LINCOLN- Gov. Pete Ricketts expressed his opposition to the Willa Cather Foundation's plans to seek designation of portions of south-central and southwestern Nebraska as a protected National Heritage Area.
"While we appreciate the important contributions of Willa Cather and her writings to that area and the State of Nebraska as a whole, this designation poses the risk of federal overreach in our communities," the governor said. Anthony Goins, director of the state Department of Economic Development and State Wellman, director of the Department of Agriculture co-signed the letter.
On Thursday the foundation responded stating that they are not seeking the designation, instead "a bi-state group of volunteers in north-central Kansas and south-central Nebraska has been working to explore the merits of a National Heritage Area designation," Executive Director Ashley Olson said That group plans "a feasibility study that would seek feedback from local stakeholders, landowners and residents in the region," she said. The organization is called the Kansas-Nebraska Heritage Area Partnership, and Olson is one of its 13 volunteer committee members.
Olson said she and the Cather Foundation "became intrigued with the idea of seeking a National Heritage Area designation after a group of University of Nebraska-Lincoln students completed a research project that sought to examine ways to increase economic development through a more regional approach to cultural heritage tourism."