National Park Service officials have released a plan to preserve the culture of slave descendants in four states.

The proposal from the Gullah-Geechee Corridor Commission has been in the making for a dozen years.

The plan is available for review online and in public libraries in the North Carolina-to-Florida corridor.

The commission is taking public comment on the two-hundred-seventy-two page document until August 17th.

The Gullah-Geechee Nationa's Queen Quet Marquetta Goodwine says, the plan provides concrete recommendations for preserving important heritage sites from rapid development engulfing the coast.

"It's truly a guidebook on various things, everything from socioeconomic impact as well as the traditions that we use," Goodwine says. "So people can look at diffeernt ways that people would also want to partner with us if they want to help keep the Gullah-Geechee culture alive."

The culture is called Gullah in the Carolinas and Geechee in coastal Georgia and Florida.

National Park Service Gullah-Geechee coordinator Michael Allen says, the plan helps prepare for the corridor's future.

"What the document does it brings the voices of the people in a narrative and in a voice that community leaders and city fathers moving forward should use these conversations in how they develop plans," Allen says.

The Gullah-Geechee Heritiage Corridor Management Plan has been in the works for a dozen years.

Tags: GPB News, Gullah Geechee Corridor, orlando montoya, the Gullah/Geechee Heritage Commision, Michael Allen, Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, marquetta goodwine, queen quet