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By Nara Schoenberg, Blade staff writer
The Blade (Toledo, OH)
05-17-94
The Maumee Valley has survived the first step in the long and difficult process of applying to become a National Park Service area, with all the tourism benefits that such recognition can bring.
Supporters -- who point to natural resources along the Maumee River as well as historic sites such as Fort Meigs and the Fallen Timbers battlefield -- were jubilant after the park service's formal announcement yesterday.
"It's really one of my dreams come true that we would get to this point," said Ted Ligibel, president of the Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor, Inc.
"We passed the test," said U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo). "We have the National Park Service on the hook now; we don't want to lose them."
Now come the feasibility study, the improvement plan, and a wide range of other requirements. Miss Kaptur estimates that it would take five years for a successful application to be completed.
The National Park Service began work on its report about a year ago, evaluating the area along the Maumee River area between Fort Wayne and Toledo.
Among the findings released yesterday: "Fallen Timbers is an excellent example of the conflict between white settlers and Native Americans, as well as between the British and the Americans. Fort Meigs, as well as Fort Miamis, were prominent posts during the War of 1812, and Native Americans played an active role in the engagements centered around the two posts."
The report says the area is "worthy of a formal special resource study."
Among the obstacles cited: The cost of acquiring the 800-acre Fallen Timbers battlefield could be high and development of a meaningful program to explain the historic importance of the area to visitors also could be expensive.
Although the federal government might purchase some of the areas along the Maumee if National Park status were approved, other areas would remain under local ownership.
Yesterday, Miss Kaptur pointed to advantages she believes outweigh the obstacles -- chief among them, the tourism potential of a coordinated and nationally recognized national park area.
"The boon to tourism, to travelers from near and far, is really significant," she said. "The baby boom generation is really interested in this type of travel."
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