National Heritage Area

The National Park Service defines a National Heritage Area as a place where historic, cultural, and natural resources combine to form cohesive, nationally important landscapes. Unlike national parks, National Heritage Areas are large lived-in landscapes, leading their organizing entities to collaborate with communities to determine how to make heritage relevant to local interests and needs.

The first National Heritage Area was signed into law in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan as “a new kind of national park” that married heritage conservation, recreation, and economic development. Currently, the program includes 62 National Heritage Areas across the country.

The focus is on the protection and conservation of critical resources, the natural, cultural, scenic, and historic resources that have shaped us as a nation and as communities.

The historical significance of the Oil Region National Heritage Area (ORNHA) is the birthplace of the modern oil industry. The ORNHA encompasses all of Venango County as well as the City of Titusville, Hydetown Borough, and Oil Creek Township in Crawford County, PA.

Map of the ORNHA

While the ORA manages the ORNHA, we work with local governments, non-profit organizations, businesses, and many volunteers to serve as stewards of the region’s history and setting.

The Oil Region Alliance relies on community support to fulfill our mission to manage the Oil Region National Heritage Area and to increase the prosperity of the Oil Region by enticing people to live, work, learn and play in “the Valley that Changed the World” through the preservation, promotion, development, and support of historical, educational, natural, recreational, residential, commercial and industrial destinations.

You can support the ORA’s work by:

• Becoming a member
• Volunteering for ORA events, projects, and programs – contact info@oilregion.org for more information
• Attending ORA events – follow the ORA Facebook page for updates

The National Park Service shares the following as some of the long-term benefits of NHA activities include:

• Sustainable economic development – NHAs leverage federal funds (NHAs average $5.50 for every $1.00 of federal investment) to create jobs, generate revenue for local governments, and sustain local communities through revitalization and heritage tourism
• Healthy environment and people – Many NHAs improve water and air quality in their regions through restoration projects, and encourage people to enjoy natural and cultural sites by providing new recreational opportunities.
• Improved Quality of Life –Through new or improved amenities, unique settings, and educational and volunteer opportunities, NHAs improve local quality of life.
• Education and Stewardship – NHAs connect communities to natural, historic, and cultural sites through educational activities, which promote awareness and foster interest in and stewardship of heritage resources.
• Community Engagement and Pride – By engaging community members in heritage conservation activities, NHAs strengthen sense of place and community pride.

A condition of federal designation of a National Heritage Area is preparation of a Management Plan to define important resources, how they will be protected, and to recommend a plan and program for appropriate development and use of the designated area.

Several plans have been prepared for the Oil Region. The latest ORNHA Strategic Plan was adopted in 2021.

The first Management Action Plan for the Oil Region was prepared in 1994 and led to the designation of Venango County and portions of Crawford County as a state heritage park by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In the ten years since completion of that Plan, and with the help of more than $3.3 million in grants through the Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program of the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, OHR, Inc. has been instrumental in working with partners across the region, facilitating $21.7 million of total investment in the key resources of this significant area. These investments have supported creation and expansion of an outstanding regional recreational trail system, improvements to interpretive venues, historic preservation projects, public environment improvements and economic development in the region’s historic downtowns, and expanded management capability.

The 2004 Management Plan Update, prepared for the Oil Heritage Region, Inc. (OHR, Inc.), now operating as the Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry and Tourism (Oil Region Alliance or ORA), was intended to assist this innovative management entity to most effectively use its resources to build on the accomplishments of its first ten years and to accomplish its mission. The Plan has been adopted by ORA and was prepared in anticipation of potential NHA designation.

An amendment to the 2006 Management Plan Update was prepared to incorporate changes required by the National Heritage Area designation. This amendment added several items to the recommendations of the 2004 Management Plan, including: (a) more detailed provisions for resource preservation; (b) more specific recommendations regarding public and private partnerships; and (c) modifications to the action agenda to reflect this work and to update the action agenda to reflect current conditions.

Additionally, as required by law, an Environmental Assessment of the Management Plan has been prepared.

These documents are available below for download.

Legislative Chronology — Creation of the Oil Region National Heritage Area

National Heritage Area Designation Public Law

Oil Heritage Region Management Action Plan
Update Technical Report
Oil Heritage Region MAP Update Technical Report