The National Park Service is asking the public to provide input for a study to determine the feasibility and suitability of designating a future national heritage area that includes the Great Dismal Swamp and other areas in North Carolina and Virginia.
A 60-day comment period for the Great Dismal Swamp National Heritage Area Feasibility Study began last week and continues through May 19. More information about the study and survey questions are available online.
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To inform the public about the study and solicit comments, the park service has scheduled virtual meetings for 4 p.m. Tuesday, noon Wednesday and 6 p.m. Wednesday. Links to the meetings will be posted beforehand on the project website.
Officials said public input “is both necessary and critical to this study. The study team seeks to learn more about the region from the people who know it best.”
Feedback will help inform the work of assessing the Great Dismal Swamp study area as a potential national heritage area, officials continued.
The study was authorized in 2023 in a measure that identified Camden, Currituck, Gates, and Pasquotank counties in North Carolina and the Virginia cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Suffolk and Isle of Wight County.
The study is to assess the evidence of community support, including businesses, residents, nonprofit organizations and government agencies.
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“The study will gather and assess the region’s unique and important American stories, how they can be experienced by the public and how a coordinating entity could organize a potential National Heritage Area if Congress were to designate one,” officials said.
The study is expected to run through 2026. The study’s assessment, along with any recommendations from the Interior secretary, will be reported to Congress.
Comments may be submitted by visiting the project website, clicking “Links” on the left, and then “Open for Comment;” or by mail to National Park Service, Denver Service Center, Attn: Great Dismal Swamp NHA / Julie Bell, 1 Federal Center, Building 50, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225.
