Organizations will you support with a LETTER? Emancipation National Historic Trail Feasibility Study, Public Comments due March 31, 2022

 Emancipation National Historic Trail Feasibility Study, Public Comments due March 31, 2022

To:





 

We need your support! 

 

The National Park Service (NPS) will be receiving public comment, support and other information related to the Emancipation National Historic Trail Feasibility Study, Public Law 116 -111, legislation sponsored by Senator John Cornyn and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee until March 31, 2022. https://parkplanning.nps.gov/documentsList.cfm?projectID=95793 

 

We'd be honored if your organization would submit a letter of endorsement to NPS supporting the designation and benefits of a historic trail in the region.  With community input we will meet the criteria and The Emancipation National Historic Trail would become the second trail in the NPS system recognizing the history of African Americans.  I’ve attached a draft letter for your review and edit, and feel free to share this with other individuals/institutions who would support this regional effort. 

  

Why should we support the trail?  This is a National Historic designation. Please see the annual economic benefits to existing trails below: 

  

• NPS 2016 Annual Report - Selma to Montgomery Historic Trail, located in Alabama,  

Visitor Spending - $31.8 million, and Jobs created – 510 

 

• June 14, 2021, San Antonio, TX – A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 1.1 million visitors to San Antonio Missions National Historical Park and the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2020 spent $84.3 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 1,240 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $126 million. Lodging and restaurants had the highest direct impact on economic output. 

 

• NPS has partnered with Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M to help conduct the study/research, which will create a platform for advanced studies for students and scholars. 

 

• Recognition at the national level of historic memorial heritage, promote the involvement of local communities, teachers, students, and economic stakeholders in tourism as an income-generating activity.  

 

We’re very excited about the potential to create new revenue streams for the city and maintaining the legacy to keep the heritage of the oldest post Juneteenth Freedmen's community alive and intact. 

  

Many thanks for your support and advocacy. 

  

Warm regards, 

Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy