Management Planning Team
The Management Plan must include:
- Cooperative Planning Strategy
- Public Outreach
- Assets Inventory
- Long Term Policies, Strategies, and Recommendations
- Partners’ Long Term Strategic Plans
- Plan for Regional Coordination
- Priority Projects and Programs
- Program Funding Plan
- Interpretation Plan
- Long Term Resource Management
- Plan for Administration and Coordination
The MANAGEMENT PLANNING TEAM
The National Heritage Area Management Planning Team works with the National Heritage Area Coordinator to provide significant leadership and cultural/natural heritage expertise as needed to ensure effective development of the Management Plan. The Planning Team includes community members from local units of government, non-profit organizations, businesses, educators, and citizen initiatives who collectively represent the national heritage stories, broad perspectives, and large geography of Downeast Maine.
In 2024, Management Planning Team meetings were held in March (two meetings), April, June, and November.
The following information is intended to describe in detail the overall process and bigger picture role of the Management Planning Team. The Planning Timeline outlines the role of Management Planning Team members in more detail, and also clarifies what tasks the NHA Coordinator will undertake.
Role of Planning Team members
The NHA Program Coordinator will complete the bulk of the work of producing a Management Plan but will rely on the NHA Management Planning Team to help them craft comprehensive policies, strategies and recommendations for the effective conservation, funding, management, and development of the National Heritage Area. The Management Planning Team will assist the Program Coordinator in the following ways:
- Attend bi-monthly meetings of the Management Planning Team through December 2025; provide input or other assistance as requested between those meetings. At these meetings, the Management Planning Team will
- Plan public discussions
- Develop overall key messages about the NHA for different stakeholder groups and develop outreach materials
- Provide guidance to the development of long-range strategic planning processes
- Provide research and information about current status and historic trends, conditions, emerging issues, etc. in their respective areas of expertise
- The Management Planning Team will also assist outside of these meetings, as capacity allows, in the following ways:
- Conduct outreach to build a strong network of cross-sector partners dedicated to the mission and goals of the NHA program
- Participate in or help facilitate focus-groups addressing specific topics as needed
- Conduct any necessary historical research into specific topics such as agriculture, fisheries, ship building, maritime history, military history, tourism, arts, etc.
- Provide Management Plan content and graphics as needed
- Provide detailed review and response to draft Management Plan content as it is provided to them by the NHA Coordinator
Management Planning Team Objectives
Components of the Management Plan that the Planning Team will support the NHA Program Coordinator to develop:
- Mission, Vision, Goals, and Objectives for the NHA program
- An inventory of the resources located within the NHA that are related to its key themes and should, as much as possible, be preserved, restored, managed, or maintained because of the significance of the property
- A description of strategies and specific actions that NHA partners have agreed to take to protect the important natural, historical, cultural, scenic, and recreational resources of the National Heritage Area
- Policies and strategies for future natural and cultural resource management
- A plan for ongoing collaboration among partners
- A list of specific commitments for implementation that have been made by the local coordinating entity and any partner entities for the first 5 years of operation
- An Interpretive Plan that supports the primary themes of the NHA
- An NHA implementation budget
- A list of funding sources for implementing the NHA program, including coordination of partner resources and projects
- Criteria for a sub-granting program
- A long term governance model of the NHA program including criteria for determining governance committee members, and a summary of commitments to the NHA program offered by those members.
Planning Team Focus Group Sub-Committees
In addition to the core Planning Team, the management planning process will depend on the expertise, experience, and input of additional community members. Small focus groups will assist the Planning Team to delve more deeply into specific topics, for example fisheries, arts, and history. Each of these focus groups will have a representative on the core Management Planning Team who will assist with planning and facilitating these focus-groups. For example, the Wild Blueberry Commission facilitates an agricultural focus group to engage farmers and other producers in understanding needs, goals, and planning future NHA related programs; DownEast Acadia Regional Tourism facilitates a marketing and promotion focus group to assess existing initiatives and plan for a smooth integration with the Downeast Maine National Heritage Area and plans for future coordinated marketing initiatives. Focus groups are likely to meet several times over the planning period, as needed. to delve more deeply into specific topics.
Management Planning Timeline - Projected
The following projected timeline for the management planning process is subject to change as the process rolls out, but the deadline for submitting the Management Plan to the NPS before January 5, 2026 is a hard deadline. The following draft timeline provides some understanding of what the Management Planning Team can expect through 2025.
2024
November
- Connect with Tribal members to discuss how they would like to tell their heritage story, what content they want to share, how the NHA program could best support them, how they want to be involved in the planning process and long-term management.
- Convene Management Planning Team to discuss interpretive themes and public engagement
- Develop public engagement strategy
- Conduct online survey about thematic elements and program goals
- Draft Management Plan section The Downeast Maine National Heritage Area:
- Background, Mission and Vision of the NHA
- Natural, Cultural, and Historic Orientation to People and Place
- The regional economy
- Opportunities and Pressures
- Regional Initiatives, Partnerships, and Collaborations
- Draft Management Plan section National Heritage Story & Interpretive Themes
- Draft Management Plan section Goals, Objectives, and Strategies
December
- Analyze results of public survey
- Incorporate input from community discussions and survey into existing draft chapters
- Implement public engagement strategy
- Plan for January Focus groups to discuss thematic interpretation and future NHA programs and projects
- Communicate with potential long term partners, supporters, advisors, funders, etc. and understand how the NHA can support their programs, missions, and strategic plans; discuss partnerships and larger collaborations
- Conduct assets inventory of sites listed on the National Historic Register and other significant resources related to the themes of the NHA
- Submit draft Management Plan sections to NHA Regional Coordinator, Acadia National Park, and Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Tribes (end of November)
- The Downeast Maine National Heritage Area
- National Heritage Story and Interpretive Themes
- Goals, Objectives, and Strategies
2025
January
- Convene Management Planning Team and Focus Groups to discuss interpretive themes and thematic interpretation
- Update existing maps of Heritage Assets based on interpretive themes and assets inventory
February
- Incorporate feedback from National Park and Tribal review
- Draft Management Plan section – Interpretive Plan
- Draft Management Plan section – Marketing and Promotion
March
- Convene Management Planning Team and Focus Groups to discuss long term regional coordination; marketing and promotion; program implementation, long term NHA program management, and program partnerships
- Draft Management Plan section
- The Downeast Maine National Heritage Partnership
- Long term structure, policies, and MOUs for NHA program advisory team
- NHA Partner and Sub-granting Programs
- Long-term Strategies for Regional Collaboration
- The Downeast Maine National Heritage Partnership
April
- Host 3-4 community public discussions (in-person and virtual) to help prioritize Heritage projects and programs and gather public input to inform the draft interpretive and marketing plans
- Incorporate public input into draft plan chapters
May
- Draft Management Plan section
- Implementation Plan including 5-year Timeline and 5-year funding plan
June
- Provide drafts of all Management Plan sections to public and partners for 30-day review and
- Host drop-in public discussions by Zoom during review period
July
- Incorporate public input and complete all draft plan sections
- Draft Management Plan section:
- Public Engagement and Regional Planning Process
August
- Submit draft Management Plan sections to NHA Regional Coordinator, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Tribes, Acadia National Park, Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, Maine Office of Tourism, and Maine Historic Preservation Commission
- Interpretive, Marketing, and Implementation Plans; Heritage Partnership
- Any significant updates to previously reviewed sections
- Provide draft Plan to public for comment during agency review
September
- Complete any remaining tasks and outreach
October
- Incorporate public and agency feedback
- Submit Full Draft to NHA Regional Coordinator and Tribes for 30-day review
November
- Incorporate NPS Regional Coordinator comments
- Complete any remaining tasks and outreach
December
- Submit Final Proposed Management Plan to NPS for approval
Long Term Program Management Team
The Downeast Maine Heritage Partnership
Once the Management Plan is complete, a long-term program management team will guide the National Heritage Area program. This group is called the Downeast Maine Heritage Partnership. The Partnership will support and guides the successful implementation of an approved Management Plan for the Downeast Maine National Heritage Area and build long-term sustainability into the structure of the NHA program.
The Downeast Maine Heritage Partnership will work with the NHA Program Director and Sunrise County Economic Council to lead collaborations amongst local, regional, state, and federal partners; develop and maintain policies and procedures that meet the vision and mission of the NHA and its enabling legislation; ensure that a broad spectrum of strong, positive public engagement is maintained, and make decisions about community grants for heritage projects.
The Heritage Partnership is a collaboration of representatives of organizations with missions and goals that support heritage priorities throughout the Downeast Maine National Heritage Area. Heritage Partnership members represent the entire National Heritage Area both geographically and thematically and will include local experts in fields such as: education, outdoor recreation, natural resources industries, arts and culture, history, economic development, open space conservation, interpretation, grant management, tourism, and similar. Individual members of the Heritage Partnership will represent a diverse skill set to support the extensive work required.
The Management Planning phase will help inform decisions about the specific composition and procedures of the Heritage Partnership.
Downeast Maine Advisory Committee
The Downeast Maine Advisory Committee will be composed of individuals outside the Heritage Partnership with advanced knowledge in the following fields (this is not an exhaustive list): interpretation, history, tourism, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, museum management, outdoor recreation, Native American heritage, fishing and hunting heritage, cultural heritage including music, literature, visual and performing arts, fine crafts, education, natural resources, economic development, grant programs. Members of the Advisory Committee include local, regional, and state entities.
Advisory Committee role
- Provide sound advice concerning cultural heritage and recreational initiatives to be used in its decision-making process.
- Advise the Downeast Maine Heritage Partnership about emerging issues, related management implications and research or actions needed to address those issues.
- Advise the Downeast Maine Heritage Partnership and staff regarding opportunities for key partnerships and cooperative projects both within the NHA and with adjacent areas.
- Asses the technical merit of cultural heritage and recreation proposals, workplans, studies, and reports when requested.
Contact Sunrise County Economic Council: chitchings@sunrisecounty.org or 207-707-2057