The General Assembly makes the following findings:
(1) The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is one of the great historic waterways of the United States extending 185 miles from Georgetown in the District of Columbia to its western terminus in Cumberland, Maryland;
(2) The current physical condition of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in the City of Cumberland is one of severe deterioration with the last mile of the canal buried under a flood control project during the 1950s;
(3) An opportunity now exists to rediscover the value of this waterway by transforming the canal and adjacent areas to a showpiece of historic preservation that will enhance recreational, commercial, civic, transportation, educational, and ecological values;
(4) It is in the interest of the State, the local jurisdictions within and surrounding the Heritage Area, and the United States that the Heritage Area be preserved, developed, maintained, and used in a manner suitable to its significance, including the historic and cultural significance of the western terminus of the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal;
(5) To ensure suitable preservation, development, maintenance, and use of the Heritage Area, it is essential that there be developed and carried out a management plan for the Heritage Area as an entirety that will specify:
(i) The uses, both public and private, for the buildings, structures, and other property in the Heritage Area and any necessary acquisitions, construction, recreation, and other activities; and
(ii) The programming and financing for the rewatering of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal;
(6) The responsibility for developing and implementing a management plan for the Heritage Area can best be carried out by vesting the requisite powers in a public corporation that can take maximum advantage of the public and private resources necessary to ensure success of the management plan; and
(7) Any management plan for the development of the Heritage Area should be prepared and implemented in cooperation with the United States Department of the Interior.