The Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area (“SdCNHA”) was designated to promote, rehabilitate, and interpret the unique historical, geographic, cultural, and
natural resources. We endeavor to preserve and protect the integrity of our area, and encourage stewardship for all generations through community collaboration.
With 11,000 years of documented human habitation, the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area is a crossroads of the centuries. Here a unique blend of Native American, Hispano and Anglo settlement is reflected in the diversity of the people, art and traditions. The geographic isolation of our high desert valley and the peoples’ enduring ties to the land have given rise to a rich cultural heritage and ensured its preservation. The area’s fertile cultural landscape is complemented by remarkable natural resources, including the mighty Rio Grande, majestic Rocky Mountain peaks, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge, Baca National Wildlife Refuge, Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, and the high mountain desert, all of which lend the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area an unparalleled beauty that offers a sense of retreat and a powerful source of inspiration for visitors.
Three Primary Goals:
- Support development of a vibrant heritage tourism sector that stimulates preservation, economic development, and community revitalization.
- Tell the stories of the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area in ways that build community pride and support preservation, living traditions, economic development, and community revitalization.
- Cultivate excellent management that provides regional leadership, reflects community values, and achieves sustainability.
Primary Interpretive Themes
A High Desert Valley’s Wind, Water, and Sand Dunes
The delicate interplay of wind, water, and sand have shaped the San Luis Valley’s unique landforms and contributed to its biological diversity. Though receiving little rainfall, the Valley’s hidden aquifers support extensive wetlands that are home to globally unique plant and animal species and are a migration stopover for many birds.
Land of the Blue Sky People
Interwoven with the Valley’s natural history is a very long and rich human history. The San Luis Valley served prehistoric and Native American cultures as a seasonal hunting ground where fowl, game, and edible and medicinal plants were bountiful. Select landscape features within the Valley have long been revered as sacred.
Interwoven Peoples and Traditions
The San Luis Valley is a place where different peoples have converged for thousands of years. The Valley’s profound historical, religious, and cultural convergence remains visible in the landscape and can be experienced in its communities, art, food, lodging, and events.
Hispano Culture: Folklore, Religion and Language
The lower San Luis Valley lies at the intersection of the Hispano Southwest and Anglo Rocky Mountain West where the flavor of Hispano culture thrives. The Valley’s relative isolation has preserved a living cultural tradition where art, language, architecture, folklore, and religious traditions remain evocative of the region’s early Spanish and Mexican settlers.
What is a National Heritage Area?
A National Heritage Area is designated by Congress for its unique nationally significant qualities and resources. It is a place where a combination of natural, cultural, historic and recreational resources have shaped a cohesive, nationally distinctive landscape.
A National Heritage Area employs a partnership approach to heritage development involving collaborative planning around a theme, industry and/or geographical feature that influenced the nation’s culture and history. This planning strategy encourages residents, government agencies, nonprofit groups and private partners to agree on and prioritize programs and projects that recognize, preserve and celebrate many of America’s defining landscapes.
A National Heritage Area seeks short- and long-term solutions to conservation and development challenges by fostering relationships among regional stakeholders and encouraging them to work collaboratively to achieve shared goals.
https://www.congress.gov/111/bills/hr171/BILLS-111hr171ih.pdf
Board of Directors
Mr. Chris Rodriguez is a Colorado native from southern Colorado. Mr. Rodriguez was raised in Chama, CO a village outside of San Luis. He moved to San Luis, the oldest Town in Colorado, in 1992 after marrying his wife Tammy and the birth of their son James.
Arlan Van Ry, Alamosa County Commissioner
Gale Gallegos is the Finance director, and Human Resources Director for the North Conejos School District. Gale has worked in this position for 16 years, and has a deep understanding of the entire district’s finances. Gale has been a resident of the San Luis Valley since she was 6 years old, and is an alumni of Centauri High School. Gale is married to Elliott Salazar and has two children. Some of the most important parts of Gales’ life are her activities in her church, where she is a volunteer and active participant. Gale also enjoys fishing, the mountains, traveling and spending time with her family. On the side, Gale and her husband Elliott run an Air BnB, and also raise cattle. Gale and Elliott also love horses, and spend as much time riding them as possible.
Aaron Montoya is an anthropologist whose work has taken him from southern Mozambique to southern Colorado to work on educational projects and conduct research on natural and cultural heritage. He currently directs a project to improve undergraduate STEM education at Adams State University funded by a National Science Foundation Hispanic-Serving Institution grant. He implements culturally relevant and place-based education initiatives to expand the sciences and he conducts research to document how the sciences are making progress to be more responsive to diverse publics. Building from his research in Mozambique, his current work asks how education in Southwest North America can better cultivate bicultural development that supports both students’ scientific identifications and their cultural formations rooted in their heritages and social experiences. For his work, Dr. Montoya has been awarded a IIE Junior Fulbright fellowship, University of California Eugene Cota Robles fellowship, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, and Ford Foundation fellowship.
Management Plan
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Alliance Of National Heritage Areas
The Alliance of National Heritage Areas works collectively to protect and promote the people and places that tell America’s stories.
We are a membership organization of congressionally designated National Heritage Areas and partner-affiliated organizations promoting the professionalism and benefits of the program through education and advocacy. Together, we facilitate and celebrate partnerships that improve our effectiveness and impact.
Our goals:
- Serve as one voice on interests related to all NHAs
- Educate key constituencies about success and image of the NHA program
- Facilitate strategic links among NHAs and partners
- Enhance the organizational capacity of its members
- Provide a network for sharing best practices regarding a variety of disciplines
While National Heritage Areas generate jobs and tax revenues through economic development, they also impact communities at a deeper level. American history is comprised of soaring accomplishments alongside painful struggle. Together, they embody our national character.
The ANHA’s “Heart & Soul” magazine highlights communities throughout the nation where National Heritage Areas have helped work through those struggles — bringing diverse communities together for the common good.
Check out the most recent Heart & Soul edition: https://www.nationalheritageareas.us/heart-soul/
Of the 55 National Heritage Areas, Colorado hosts three of them: Cache la Poudre River, South Park, and Sangre de Cristo. They each possess natural beauty, adventure, and history. Discover and experience Colorado’s culture, history, and recreational activities at all our National Heritage Areas through the Colorado Heritage Journey.