courtesy mmsd courtesy nauticus
cc-by-sa-3.0
National Park Service. The renewed conference was well attended and supported, with subsequent conferences being organized and offered in locations across the country: Norfolk (2004) with fifteen organizations in the Hampton Roads area; San Diego (2007) with Maritime Museum of San Diego the Maritime Museum of San Diego and NOAA’s Maritime Heritage Program; BalMaritime Heritage Conferences have been held at museUSS North Carolina timore (2010) with Historic Ships in Baltiums and historic sites across the country: Battleship North more, Living Classrooms Foundation, and Carolina (2001), Maritime Museum of San Diego (2007), NOAA; Norfolk (2014) with Nauticus and and most recently at Nauticus in Norfolk, VA (2014). NOAA; and the upcoming conference—the eleventh—taking place in New Orleans, with Nauticus Tall Ships America, the National Maritime Historical Society, the Steamship Historical Society of America, and others, on 14–17 February 2018. Advocacy by the National Maritime Alliance leadership and friends resulted in the proposal of alternate funding sources in several Congressional bills, and even a direct appropriation request Congress supported language we proposed. It was included in supported by five leading senators, but without success. Neverthe- the National Defense Authorization Act for 2017 (signed by the less, because of a spike in scrap metal prices and the emergence president on 23 December 2016). The grants program was restored! of a domestic scrapping industry, funds once again became avail- This was a major victory for the maritime heritage community. able for the grant program. But a surprise move by the Maritime Also included in the Act were provisions to ensure accountAdministration threatened the entire grant program. A proposed ability by the Maritime Administration for ship recycling and amendment to the 2010 defense authorization bill initiated by the maritime heritage grant program. A new round of grants was the Maritime Administration gave control of the grant funds to announced in June, with proposals due 1 September 2017. $2.5 that agency to support its own maritime heritage needs. The million in awards will be announced in spring 2018. See: https:// public grants program would only continue at the whim of the www.nps.gov/maritime/grants/apply.htm. agency’s administrator. Our reaction was to counter with an intense The agreement made during the conference of House and advocacy effort to win Congressional support to stop the amend- Senate directed 18.75% of the profits of the recycling of ships by ment, but it was too late. the Maritime Administration to the grant program. We would Angry and frustrated, we began an effort to restore the Na- like that number to be raised to the original 25%. We are worktional Maritime Heritage Act grant program by changing the law. ing with Congress to achieve this increased allocation. $7M was A few years of walking the halls of Congress, letter-writing cam- awarded in maritime heritage grants in 2015–2017. The award of paigns and building alliances—including the ship recycling in- $2.5M in spring 2018 will bring the total awarded to $9.5M. dustry, produced the STORIS Act. It proposed to restore the NMHS received an award of $50,000 in 2015 to index and public grant program and provide new guidelines and procedures digitize Sea History. for the ship scrapping program within the Maritime AdministraThe National Maritime Heritage Act is a powerful statement tion, and was supported by members in the House and Senate. in support of the significance and value of America’s maritime This prompted the Maritime Administration to make $7 million heritage, supported by Congress and signed by the president. The available for the public grant program. A memorandum of agree- maritime heritage community succeeded in gaining support at ment with the Department of the Interior/National Park Service the highest levels of government. Properly funding the Act will was drawn up by MARAD, but then “slow walked” through the provide support to maritime organizations and assure fulfillment approval process for nearly two years. This was going on during of the promise of the original legislative preamble: “The United the first years of what was the greatest recession in the United States is a nation with a rich maritime history, and it is desirable States since the Great Depression. Obviously, the maritime heri- to foster in the American public a greater awareness and appretage community’s non-profit organizations’ need for financial ciation of the role of maritime endeavors in our Nation’s history support was greater than ever. and culture.” The first awards from the allocated $7 million were made in 2015, followed by grants in 2016 and 2017. About 100 awards Dr. Timothy J. Runyan is chairman of the National Maritime Alwere made to support maritime education and preservation liance and leader of the advocacy effort. He is a professor at East projects. But the law had to be changed to ensure continued Carolina University, and a trustee of the National Maritime Hisfunding for the grant program. Some key staff and members of torical Society.
SEA HISTORY 161, WINTER 2017–18 17