The process of developing a management plan to promote Civil War era histories in eastern Kansas and Western Missouri is in its final months.

About 60 representatives from Kansas and Missouri counties in the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area met in Lawrence on Thursday to work on the plan. It must be finalized by spring and given to the National Park Service for approval.

“Our goal is to bring awareness to the stories and activities that were taking place leading up to the Civil War and what happened in the Kansas territory and in Missouri,” said Judy Billings, president and chief executive of Destination Management inc., the heritage area’s Lawrence-based management entity.

Three themes have been identified as focal points in the plan. The main theme is the pre-Civil War border war between pro-slavery forces supported by Missouri and abolitionists in Kansas.

The second focuses on why settlers came to Kansas and how they became involved in the border war. The third theme is about what’s happened in the heritage area since then and how it affects the area today.

“We want to take the stories of the landscape and put them together and connect them so that a visitor will have a complete experience about the story,” Billings said.

Those attending the day-long meeting at the Lawrence Visitor Information Center, 402 N. Second St., broke down into small groups to discuss criteria for participation in the heritage area. Discussions included use of the Freedom’s Frontier logo and how to raise the quality of a tourist site to do a better job of telling its history, Billings said.

The plan is necessary to meet requirements established to become a full-fledged National Heritage Area as approved by Congress and President Bush in 2006.

Publicity about Freedom’s Frontier is already paying off in attracting attention and tourists, Billings said.

The Kansas side of Freedom’s Frontier is the topic of an article in the new Kansas Official Visitors Guide for 2009-2010. The Public Broadcasting Service also is working on a documentary about the border war.