The Augusta Canal National Heritage Area and 21 similar sites across the nation could lose their share of federal Interior Department funding under a series of cuts proposed in the Obama Administration's fiscal 2011 budget.

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Michael Holahan/ Staff File

Budget cuts threaten federal canal funds

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Chronicle file

Augusta Canal with Sibley Mill behind it

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The proposal, which would affect heritage areas created before 2001, is designed to concentrate the department's limited resources on newer heritage areas, while forcing older ones-such as the Augusta Canal-to develop "self-sufficiency plans" to remain eligible for federal support.

"The Administration proposes to focus National Heritage Area grants on recently authorized areas and eliminate funds to those well-established recipients that have not worked to become self sufficient," the budget proposal said.

The Augusta Canal National Heritage Area, designated by Congress in 1996, is one of the oldest such sites. Its authorizing legislation allows for up to $1 million per year in federal funding, but recent annual appropriations have been steady $328,000. That sum is about 20 percent of the site's annual budget.

Dayton Sherrouse, the Augusta Canal Authority's executive director, also noted that the budget proposal gave the older heritage areas a compliance deadline of Feb. 10-the day the budget document was released-to have a "self-sufficiency plan" in place.

"Having a self-sufficiency plan is nowhere in any of our authorizing legislation, nor has it been mentioned before," he said. "And even if we had some direction on how to prepare such a plan, which we don't have, it is impossible to prepare and submit something like that the same day we hear about it."

He added, however, that the language is part of a budget proposal that will likely undergo modifications before adoption, he said, noting that concerns have already been shared with U.S. Rep. Paul Broun and others. "We are hoping the House members and Senators with heritage areas in their districts will take a close look at this language and try to help."

According to the proposal, the National Heritage Area program's original intent was to provide "seed money" to help programs become established. Since 1986, Congress has spent more than $150 million on heritage areas. There are now 49 designated sites-of which 22 were created before 2001-and numerous others in the proposal stage, with limited funds to divide among them.

Sherrouse said the fiscal 2011 year would begin in October. The Canal Authority is still scheduled to receive its $328,000 allocation for the current fiscal year.

In addition to its federal funds, the Augusta Canal program also gets revenues from the sale of water and hydropower from the canal, user fees for admission to the visitors center and Petersburg boat rides, other state and federal grants and special purpose local option sales tax dollars for certain specific projects.

Canal Authority members will be watching the legislation and working with legislators to resolve the situation, Sherrouse said.

"Their attitude so far has been not to be too alarmed about it, as there is always a lot of give and take in the budget," he said. "But is it certainly something we'll have to work closely on with our Congressmen as the budget is being developed."

The National Heritage Area program was devised as a way to offer federal resources, funding and advisory services to promote preservation, tourism and culture in areas that have national significance, but are not on property owned by the federal government. In the case of the Augusta Canal, the site is mostly owned by the city of Augusta, but operated both as a recreation and historic site and as an industrial structure used to supply residents with water and hydropower.