Appropriately for Pioneer Day in Utah, Congress gave final approval on Monday to forming two new "national heritage areas" designed at least in part to honor Mormon pioneers and the architecture and culture they created.

The House approved a bill creating 10 national heritage areas — including the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, covering 250 miles along U.S. 89 between Fairview, Sanpete County and the Arizona border; and the Great Basin National Heritage Route, between Delta, Juab County and Ely, Nev.

Somewhat ironically, all of Utah's members of the U.S. House missed that vote because they were in Utah celebrating Pioneer Day.

The bill now goes to President Bush for his signature.

The designation qualifies those areas for up to $10 million in grants over 30 years from the National Park Service to help develop tourism around a local theme of national interest. The money may be used to help restore or conserve property of historical, cultural or natural significance.

Creating such heritage areas has been controversial. Both the Mormon Pioneer and Great Basin areas took years to make it through Congress, in part because the National Park Service objected to all such new areas, saying they take away money from more important national-park units.

Some critics have argued that guidelines for heritage areas are too broad, and that almost anything and any area may qualify. In fact, the entire state of Tennessee has been declared as one: the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area.

"We'll end up with everything, including the kitchen sink, being designated a national heritage area," complained George Washington University geology professor Lisa Benton-Short in a hearing on national heritage areas in 2004.

But Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, has long pushed the two heritage areas in Utah. "After years in the process, it's rewarding to see this bill come to completion," he said Tuesday. "It means increased economic opportunities for many Utah communities along Highway 89, as well as heightened recognition of the remarkable and inspiring stories of the Mormon pioneers."

The bill creating the Mormon Pioneer area along U.S. 89 from Sanpete County to Arizona says the area is worthy of designation because "the landscape, architecture, traditions, beliefs, folk life, products and events along Highway 89 convey the heritage of the pioneer settlement."

But numerous other areas in Utah were also settled by Mormon pioneers and have not received the designation.