History Colorado’s State Historical Fund has awarded $5,499,736 to 37 historic preservation projects across the Centennial State. Of the projects funded, 23 are located in rural parts of Colorado and amount to a $2,912,409 investment into the prosperity of rural Colorado.
“These grants not only preserve physical structures but also safeguard the cultural narratives and identities that define Colorado,” said Marcie Moore Gantz, State Historical Fund director. “By supporting projects in historically marginalized communities, and with 62% of recommended projects located in rural counties, we are fostering a more inclusive preservation movement that honors the richness of our state’s history while promoting rural prosperity. This funding cycle not only revitalizes communities but also stimulates economic growth and resilience across Colorado.”
This grant round includes both General Grants (ranging from $50,001 – $250,000) and Mini Grants (up to $50,000) and concludes Fiscal Year 2024 during which the State Historical Fund awarded 116 grants for a total investment of $11,087,175 towards preservation efforts across the state. Since it was founded in 1991, the State Historical Fund has awarded more than 5,300 grants for a total of $371,083,744 in funding for historic preservation across Colorado.
In addition to helping protect the stories and places Coloradans cherish, preservation efforts have a direct effect on the economic health of the Centennial State. Since 1981, preservation efforts in Colorado have created more than 27,000 jobs and generated nearly $3.9 billion in direct and indirect economic impacts, adding $2.2 billion to Colorado’s GDP.
Locally, the Dolores River Boating Advocates were awarded $187,316 to conduct an ethnographic study that builds off of earlier efforts to identify sites along a 241-mile span of the Dolores River associated with Native American tribes with ancestral homelands in this area. Specifically, this grant will fund site visits by tribal representatives of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and Southern Ute Indian Tribe, as well as the Zia and Zuni Pueblos, to survey the area and conduct interviews about the cultural importance of the Dolores River Cultural Landscape.
The hope is that this ethnographic study will inform future land management plans for the Dolores River while also documenting the place-based knowledge of the tribes which historically called it home. Information gathered through this project will illuminate the history of Indigenous inhabitation of the area, the continued cultural importance of this vital watershed, and help identify traditional cultural properties and sacred sites so land management agencies can appropriately manage them.
Additionally, this project will help build relationships between tribes who have long been displaced from these lands and land managers so that tribal representatives can provide input regarding culturally appropriate management of these lands for future generations.
“These lands are slowly changing because of climate-change induced drought, increasing visiting and recreational use, as well as a resurgence of mining activities,” said Rica Fulton, advocacy and stewardship director for the Dolores River Boating Advocates. “It is critical that a better understanding of tribal connection and importance is established so federal land managers can better protect the cultural and natural resources associated with the Dolores River.”
This project will be the first time that such an ethnographic study has been undertaken for the region and should lead to expanded interpretive signage, and educational programming for both the agencies that maintain this area and the general public which use the Dolores River.
The timing of this project is very beneficial as legislation is currently being considered in Congress that would create a Natural Conservation Area in the Dolores River Corridor. The Tribal involvement in this project would provide vital ethnographic data to inform future management plans for this conservation area if it is passed into law.
A complete list of all 37 grants awarded by the State Historical Fund in this round of applications can be found online. The Dolores River Boating Advocates in Montezuma County is just one of the highlighted projects.