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Abstract
Understanding the organizational development of National Heritage Areas (NHAs) and defining the National Park Service's (NPS) role within individual NHAs guided this qualitative study. Information gained during telephone interviews led to the development of an
a priori model of the evolutionary stages of NHAs' organizational development and the role of the federal partner over time. This model will be tested during phase two of the study. A snowball technique (Patton 2002) was used to identify key experts with knowledge of the National Heritage Area movement. These included current and former NHA executive directors, NPS employees, and other experts. In an open-ended interview process (Patton 2002, Yin 2003), experts were asked to identify evolutionary changes in the organizational development of NHAs over the life of the NHA and any key turning points (Isabella 1984) in the evolution. They were also asked to discuss the role of the NPS over the life of the NHA along with any key turning points in that relationship. Lastly, interviewees could discuss any other opportunities, issues, or concerns relating to the organizational development of NHAs. The results found that a variety of organizational structures reflect the unique and diverse nature of NHAs. Additionally, NPS roles reflect NHA needs and evolve dynamically. Lastly, the role of the board is critical in NHA evolution.
Parent Publication
Citation
Martin-Williams, Susan; Selin, Steven. 2007. National heritage areas: examining organizational development and the role of the National Park Service as federal partner. In: Burns, R.; Robinson, K., comps. Proceedings of the 2006 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium; 2006 April 9-11; Bolton Landing, NY. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-14. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 367-376.
