They fired the opening salvo in the war against terror nine years ago, searing the phrase "Let's roll" into the nation's psyche as a symbol of ordinary people who found the courage to sacrifice their lives to alter the outcome of that dire day.

The remains of the 40 passengers and crew of United Flight 93 remain in a grassy field in Stonycreek, Somerset County, as thousands continue to make pilgrimages to the site, forever scarred by the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The area, near the small town of Shanksville, is lush with corn fields and thousands of green acres. Sparsely populated, it is home to Amish families and other farmers and decorated courtesy of Betsy Ross: Nearly every home in the vicinity is decked with red, white and blue flags, bunting or banners.

Those 40 brave souls -- their names etched onto a fire tanker at the Shanksville Volunteer Fire Department -- are widely credited with preventing what could have been greater loss of life and destruction Sept. 11 when they attempted to retake their plane from the Islamic extremists who hijacked it.

Many believe the terrorists planned to fly the plane -- en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco -- into the U.S. Capitol building or the White House.

Nowadays, it's the future, not just the past, of the site that's getting attention.

How do you keep the rural flavor of the area when a $60 million permanent memorial is under way and a quarter of a million people are expected to visit it every year?

If there's one thing that townsfolk, government and business officials agree on, it's that the area around the Flight 93 crash site should remain a solemn memorial to those who lost their lives trying to protect others.

Although development and the tax dollars it creates often are welcomed by small towns, that isn't necessarily the case near Shanksville. Many of those who were born and raised here say they love the area for its bucolic character and rolling hills.

Children on all-terrain vehicles and bicycles use the streets, as do those who like to pick fresh blueberries along the roadside.

Residents have told local officials that the last thing they want to see are neon billboards, fast-food restaurants and traffic lights marring what they maintain is a sacred landscape.

Visitors who want to stay the night, watch a movie or even just fill their car with gas now are relegated to Somerset Borough, about a 25-minute drive from the crash site.

While having such amenities closer to the site no doubt would promote tourism, residents and government officials in the area have made it clear that they intend to have a say in any potential development.

In June 2007, Somerset County released findings from a Flight 93 National Memorial travel corridor study, delineating a series of goals that planners wanted to put in place as the permanent memorial was being built.

The National Park Service, which has taken over control of the crash site and nearby acreage, is planning the permanent memorial in several phases, the first of which is expected to be completed by the 10th anniversary of the crash -- Sept. 11, 2011.

The county commissioned the study to determine how best to control development and traffic patterns along the 18-mile corridor leading from the Somerset exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the memorial site. But local government officials from some of the six municipalities involved balked at the plan and refused to endorse its recommendations.

"During public meetings, there was a backlash against the possibility of any new regulations," said county planning director Brad Zearfoss.

Among the stated goals were economic development initiatives, such as establishing target investment areas and offering incentives to interested businesses. At the same time, the plan outlined conservation and beautification strategies aimed at maintaining the natural beauty of the area through inventive landscaping, reuse of historic buildings and road design.

To discourage or curtail development in more sensitive areas, the study recommended tighter local zoning restrictions.

"The whole purpose was to get our hands around what this could mean," county Commissioner Pam Tokar-Ickes said of the study.

But many local residents wanted to maintain the status quo, Mr. Zearfoss said, which includes few restrictions on the use of private property.

"Private property rights are very strongly defended here," he said.

As a result, the recommendations were scrapped and the municipalities continue to operate without zoning restrictions, leaving the door open for unwanted development.

When a series of wind turbines was installed in the area in recent years, municipalities passed regulations specific to the turbines. The county has regulations governing subdivision and land use, but those rules address only issues such as storm water management and road setbacks.

The lack of infrastructure in the area is what has stunted development, Ms. Tokar-Ickes said.

The National Park Service, the state Game Commission and the nonprofit Families of Flight 93 Inc. have stepped in to preserve the crash site by buying more than 1,500 surrounding acres as a buffer zone that memorializes those who perished on the plane.

No matter what kind of development crops up nearby, the borough of Shanksville, surrounded by Stonycreek Township, is unlikely to change.

The town center, less than two miles south of the crash site, consists of a half-mile-long main street, four businesses and four churches interspersed with Victorian homes and perfectly manicured lots.

The attitude of locals is, perhaps, summed up on a message board outside of Shanksville Assembly of God.

It reads: "Loving God, Loving People."

"For the first couple of years, it was busier in town, but nothing's really changed," said Rick King, owner of Ida's Store in Shanksville.

Next door to Ida's, at the Firehouse Bakery, Café & General Store, visitors can find everything from live bait and Borax soap to fresh baked goods -- including a dozen flavors of gobs, cream-filled pastry sandwiches made by local bakers.

"That crash put Shanksville back on the map," said cashier Jim Walker of nearby Center City.

Mr. Walker said he's noticed increased foot traffic from tourists, as has shop owner Robin Duppstadt, who sells Flight 93 memorabilia, such as T-shirts, pins and mugs at her business, Creekside Country Store.

In nearby Shade, business owner Karen Carper hopes that a new access road for the permanent memorial will pull more customers to her business, Castagna's Restaurant & Lounge, along Route 30.

Right now, the site of her restaurant provides little exposure to all but the most venturesome tourists.

The new access road is to be located within a quarter-mile of her restaurant, bringing more traffic, and she welcomes increased business.

"The last year has been tough, especially with the winter," said Ms. Carper, who said 3 to 4 feet of snow fell in the area in early February. "It was the first time I had to close the place. You really depend on the locals in the winter."

Perhaps no place in Shanksville is more affected by the Flight 93 tragedy than the volunteer fire department, where a steel cross stands as a monument to the special relationship shared by the fire companies of New York City, Shanksville and Arlington, Va., near the Pentagon.

Donated by New York City firefighters, the monument is part of a steel girder from the North Tower of the World Trade Center that was fashioned into a large cross with a pentagon-shaped base.

In the years since Sept. 11, fire chiefs from the three areas formed a summit to address communications problems and other issues that arose that day. In Shanksville and New York City, first responders had trouble reaching each other due to problems with portable radios and a lack of coordination.

Shanksville fire Chief Terry Shaffer said some progress has been made, but his biggest obstacle locally continues to be fundraising for the 35-member department.

Chief Shaffer said misconceptions about donations to the department in the days after Sept. 11 have hampered fundraising efforts. Money donated by the general public went to the victims' families, not the department, he said.

"They think we got rich, but that's the furthest thing from the truth," Chief Shaffer said.

And although they may at times resent the intrusion on their privacy, the local community takes pride in its role in preserving the historic site, he said.

"If it had to happen someplace, I think people are happy it happened here, because it has good caretakers I think," he said.

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