This book discusses two park related programs administered by the United States government. The parksites in the first program are called National Heritage Areas. The parksites in the second program are called Affiliated Areas.

The reason I chose to combine discussion of these two topics in one book is that these programs have features in common.

•The sites in these programs are not “owned” by the Federal Government.
•The programs are administered by the National Park Service
•The programs are not a part of the National Park System.

I have visited all the current National Heritage Areas and Affiliated Areas and have been presenting courses on these subjects. The courses consist of photographs and basic information on each parksite as well as comments based on my experiences while visiting the sites. This book is a somewhat expanded version of the presentation materials used during these courses.