A contract to initiate a management plan for a national heritage area that includes Douglas County and 40 other Kansas and Missouri counties could be signed later this week.

Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area Board of Trustees is raising $300,000 to pay for that plan, which will be developed in conjunction with a management team of national experts with ties to the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations.

So far, half of the money has been raised by private and public sources, according to a letter to Douglas County commissioners from trustee Chairwoman Deanell Reece Tacha.

In her letter, Tacha asked the county to guarantee the remainder of the funds if the fundraising falls short. She emphasized, however, that she doesn’t think that will happen.

“I think it is nothing short of remarkable that we have already raised half of the funding in these beginning months. Thus I have every reason to believe that we are only asking you to serve as backup,” Tacha wrote.

Commissioners Bob Johnson, Jere McElhaney and Charles Jones, however, agreed during their meeting Monday that the county would loan the remainder of the funding to the heritage board, if that becomes necessary. The heritage board would have to repay the county.

Tacha, a federal court appeals judge, was unable to be at the county meeting. But Judy Billings, Lawrence Convention and Visitor’s Bureau director who has played a leadership role in the heritage area efforts, told commissioners that the management plan will guide the heritage area in how it does business during the next decade.

The heritage area was created in 2006 by Congress and President Bush. The area covers much of eastern Kansas and western Missouri. The designation will help market the area for tourists on the strength of its Civil War-era history.

“This is a great undertaking. It has huge potential,” Johnson said.

The heritage area management plan must be completed by a federal deadline of October 2009. The plan has to be in place in order to access federal funding for instituting the plan. Once completed, the plan will include components covering aspects of marketing, business and historical interpretation of the heritage area.

A nonprofit entity called Destination Management Inc. also has been formed to manage the heritage area. DMI will include the Lawrence Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and has an office at 947 N.H. Billings is president of DMI and will oversee the heritage management and the visitor’s bureau.

DMI officers include Tacha, who is chairwoman; Jones, who is vice chairman; Lawrence City Manager Dave Corliss, secretary; and Joan Golden, treasurer. Business meetings are open to the public.