to heritage areas and we the Program Staff do manage those cooperative agreements and that funding and the funding there is to really develop and implement the Management Plan. So help them carry out those activities and those actions that are noted in the Management Plan. And then lastly we conduct evaluations of heritage areas to assess their accomplishments and fulfilling their legislation and implementing the Management Plan and their and their use of the federal funding. So here im not going to read all of this, but i just want to point out some benefits of heritage areas and really these are stats that on the Program Gathers annually from the existing heritage areas to understand how theyre using their funds how theyre supporting their communities what networks their their partnering with its a local level and then kind of as those buckets i noted in conservation recreation preservation. Education, how are they interact or how are they carrying out those types of projects . So ill point out one example here is from south park National Heritage area in colorado. They have been working on a project here at the paris mill site. Which was for processing gold ore its from the lets see. So make sure i have it right the mill site dates back to 1874. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the heritage area partnered with the state Historic Preservation office there and applied for a grant through them. To do a rehabilitation multiyear project on this site and i hear have a picture of a completed masonry work on one of the walls show kind of the different types of actual handson preservation that a heritage area can also be involved in and here the heritage area invested about 40,000 and was able to leverage up to 200,000 in a cash match. So really even to leverage some of that federal funding they get next ill point out another example of here you can see stats on recreation and conservation. But also i wanted to point out one where its a little bit more of an educational tilt and telling stories that may have not been told before is the South Carolina National Heritage corridor partnered with the barbados and carolinas legacy foundation. And they wanted to raise awareness of historic connections that bind South Carolina and barbados. And so they put on special events programs tours and promotion to encourage exploration of sites in a sea sites in a different way across the South Carolina landscape. So thats existing heritage areas what their tasks to do and how theyre carrying out those tasks. But how do you become a heritage area . Its really a legislative process. So that means include, you know have a bill introduced go through that legislative process of a hearing maybe markups have a vote get it signed by the president eventually. And so really congressional action needed. However, the park service can recommend steps that a community can take to kind of best be set up for becoming a heritage area one is a completion of a Feasibility Study and that involves, you know us promoting public involvement in the planning for that and a demonstrated Widespread Community involvement. Not just particular, you know limited public bow more of a Widespread Community involvement in this effort. And also commitment from key constituents stakeholders. Theyre really play a part in helping create this network of the Publicprivate Partnership thats needed to help. Nhb successful so the Feasibility Study maybe some of you are familiar with a special resource study when a Park Service Unit is proposed. Its kind of similar to that but to assess. The feasibility and suitability of an area becoming a heritage area. Its really a process to engage local people and organizations and discussing their future of the regions resources and quality of life and you know in those discussions maybe a heritage area is one option for meeting goals of that community and maybe its become decided that this is the route we want to take. This is the best to carry out what we want to do for our community at that local level. And so a Feasibility Study would be done. Its really a means to inventory assess and document the nationally important resources in that area. And those researchers can be tangible or intangible, but its really trying to get a community to think about whats unique about our area. Whats important maybe whats endangered whats underutilized . How can we help promote something or bring capacity to something that does isnt there right. Now it also has you look at whos going to be involved in the long term of this heritage area. And also what opportunities can be created if a heritage area is designated. Um, and lastly, ill just note the last bullet point here is its a way to also identify management funding and sustainability strategies. So its also a little bit about the management and Business Aspect of that local courting entity that possibly carry this out. And id be remiss if i didnt mention during national pollination. We pollinator week heritage areas also. This is an example of how heritage areas themselves are have come together across the country and work, you know, so even though theyre individual and their unique and they tell their own stories. They do come together to work on larger projects under the program. This is one example on the right from the john h chaffee, blackstone valley National Heritage corridor in rhode island in massachusetts. This was an effort to create or plant a Pollinator Garden at a site that you historically was a kitchen garden, but due to continuous flooding of the polluted river there. They didnt feel comfortable planting actual food. So they took it upon them. So say this to be great for a Pollinator Garden so they come worked with the rhode island. Wild Plant Society and was able carry this project out. And then lastly ill just note how our feasibility studies initiated if you are interested, they could be done by a local sponsors conducted by so biola organization they pay for it themselves. They maybe get a firm or consultant to help them carry this out. And if thats the case, then the park service can offer Technical Assistance and interpreting our guidelines for how to do feasibility studies and the criteria that we look at for the feasibility and suitability of an area. The other route is by congress. So congress can pass a law that do a direct the park service to conduct the study and then it would be a group of interdisciplinary folks from the park service that were tasked to do the study and there are two of those types of studies the Park Services carrying out right now one is the finger lakes in upstate new york, and the other is the kentucky wildlands in eastern, kentucky, and ive provided the websites there for you to look that up to see more information on how that process is going. And ill just leave it that note. There are multiple people in the program that are here if you have further questions myself and susan taylor in the washington office, and then theres regional coordinators as part of that heritage area program. And one is peter samuel whos in the philadelphia office. And virginia is part of that region. And then alisa kun susan or Atlanta Office and North Carolina is part of that region and theres our website and our instagram if you want to learn more thank you. All right. Thank you elizabeth, and now we will go to chris lowey. Who is the refuge manager at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife refuge. Chris began working with fish and wildlife in 1992 has been in virginia since 2001. And since 2007 has been the refuge manager at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife refuge. One of the largest refugees in the eastern us chris turned over to you. Thank you trip working on getting my room. Theres not here. Its time to make sure that everybody can see that. Were good to go. All right. Thank you. Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Good afternoon everybody. Its a privilege to be part of this webinar showcase in the Natural Heritage areas and the potential for the Great Dismal Swamp landscape the greater area of the Great Dismal Swamp to maybe fall into one of those designations one day. So i just have a fairly short presentation here just to give you some of the highlights of the refuge. We like to say its a reference for wildlife and a reference for people and you know many people know about the Natural Resource significance of the Great Dismal Swamp and more and more people are starting to learn about the cultural significance. So the great deal of the storm and so our webinars like this have been coming more regularly and its great that we can help tell the story of that significance. So well take a like i said a quick Little Journey some of these items have been mentioned earlier, but its time for some accusing said the supplies to be one million acres covering over two thousand square miles, so currently with the great business month nasa wildlife refuge and the North Carolina business swap state park and other Public Access places in the business line. Were sitting around about 150,000 opens. I did steal this image actually from the North Carolina digital swamp state park their interpretable information there, but i always like to start the presentation with itself. The refuge itself was established in 1974 under the dismal swamp act and purpose established by congress was to protect and preserve the unique in outstanding ecosystem. Protect and perpetuate the diversity of life theyre in. You know congressman keith and mentioned in his remarks of how you need this area is and its already been known as a very unique outstanding ecosystem. Secondary purpose of course is the promote the public useful program and provide Public Access to support stewardship for the area. Today the refuge itself is 113,000 acres and like i said, the North Carolina didnt want state park is about 15,000 acres. Theres no through roads not drive from one side north or south east to west straight through the swamp. You have to drive around it. Lake drummond is the largest natural lake in the state of virginia. Theres only two natural lakes in the state 3100 acres and as you can see on the satellite imagery. Its in the middle. Its the heart of the salon. I would like to call and so for people that live in the Hampton Roads area when you watch the weather on the news every night, you can often see the Business Laws and hopefully theres a good film and the geographic positioning when we talk about the people when you think of Roanoke Island in North Carolina Colonial Williamsburg first landing, you know the dismal swamp and again pictured a million acres a lot of people a lot of history. Came through the business stopping. Our comprehensive conservation plan. It was approved in 2016 and actually expires this july but until we have a new Management Plan that is vetted through public comment. You know, this plan will is our man is the plan and it sets the management direction for us for our Natural Resource protection a mans not the problems through the management while allowing public uses and that information is all in this plan and these three things all come together the natural cultural and you know the public use for stewardship. So i just the opponent diversity again many people know about the Natural Resource significance. We have over 200 species of birds that have been identified on a reference with half of them breeding. 90 species of butterflies and skippers the largest ive density bear population in the state of virginia and so various array of wildlife reptiles and amphibians. Of course. Its a wet environment. So a multitude of nature resources that were responsible for rare and engaged species as well. Quickly when we talk about habitat management of four Community Map it shows a Different Force types historically the swamp was dominated by Atlantic White cedar and bald cyprus. Its now dominated by a maple gunforce in the light of green, but we we have a habitat Management Plan. We have priority communities that were working to conserve restore and enhance. And how do we do that do it through the forest manipulation whether it is select. Login, you know timber harvest. Psychological restoration by slowing the drainage i didnt put the slide in here, but we have 150 miles of and roads. That we inherited as a reference the dramatically offers the hydrologic conditions of islam. Its drier it drains very fast. Now i wont go into those details where we are working towards and their hydrological restoration by slowing that drainage rewetting the swamp left the wet one do wetland again, which has the multitude benefits. We do a lot of forests and inventory and monitoring to determine to help of our florida software. And we do bird and other than that, you know animal services. Nana refuge for people the slot is as i mentioned earlier on its geographical position. Its always brought on the brave the adventurous the sheltered escape. Freedom seekers and other is this some highlights about that again . These are the Ancestral Lands of a mans union side and the heron tribe. That lived off the land moved on the land and moved off the land. George washington came and 1763 saw it as a glorious paradise, but also an Economic Team are logging the property the farming and also just the timber industry. Runaway slaves maroon towns live out here in islam around being a french word for mariners. And theyre out here on the high grounds. And this lower picture is dr. Dan sayers who was conducted. Believe 13 years. Ill give or take of Archaeological Research looking at these. These areas where these. Communities live in swan what assets what are the Cultural Assets we have we have historical markers. This is one here. Is this North Carolina state line market was taking along a road, but these these stone monuments are within a swamp. They were actually some of them were found during the wildfires that we had about 10 years ago while folks were out fighting. Well if i was in cds out along the state line, we have cemeteries on the property. We are very real loads that we dont even know. All where they are, but Hurricane Matthew in 2016 walks out one of these roads and exposed the railroad tracks, but then ended up in a you know, we had to assess those tracks before we prepare this road. The buried artifacts that have been collected by dr. Sears and catalog summer in museums for this display and some are hosted on site and as i mentioned the ancestor balance thats setting itself. With that on the research that dr. Dan says did and some of the history will refuse was designated part of the National Park Services National underground. Railroad network with freedom so we have an educational pavilion with some interpreting information taken from dr. Sarahs work and other documents and relative that we have and so were really proud of that that was in addition to the North Carolina state park, and we didnt want to know were all designated. I believe in what we know we will want to first refuges refugees in the country designated. Okay when i talk about public use again the public we need we need the public to understand the significance of solve have stewardship help support and promote kinds of leads and presentation of the song. So we have multiple public use access points. We have driving routes typing routes water routes and we get about 65 to 75,000 visitors a year. And so if the manage that moves and ensure that now this often times we have like looters and you want to find these old. Community science and take artifact. So again, its its a man. Its a man and management challenge for us. So, how do we bring all this together as the title of this webinar connecting Historic Preservation with Natural Resource foundation . The way i can sum it up is every day my staff and researchers are out on the refuge conducting fieldwork to meet the purpose. We have multiple users. Conducted while i conservation times just type and research or construction projects. Wed like to say were doing forest manipulation work. Were here have grounded students. Well, all of that is and very close coordination with our officialized service Historic Preservation officer that we have for the northeast region. We conduct Research Projects and try to do inventory where we can. The analyze the potential impacts to any of these projects. Um, we want to do some thinning out on the refuge and we submit a archaeological review to our historicalization. We cant state. Historic Preservation Office concurrence on Home Products that we have to do i said this was picture here. Study of the railroad where housing. Yes, that was at washout. And before we put a bunch of battle on it, or maybe even you know move the tracks we considered to use an education and of course we decided to leave them. Prepare the world so we get permanence all this into mitigation. Were necessary according to the National Business tour of graduation. Now, its actually 106. Thats the last line i have before and i do want to thank really saying thomas and elizabeth for the information that they provided about the Natural Heritage area, you know for us. The ref needs of federal agency. We are just the stakeholders in this effort. On i appreciate that background is with conforming everyone that this thats a heritage areas. Our Community Based are grown from the bottom up. This is the way it can save you and were just one stakeholder. Its not about the reference. Its about landscape. Were really excited to be a part of it. And lets put in apart for a great business slots stakeholders collaborate. Which is a group of stakeholders interested in the National Cultural significance of its life. That second law together by the willingness society has to facilitated during that group together. We need twice a year and against this great one to be of a larger stakeholder group. Thank you. Thanks so much, chris. Um, and now it is my pleasure to welcome nikki bass who is an asthma and tribal councilwoman and writer at descendants of the great dismal. His best descends from families of african indigenous and european origin who survived in and around of the Great Dismal Swamp and we are very pleased to have her with us today and to give us some more information about the history and cultural as well and her efforts to give a new voice to underrepresentative narratives through her own family story nikki welcome. Thank you. Can everyone see my slides . Okay, great. So id like to start by acknowledging and welcoming our chief earl bass assistant chief keith anderson, and also lee mitchell who joins us from the upper mattapani tribe. She is the Environmental Program manager and the three of them are members of our regional Tribal Community who worked to preserve both the environment history and culture. I have a slide here showing the logo for my website descendants of the great dismal and it captures a lot about my story. I am a descendant of indigenous africanamerican and european settlers in the United States. And as you see here, im featuring a woman and her body is blended into a cypress tree and she has a Migratory Bird in her hand and to me this represents. My familys connection to the environment. Our experience as Indigenous People being born of the land and water as well as our experience as people of color living through labor living through enslavement and then living through generations of staying local as well as migrating to other locations for opportunities. So i only have a little bit of time to share stories today, but i welcome everyone to read my site for more information. So going into our discussion of indigenous communities around the Great Dismal Swamp. Id like to start with a slide that ive actually im starting to use this a lot now if you look at the agenda it says virginia Indian History around the Great Dismal Swamp. I want to scratch that and actually scratch everything we traditionally see about communities around the swamp. Early maps like john smiths here in the background were made by outsiders looking in from a different Language Culture perspective of land water and property indigenous communities generally considered waterways the center of the tribal territory rather than a boundary. And land in between waterways was often shared for foraging fishing and hunting. So with that context it helps to understand why the swamp would have been and still is a shared space between several significant waterways for foraging fishing and hunting. It doesnt belong to virginia indians or North Carolina indians. Its an ancestral space that crosses over algonquian speaking communities like ours enhancement Indian Nation the show a note community chesapeake. Yopam or wapamiac and then also irocoin speakers like the nottoway. Maharan and tuscarora and this is mosleys 1733 map. You can look that you can access it online and zoom in and it helps you to see that for the nansemond Community Many are familiar with our settlements around the nanceman river, but we also had settlements on the maharan river the notary river. And our history crosses the boundary of the state line. This is true for other tribal communities and we want people to understand that as we develop the narrative and a vision for the swamp and the preservation of its history and culture. So looking at a timeline, well go back to the 1600s where many people start thats where our written records starts because our indigenous languages werent written. So most of our history is preserved orally and the documents that you have to learn start around the 1600s with the arrival of settlers and at that time colonists displaced many of the tribal communities from riverfront settlements toward the swamp. The colonists were had in agrarian lifestyle. They wanted good farmland. So the land that they wanted was not the land around the swamp and for Indigenous People. We move we moved in that direction because we had a history surviving this swamp. We were familiar with foraging and hunting there and we viewed it as a safe place as chris mentioned a refuge to preserve our lifestyle and community as we were being displaced. Throughout the 1700s tribes like ours the nansemond not away in the heron shared interpreters and aligned politically against colonial destroy encroachment. And Indigenous People also experienced enslavement and were subjected to a lot of the same oppressive laws that were developed to control all people of color. So i encourage anyone studying the history and culture of the Great Dismal Swamp to study the laws because the laws forced people into the structures that we we ended up in and by the 1800s many indigenous families were of mixed ancestry triracial and living in indios communities where there was strong intermarriage and preservation of our culture and traditions. And so i wanted to share this timeline because as i started out i am a descendant of all three of the groups that formed this story around the swamp, but i want to emphasize the importance of remembering life before enslavement as well as life after enslavement. Theres so much focus on the rich history around the maroon communities and the underground railroad and ill actually get into some examples of that within my own family, but its so critical to maintain a perspective of the whole story so that we dont limit the value of the swamp to one period of time i also want to emphasize again the inner tribal history the afro indigenous history. This is not a place where there were just Indigenous People living alone. Just you know, africanamericans living in the swamp alone or just european settlers living alone. This is a space where communities blended formed relationships and formed resilience together within the environment. And as we talk about envisioning a National Heritage area, i want to share the importance of having indigenous leadership in that effort earlier in a presentation. We talked about how National Heritage areas are places where historic cultural and Natural Resources combined to form cohesive natural nationally important landscapes all the indigenous communities in this area around the Great Dismal Swamp are living linkages between history culture and the environment. Ive identified some of the things that we preserve as part of our culture plants and wildlife many plants that were used as medicines. Traditional ecological knowledge cooking and culinary traditions our languages and storytelling theres incredible folklore around the Great Dismal Swamp that ive tried to capture and my website and theyre all so i brought them out here. I mean, there are books and books that you can get on the folklore of the swamp which includes a lot of indigenous folklore as well as you know stories shared by other hunters and people who brave the conditions within the swamp. So the storytelling is an extremely important. And again focusing on our songs our dances our regalia which incorporates parts of the Natural Environment and the intertribal relationships and trade routes around the swamp. And so another important reason to include the Indigenous Community is that we have decades of experience engaging the public and Cultural Community activities. Ive highlighted some images here things. Weve done we have created yeehawkins or these are a traditional homes for members of the public to see and walk through weve had reenactment spaces on our tribal ground, which is located at matlock town off of godwin boulevard on the northwestern border of the Great Dismal Swamp. Theres also an image here of our Traditional Church site at indiana United Methodist church, and that was also the location of the nanceman indian public school. Ive actually worked with preservation, virginia and mark wagner whos on the call here to nominate this site to the National Register of Historic Places, and were hopeful that in the future if we are able to warm and National Heritage area that we can put some of these sites on a trail for people to experience not just the the wilderness and Wonder Within the swamp but the the culture and experiences of communities that lived around the swamp and really lived in and out. And then i have an image there of a kayak launch that we have on our tribal ground. Were building a floating dock to help people have more water experiences. I also love kayaking on the Dismal Swamp Canal and then theres an image of our powwow weve had more than 30 years of our powwow it help people come and learn about our culture. So these are just some examples of existing activities that we have that could be built into a National Heritage area and elaborated upon for more community connection. And then just going to some examples within my family of stories that can be built up to help the public and community learn. This is a series of images about one of my ancestors named Romulus Sawyer and he was actually born enslaved in south mills on the set. Im southeastern border of the Great Dismal Swamp and he led 29 members of our he led 29 members of our family through the swamp in escape through the plantation to where he joined the union army, fought in the civil war for his own freedom and the freedom of his family and ended up returning to his Community Living next door to his former slave owner and forming a legacy of leadership and that was such an inspiration within my family, he was born in the 1800s but the second is romulus price. Another of my ancestors named after him, the third is my grandfathers brother romulus bass who was named after him. We have is incredible stories of survival of people who used the swamp to escape to freedom but they didnt just disappear. I hear a lot of discussions about maroon communities and the stories are out there. I want everyone to understand the story did not stop here, the stories continue and families have morphed into symbols of leadership, not just resilience but leadership and accomplishment, we have people who have become farmers, teachers, doctors, astronauts. It is incredible to look at what type of people have grown out of this community. We have examples of stories in the family of people who escape through the swamp, the pictures you see, some travel through ohio, indiana, michigan or canada. Not sure if its large enough to read here but you can see james basss obituary he says his family was born in slavery and escaped through the underground railroad. I want people to understand these narratives about people escaping, their stories continued and it would be wonderful to feature these examples of what life was like for those who stayed and for those who left. I also wanted to share some examples of the Great Dismal Swamp, he was one of the greatest hunting guides in the region, whenever anyone of influence, politicians, celebrities, came to the area, they would seek out jackie bass as the daniel boone of the virginia, North Carolina support going through the swamp. Everyone wanted to go there to hunt but didnt have the skills he had to navigate through the waters, through the trails and it is an incredible legacy, hundreds of photos of his excursions, newspaper articles, incredibly rich history of that tradition. I have the same tradition for my grandparents, the third person over there is my grandfathers father, can a bass and this was a tradition that they hunted, explored, were proud of their ability to provide. We look forward to a future where we may have a National Heritage area and resources to preserve and elevate these stories for people to learn about. Lastly, one point i would like to emphasize, that i touched on, it is extremely important to develop underrepresented narratives like those of women who lived around the Great Dismal Swamp. I often see, because men where the legal agents at the time, there was something where you have to be a man to own land unless you were a widow or unmarried woman. A lot of written records talked about mens lives that explore personal families, we can tell the stories of women and talk about their experiences, strengths, how they dealt with conditions living around the swamp. In our family, blanding lived to be over one hundred years old and she was at that generation where she was born riding a buggy and had to learn to drive a car, she lived her whole life in the south mills and married her husband in the second photo there who lived on that road, they lived through incredible experiences, the earlier picture i shared of romulus price, was blaines brother who fought in world war i and had incredible experiences about being a soldier and a veteran in that period of time. I know i dont have a lot of time. I could tell so many stories, but i wanted to give a snapshot of several my relatives who lived around the swamp. Our family land has always been described as swamp land, we werent living in the border, the refuge, we were right there on the edge and in earlier times when the swamp was larger that is how it was described our family deed, swampland. There isnt a lake there. It was described as a lake because of how swampy it was and another thing i would like to share from my family, i love to look at their sense of fashion and tried. I dont want us always to think of people from the swamp as being downtrodden and hiding out from society. These are people with rich personalities and beautiful stories. I thank everybody for listening and i look forward to connecting more as we go down this path. Thank you for sharing those stories and those resources you held up. I would like to thank mark wagoner for the resources he put in the chat and now i would like to introduce beyer who will talk about history of the Great Dismal Swamp. Diversity restoration solutions, National Project development located in waynesburg. Is also the leader of the motherland homecoming project, projects planned eason arthur and Genealogy Researcher. Thank you. Can you hear me okay . I can hear you fine. We have some unique issues and i would like to thank you for inviting me. I would like to, if i could dont have much time, but i am a decent didnt of family out of Camden County and in doing my research, i started tracing my routes for Genealogy Research back in 1996 after the million man march, didnt know much about my fathers side of the family. The shepherd side, my grandmother married a shepherd and her name was nora grandy. About 2,000 one, i was down for the first time in chesapeake, virginia and told by my fathers first cousin that people came out of camden, North Carolina, went and visited and as a result, when i got back to baltimore in North Carolina, the narrative of the slave in the United States of america who got involved with his story but he was also worked on the dismal swamp. If you have an opportunity to read his slave narrative which was published in 1843, very vividly some of the conditions of not only people that were enslaved on plantations but also ancestors who you dont hear much about the contribution of enslaved africans, with the dismal swamp and the canal itself. Thats a 22 mile stretch from elizabeth city, North Carolina, it was hand doug and moses described that vividly in his narrative. The narrative is online. You can google moses grandy and read it if you have the opportunity to do so but gives you insight to the human side of what was going on in the swamp and parts of, you talk about terrorism. They were under tremendous our ancestors with their hands up the canal as moses described it, they did not make quota, some days they were tied up to a tree and whipped and made sure the insects got into the wound that they had and some of the enslaved ancestors had to take care of those who were whipped and some were whipped so bad that they died right there. I always say we never read about the funeral processions going out of the swamp for our ancestors that died, that means their bones are still there so that is a place that needs to be recognized not only for the contributions as you have Million Dollar yachts going up and down the dismal swamp can now who dont know about the history of how the canal was built. And my involvement with the Wilderness Society come one of the founders and leaders with alexa alexander, we got this started and my goal was to make sure the Africanamerican Community is more aware of the significance of the dismal swamp and get this information that came through the moses grandy slave narrative and others, a big man whose an archaeologist supporting the Maroon Community and there is distance. Those were our ancestors that escaped the dismal swamp, not the dismal swamp but railroad, they set up communities in the swamp and i know they worked and associated with the native American Community and other whites as well. They are right next door. They built canals in zambia and traditions at the swamp. They preferred to be in the swamp and b3 than to beyond a plantation. They contributed and brought a lot of knowledge to the United States and the area as well. What i did in 2,004, because everywhere moses grandy went after he bought his freedom i went and found other relatives who also went to london, england, who published those slave narratives in the 1800s, so our plaque from the grandy family thanking them for their participation, support for ancestors that did actually get out of bondage and able to share their stories through the antislavery society, it is now called antislavery international, they still exist because the work is not complete. Theres a lot of slavery around the world that needs to be dealt with. So there are other families dealing with the same thing even to this day so the work continues to 3 people and make people aware of how this happened. My First Experience of the dismal swamp and i will a short presentation around the dismal swamp, the dismal swamp park in North Carolina where moses was born and got a lot of information not only about my ancestors and relatives and a place i never heard of in Camden County, North Carolina in the dismal swamp and they also have exhibits down there. Those who heard about joy greenwould. They were very welcoming and allowed people to get a full set of information not previously known to a lot of people about the cultures and Human History around the swamp and the personality from the National Wildlife refuge, they do a tremendous job with this as well. Thats one of the exhibits there. Part of that story, not as wellknown as it should be but thats a lot of opportunity. It should be a part of the National Heritage designation, more action with the Africanamerican Community and others, in some of our history. That is the Dismal Swamp Canal. To this degree at the time around the canal. It was hand doug 22 mile stretch. There were no backhoes in those days, no heavy equipment as we know it and moses grandy describes the conditions they were under. So we want to honor and recognize our ancestors who made that contribution and i believe during my research that the dismal swamp can now is the largest continuously operated canal in the United States. Theres a lot of history right here in North Carolina and south and deep creek and virginia and portsmouth. It is beautiful, has not been acknowledged and recognized as some type of real memorial to the ancestors, one of those things that needs to be considered as part of the Movement Forward to make this a national designation, National Heritage designation. But with congressman randy forbes at the time, moses grandy was given the honor of having a road named after him, moses grandy trail and we were there in january of 20th to be exact and it was one of the ways to recognize because moses had his story shared with the rest of the world, his contribution in the area and i will end with that, i want to keep people too long but i thank you for allowing me to share this information. Thank you so much. Your connection held almost the entire way. Thank you so much for sharing that information and those stories and thanks again to all of our excellent speakers today and all of you for attending. We have run out of time but some more resources have been put in the chat. Only one or two more questions and also want to let you know about recording of this, we will be available on the website in the next few days so thanks again to our wonderful speakers and everyone for joining us. A fantastic panel. Thank you all. 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