November 3, 2009, 4:08 pm
U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey announced Monday he has introduced a bill
that could pave the way to inclusion of the Hudson River Valley in the
National Park Service system, giving the region access to “significant”
amounts of federal money and increased attention.
The bill would
authorize the park service to conduct a study to determine if the area
could benefit from its programs, said Hinchey, D-Hurley. He said the
study could take as long as 24 months to complete.
The segment
of the Hudson River Valley on which the study would focus would range
from Fort Edward in Washington County to Westchester County, and
Hinchey, speaking at a news conference at the Hudson River Maritime
Museum in Kingston, said it would involve cataloguing of the region’s
resources and outreach to local communities.
If the Hudson River
Valley became a “unit” of the National Park Service, Hinchey said the
region would be eligible for funding for a variety of activities,
including conservation efforts, historic preservation, tourism
promotion, and other economic development activities.
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