Maryland Heritage Areas Program

Strategic Plan

The Maryland Heritage Areas Authority Strategic Plan for 2010-2020 is designed to assist the Maryland Heritage Areas Program in meeting the challenge of managing a mature system of state Heritage Areas and sustaining that system over time.  The plan received extensive public input over the two years of its development.

Begun in the spring of 2008, development of the plan was led by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Heritage Tourism Program with funding provided in part by a National Park Service Preserve America grant. 

Chief elements of the plan include:

• Statement of Three Focus Areas.  The plan cites three categories of Heritage Area activity that will become the principal basis on which the success of the Maryland Heritage Areas Program will be evaluated over the next ten years, including: 1) Developing Heritage Tourism Product; 2.) Building Partnerships; and, 3.) Sustaining Regional Identity.
• Identification of Strategies.  The plan identifies strategies in the areas of management, stewardship, heritage tourism marketing and product development, and communication and a proposed schedule for gradual implementation over a ten-year period.
• Program Performance Measures.  The plan outlines how the Program will evaluate management effectiveness and program outcomes.
  Plan appendices include information about the strategic planning process, resource materials referenced in each of the strategy sections, and research and reports generated as part of the planning process.

While the work program included in the Strategic Plan may appear ambitious, the reader should bear in mind that the plan will be implemented at a measured pace over a 10-year period and promises to result in a re-invigorated and more intensely focused Maryland Heritage Areas Program.