Hundreds of Kansas, Missouri parks and museums at risk of losing federal funding

TOPEKA (KSNT) — More than 200 Kansas and Missouri museums and historical parks are facing big budget cuts this year.

Congress has yet to release federal funding for the nation’s 62 National Heritage Areas and some local sites are struggling because of it. Freedom’s Frontier is the National Heritage Area (NHA) that encompasses hundreds of sites in both Kansas and Missouri.

A representative from the NHA said a lack of federal funding could cause it to shut down, causing smaller sites to lose staffing and halt education programs. Johnny Szlauderbach, Freedom’s Frontier director of communications, said the NHA has received federal funding for nearly 40 years. However, this year they are expecting to get none.

“The hardest hit sites are going to be the small rural sites, the ones that are passion projects, that are volunteer run, that don’t have outside funding or a large budget,” Szlauderbach said. “These are family operations that do this out of a true love for what they do.” 

Freedom’s Frontier typically receives $500,000 annually from the federal government.

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