ROMULUS, N.Y. (WHCU) – Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is continuing her push to get the Finger Lakes designated as a National Heritage Area (NHA).

NHAs are established by Congress to recognize the natural, cultural, and historical significance of a region. Senator Gillibrand was in Seneca County on Monday to announce the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area Act. The legislation would grant the area federal support for preservation and help grow the local tourism industry.

“The Finger Lakes are a national treasure,” said Senator Gillibrand. “They are home to a beautiful landscape, rich history, and thriving small businesses. In recognition of all this area has to offer, I’m leading the push to designate the region as an NHA. This designation will promote tourism, create jobs, and make sure local communities have what they need to thrive for years to come. I am committed to getting this bill signed into law.”

If signed into law, it would culminate an almost-decade-long endeavor for Senator Gillibrand, who first introduced the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area Study Act back in 2015. In order for a region to receive the NHA designation, it is first subject to a feasibility study from the National Park Service (NPS). Earlier this year, the NPS confirmed the Finger Lakes’ eligibility.

“Upon its adoption, the legislation that Senator Gillibrand is introducing will provide the means and recognition to preserve and promote the numerous natural, cultural, and historical resource in the Finger Lakes,” said Executive Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Seneca County, W. Averell H. Bauder. “The national importance of our area is something that those of us who have grown up here have always known. Whether it be the history of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the site of the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, the Birthplace of Memorial Day in Waterloo, the work of the nation’s premier Land Grant University at Cornell, or the deep glacier-formed lakes that have given us our world-renowned wine industry, the Finger Lakes have been and continue to be significant to the life of this nation.”

The Finger Lakes NHA designation would encompass 14 counties: Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Livingston, Monroe, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wayne, and Yates.