[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 161 (Thursday, December 15, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S13653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SAN LUIS VALLEY

 Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I today recognize the 
extraordinary contributions of the San Luis Valley, in my home State of 
Colorado, to our national heritage and to the history of the West.
  As a native son of the San Luis Valley, I know how hard the peoples 
of the region have fought to protect their traditions, their language, 
their art and architecture, and the stories of their ancestors. They 
have fought to protect treasured ranchlands, sand dunes, waterways, and 
mountain peaks. And they have fought to protect a rural way of life 
that cherishes family, faith, and hard work.
  To support the stewardship efforts of the valley's peoples, and to 
ensure that the national treasures of the region are preserved for 
generations to come, I have introduced legislation to create the Sangre 
de Cristo National Heritage Area in the San Luis Valley.
  This legislation will direct the National Park Service to assist 
citizens, organizations, and local governments in Alamosa, Costilla, 
and Conejos Counties in developing a management plan to guide the 
continued stewardship of the region's cultural and natural resources. 
Though this bill provides local communities assistance from the Federal 
Government, I am proud that the National Heritage Area Program rewards 
a consensual, locally driven approach to management rather than a top-
down, federally dominated approach.
  This bill provides economic assistance to a region that has paid an 
economic price for preserving its rural way of life. The towns of San 
Luis and Antonito, among the oldest settlements in Colorado, have 
successfully preserved their moradas, placitas, historic churches, 
religious celebrations, and historic festivals, yet the counties they 
are in, Conejos and Costilla, are two of the four poorest in America. 
This bill helps these communities leverage their cultural capital to 
spur economic development by providing up to $10 million to rebuild 
historic structures, develop interpretive exhibits, and attract 
tourism.
  The cultural and historic value of the Sangre de Cristo National 
Heritage Area is immeasurable. Since people first settled in the San 
Luis Valley over 11,000 years ago, the region has been home to Ute, 
Navajo, Tiwa, Tewa, Kiowa, Hispano, and Anglo peoples, among others. 
The cultures, lifestyles, and cosmologies of the valley's settlers have 
converged, conflicted, and coalesced through the centuries, and have 
left an unmistakable imprint on the peoples who inhabit the Valley 
today. The region was dubbed ``The Land of the Blue Sky People'' in 
honor of the Utes, the oldest continuous residents of what is now 
Colorado, and is the home of Mount Blanca or Sisnaajini, the sacred 
mountain that, according to folklore, marks the eastern boundary of the 
Navajo world. Seventeenth century Spanish, still spoken by about 35 
percent of the population of the Sangre de Cristo region, testifies to 
the strong influence of Hispano settlers, while the narrow gauge rails 
of the Rio Grande Railroad recall America's era of westward expansion.
  In addition to its remarkable historical landmarks and cultural 
treasures, the San Luis Valley's natural wonders attract visitors from 
around the world. The valley is home to 3 National Wildlife Refuges, 15 
State Wildlife Refuges, a National Forest, 2 National Forest Wilderness 
Areas, and the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. These 
public lands, and thousands of acres of private lands in between, are 
home to a rich array of plants and animals, from the pika of the alpine 
tundra to the pronghorn of the prairie and the sandhill cranes among 
the dunes.
  This legislation will help protect these crown jewels of the American 
landscape by supporting a local, consensus-based approach to land 
management. Because the best management policies come through 
cooperation, not coercion, this bill maintains strong protections for 
private property owners. The Federal funds in this bill cannot be used 
to purchase private property and the management plan cannot restrict 
the rights of property owners on their own lands.
  For generations the peoples of the San Luis Valley have worked hard 
to be good stewards of their land and water. They have worked hard to 
preserve their culture and a rural way of life. And they have worked 
hard to create this National Heritage Area.
  They are looking for our help now to protect a place so central to 
Colorado peoples, so emblematic of the Western landscape, and so much 
at the core of the American experience.
  Let us honor the contributions of the San Luis Valley to our Nation's 
heritage by designating the Sangre de Cristo National Heritage 
Area.

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