The new Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) is certain to have a positive impact in the cultural heritage resources and the tourism economy of the region. There are only 49 places designated as national heritage areas (NHA) in the U.S. This designation allows the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) to provide financial and professional support to communities, museums and organizations that work to interpret and promote our region’s history and culture. Over the past 20 years, the LCBP has promoted interpretation of the Champlain Valley’s natural and cultural treasures in order to build appreciation and improve stewardship of these resources.

The CVNHP coordinates activities with other National Heritage Areas (NHA), including the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor and the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area in eastern New York. These NHAs connect and overlap just north of Albany, where the Mohawk River flows into the Hudson. This confluence of the three NHAs is also the hub of three great transportation corridors on which extraordinary historical events occurred and where social movements began, reflecting the common interest and shared heritage of the three regions. 

As the managing entity of the CVNHP, the LCBP wants your input on how this new Heritage Area should function. Over the next few months, the LCBP will be crafting a vision and mission and a management plan for the CVNHP and we need your help. Learn more >>

CVNHP Events

The CVNHP hosted a summit of 68 key stakeholders, state and federal agency representatives, and policy makers on May 17, 2010 in Montréal. The summit focused on how Vermont, New York and Québec could work together on implementing the CVNHP Management Plan.

The CVNHP has begun work on several projects discussed at the summit that support many of the objectives listed in the CVNHP Draft Management Plan/EA.  Read a report of the summit and the next steps the CVNHP is taking to create stronger bonds across the border.  

The Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) has provided grant support for more than 40 projects since 2008.  Projects included festivals for the Quadricentennial, interpretive signage and guides, academic conferences, and special projects.  Some notable projects include:

Indigenous Expressions: Winter Gathering
The CVNHP sponsored a celebration of Native American history and culture at the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center in Burlington, VT.   The two-day Indigenous Expressions: Winter Gathering featured a display of indigenous attire dating to 10,200 years ago, the “Circle of Courage” dancers, to storytelling, drumming and singing.  Nearly 1000 people attended the Winter Gathering, which was held on February 19-20, 2010.  Other programs included traditional tool-making exhibitions, hands-on atlatl demonstrations, and a roundtable discussion.

Watch the "Artful Word: Winter Gathering of Native People at ECHO."

Guide to the Lake City
The City of Plattsburgh developed a self-guided tour of the natural, historical, cultural, and recreational resources of “the Lake City.”  Download the guide here.

The Queen City Radio Hour
In the tradition of variety radio shows, the first edition of the Queen City Radio Hour performed on New Year’s Eve 2008 and included comedy, spoken word drama, and music by the Beaudoin Family Legacy and the Quebec ensemble, Le Vent du Nord.  It was broadcast by Vermont Public Radio on February 28, 2009.  The show included a 16-minute staged reading that explored the Champlain expedition from a Native American perspective—and a telling of the story of Corlear’s fateful expedition up the lake, where he defied the spirit of the indigenous “underwater grandfather” and subsequently drowned.  Marge Bruchac and Gary Farmer also sang several Abenaki songs. 

The Queen City Radio Hour performed its second edition on July 2nd and broadcast on Vermont Public Radio (VPR) on September 7, 2009.  Like the first show, the second edition consisted of comedy sketches and music.  More than 1200 people attended the July 2nd show at the Flynn Theater, which included a focus on the history and culture of Lake Champlain and Samuel de Champlain himself.  Musical artists included The Horse Flies, Anais Mitchell, and The Lost Fingers from Quebec City.  Actors included Munson Hicks, Abby Paige, and Gary Farmer, who performed for the first edition.  The show also included special guests: Rusty Dewees, Henriette Mantel, and Tantoo Cardinal.  The show's special guest host was Tom Bodett.

Podcasts of the shows are available at VPR's website:

• The Queen City Radio Hour [02/28/09]
• The Queen City Radio Hour Returns [09/07/09]

Les Narrows du lac Champlain
The LCBP-grant funded interpretive water trail guide: The Narrows, which embraces all chapters of local history—from unique geologic formations and Native American territories to shipwrecks and "Champ"—on the stretch of Lake Champlain from Split Rock Point, NY to Arnolds Bay, VT was translated into French and is now available at Quebec Yachting. Download the English version here.

Smartphones and Storytelling
The Ethan Allen Homestead, working with Crown Point State Historic Site, developed a short video describing the Green Mountain Boys actions early in the American Revolution.  Designed for broadcast on personal mobile devices and phones, Ethan and the Boys @ Fort Crown Point is available online. 

Lake Champlain Birding Trail
The Lake Champlain Birding Trail is a highway-based trail (approximately 300 miles) that connects and unifies 88 birding sites along the Lake Champlain shoreline and uplands in Vermont and New York into a cohesive and marketable unit.

Uniform way-finding signs are installed to identify each site as part of the birding trail. Interpretive signs will also be placed at sites to help reveal to visitors various natural and cultural history themes and messages. Other enhancements being constructed at some sites include boardwalks, viewing blinds, and platforms.