Anacostia Trails Heritage Area Seeks Collaboration With College Park Leaders

Meagan Baco, executive director of the Anacostia Trails Heritage Area, appeared before the College Park Mayor and Council at their March 10 work session to lay out how the county-spanning nonprofit could deepen its ties with the city, according to an announcement posted two days earlier on KabirCares.

The presentation gave Council members a look at ATHA's programs and resources operating across Prince George's County, with an eye toward drawing College Park into broader regional work. "The presentation will provide an overview of the organization's work across Prince George's County and explore opportunities for collaboration with the City of College Park," the announcement read.

The goals framed in the advance notice went beyond a simple introduction. According to the KabirCares post, the session was designed to help the Mayor and Council "consider how the City of College Park can continue to participate in regional efforts to celebrate our history, strengthen community identity, and promote cultural tourism." The phrasing "continue to participate" suggests College Park has had some prior engagement with ATHA's regional mission, though the scope of any existing relationship was not detailed in materials available before the meeting.

The announcement was authored by Dr. Fazlul Kabir, who serves as both Mayor of College Park and the publisher of KabirCares, a local news and announcements platform he has maintained since 2009. That dual role gives the post an institutional weight beyond a typical community notice: the city's own chief executive was signaling interest in what ATHA had to offer.

ATHA operates as a Maryland Heritage Area, a designation that connects it to the state's network of heritage tourism programs and makes it eligible for Maryland Heritage Areas Authority funding. Heritage areas in the state are built around collaborative models, typically drawing in municipalities, nonprofits, and cultural institutions to jointly promote historic and cultural assets. For College Park, participation could mean greater visibility for local sites and events within a countywide tourism framework.

No agenda materials, presentation slides, or meeting minutes from the March 10 session were available at the time of this report. Whether the Council directed staff to pursue any formal partnership with ATHA, or what next steps Baco proposed, remains to be confirmed through official city records.