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U.S.
Senator Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
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For Immediate
Release August 17, 2005 |
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Press Secretary 202-228-3630 Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary 303-455-7600 |
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| SEN SALAZAR PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR SOUTH PARK
FAIRPLAY, CO – U. S. Senator Ken Salazar today announced that he will introduce legislation designating South Park as a National Heritage Area. In a letter to Park County Commissioners Salazar thanked local officials for all their hard work on this effort, celebrated the virtues of the area including its archeological, economic and natural resources and vowed to do his part to protect it. National Heritage Areas are conceived and managed by local citizens and organizations, but the National Park Service provides administrative and technical support in their establishment. Additionally, the federal government will provide up to $1,000,000 a year for 15 years ($10,000,000 maximum) to rehabilitate old structures, develop tours, establish exhibits or programs, and increase public awareness of the area. Senator Salazar presented the letter today at his Park County Energy Independence forum. The idea of legislation was enthusiastically received. Enclosed below is the letter Senator Salazar presented today:
The Honorable Leni Walker
Dear Commissioners Walker, Tighe, and Gardner: I am writing to offer my support in designating South Park a National Heritage Area. With its high mountains, golden grasslands, and rich cultural legacy, South Park is one of America’s crown jewels, a treasure that represents the best of Colorado. For hundreds of years, South Park’s natural wealth has attracted native peoples and pioneers. Each summer, Cheyennes, Arapahos, Mountain Utes, Comanches, and Kiowas converged on South Park to hunt, fish, and gather plants. European settlers and Western explorers trapped game, discovered gold, laid mining claims, and built ranches. Today, South Park remains as appealing as ever to the residents and visitors who fish the area’s streams, hike its trails, and explore the history of the American West. Thanks to your efforts and to the work of local residents, the natural and cultural heritage of South Park is thriving. Abandoned mining cabins and mills still dot the mountain sides, a reminder of the mineral riches that lie below. The Salt Works Ranch, on the site of natural salt deposits and saline springs used by native peoples and settlers, is one of several Park County sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Recently, a team of archaeologists began to catalogue the area’s Native American archaeological sites and uncover the extraordinary stories of native peoples. Along with South Park’s remarkable cultural heritage, the region boasts pristine waterways and untouched habitat. Fishermen come from around the world to cast in Tarryall Creek while biologists hail South Park’s mineral springs and extreme rich fen for the biodiversity they support. The good stewardship of Park County’s ranchers and landowners has permitted mountain plovers, black bears, greenback cutthroat trout, and the great blue heron to flourish in South Park. America’s 27 National Heritage Areas help protect our nation’s most important cultural and natural assets, from Civil War battlefields in the East to the Cache La Poudre River Corridor on the Colorado plains. A National Heritage Area designation, though authorized by Congress, is primarily a local initiative; it is a management plan that residents craft to protect their land, water, and history. In these National Heritage Areas it is the responsibility of the federal government to support and assist the good stewardship efforts of citizens. In South Park, the work toward becoming a National Heritage Area is well under way. You have catalogued heritage resources and you have successfully won a Colorado Heritage Area designation for South Park. You are working with Great Outdoors Colorado to protect 19 working ranches along 30 miles of stream corridor and 17,000 acres of wetlands and agricultural lands in the headwaters of the South Platte River. And you are building local consensus on a management plan for public and private lands that will promote responsible stewardship in South Park for decades to come. I applaud you for your work toward fulfilling the criteria for becoming a National Heritage Areas set forth by the National Park Service. Upon the fulfillment of those criteria, I pledge to introduce legislation on the floor of the United States Senate to designate South Park, Colorado, America’s newest National Heritage Area. Thank you for your leadership on this issue and for your work on behalf of the citizens of Park County.
Sincerely, Ken Salazar # # # |
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