SALISBURY, Conn.—Upper Housatonic Valley Heritage Area administrators remain on tenterhooks this week as they await funding that was authorized by Congress in March. Nine months into the federal fiscal year, they have yet to receive a dime.
Early this spring, when the Trump administration began its cuts, the Heritage Area, which covers 29 towns between Lanesboro, Mass., and Kent, tightened its belt, suspending its grant programs for this year.
Typically, the heritage area provides funding to help local nonprofits with programs such as the African American and Native American heritage trails, archaeological projects, grant programs for preservation and interpretation, and initiatives focused on the Housatonic River and its surrounding areas.
Executive Director Dan Bolognani informed board members the week of Monday, July 14, that the federal Office of Management & Budget finally released a block of funds that include the state historic preservation offices, national heritage areas, and other conservation/public lands programs.
“However, those funds remain ‘under review’ at the Department of the Interior, and it remains unclear how long that delay will be,” he wrote. “Once the funds are apportioned to the various programs such as Housatonic Heritage, then the National Park Service will begin the process of processing agreements with each NHA and awarding the funds.”
It’s unclear why the heritage funds have been delayed, despite Congress’ passage of a one-year stopgap funding bill in March.
Sara Capen, chair of the Alliance of National Heritage Areas, is quoted in a July 9 Greenwire story as saying they were told the White House Office of Management and Budget held up funding to comply with Trump executive orders.
Now, the park service has received the full fiscal 2025 funding for the heritage program, but that agency is waiting for additional internal guidance. While Capen expects funds will be released, it’s not clear if the park service will be able to move fast enough to help the nonprofits. Many appropriations have a use-it-or-lose-it rule, meaning if the funds aren’t released by the end of the fiscal year in September, they expire.
The administration had asked Congress to eliminate the $30 million budget for National Heritage Areas for the 2026-27 fiscal year as part of a sweeping effort to slash more than 30 percent of the Department of Interior budget. But when the House FY26 Interior Appropriations Bill text was released Monday, July 14, it proposed$29,232,000 for heritage areas.
“This all sounds good, as it shows that Congress really does support the NHA program and has consistently supported full funding,” Bolognani said.
But the immediate problem remains. “We understand that a lot of layoffs are happening at the park service,” Bolognani said, “and we’re hopeful that the grants awarding offices will have sufficient personnel to process agreements in a timely fashion once the Department of Interior finalizes its review.”
The park service, under the best of circumstances, can take as long as three months from when OMB releases funds before heritage areas get their money. Conditions at NPS are far from optimal as it has lost more than 1,600 staffers to the Trump administration’s effort to shrink federal agencies.
