Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area is a federally designated

National Heritage Area In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some ...

in the south central portion of the U.S. state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. The heritage area includes the

San Luis Valley The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. The valley is approximately long and wide, extending from the Continental Divide on the northwest rim into New Mexico on the south. It co ...

and portions of the

Sangre de Cristo Range , country= United States , subdivision1= Colorado , subdivision2_type= Counties , subdivision2= , parent= Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Rocky Mountains , borders_on= , geology= , age= , orogeny= Fault-block mountains , area_mi2= 1 ...

. The region combines influences of

Anglo-American Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...

, Hispano-American and Native American influences. It also includes portions of the upper

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

valley.

Extent

The national heritage area includes

Alamosa Alamosa is a home rule municipality and the county seat of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,806 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colorad ...

, Costilla, and Conejos counties, and portions of Saguache and

counties. It also includes within its boundaries

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is an American national park that conserves an area of large sand dunes up to tall on the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley, and an adjacent national preserve in the Sangre de Cristo Range, in south- ...

Baca National Wildlife Refuge The Baca National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located in southern Colorado. It is within the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area. Fauna Many bird species such as the kestrel, great horned owl, northern flicker ...

, the

Sangre de Cristo Wilderness The Sangre de Cristo Wilderness is a long and narrow wilderness area covering of the Sangre de Cristo Range centered about Saguache and Custer counties, Colorado. Smaller areas are located in Fremont, Alamosa, and Huerfano counties. The wild ...

, the

South San Juan Wilderness The South San Juan Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located in the San Juan National Forest, east of Pagosa Springs, in southern Colorado . The last known grizzly bear in Colorado was killed in the wilderness in 1979. Some believe that it i ...

, Sangre de Cristo Wilderness Area, San Luis Wilderness Study Area,

Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located in southern Colorado. The refuge is located in the San Luis Valley south of the town of Monte Vista, Colorado in southeastern Rio Grande County, Colorado, ...

Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge The Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge is an United States National Wildlife Refuge located in southern Colorado. The site is located in the San Luis Valley along the east side of the Rio Grande approximately southeast of Alamosa primarily in s ...

and the Medano-Zapata Ranch. Other features include the

Trujillo Homestead The Trujillo Homesteads are a historic ranch site near Mosca, Alamosa County, Colorado, not far from the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The area was first settled in the 1860s by Teofilo Trujillo, a Mexican sheep farmer. His son Pedro built a ...

, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

Cultural preservation

The area overlaps with the "Hispano Homeland", the ethnically distinct Hispanic population in the upper Rio Grande Valley and adjoining uplands, as described by academic, Richard Nostrand. The national heritage area was established to preserve and promote the region's distinctive cultural and natural features. The San Luis Valley was culturally isolated for much of its history, preserving a distinctive local Spanish dialect and vocabulary. A high proportion of the local population is descended from

Hispanos Hispanos (from es, adj. prefix Hispano- relating to Spain, from la, Hispānus) are Hispanic residents of the United States who are culturally descended from the original Spanish-speaking settlers in the areas which were once part of New Spain ...

, Spanish colonial settlers who arrived in the area in the 1850s, the first permanent European settlers in Colorado. Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area was established by the

Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (, ) is a land management law passed in the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 30, 2009. The bill designates millions of acres in the US as protected a ...

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Colorado History of Colorado History of the Rocky Mountains National Heritage Areas of the United States Protected areas established in 2009 Protected areas of Alamosa County, Colorado Protected areas of Costilla County, Colorado Protected areas of Conejos County, Colorado Protected areas of Saguache County, Colorado Protected areas of Rio Grande County, Colorado Sangre de Cristo Mountains 2009 establishments in Colorado

Extent

Cultural preservation

Further reading

References

External links