Efforts to designate Santa Cruz Valley as National Heritage Area gain steam

The multi-cultural history of the Santa Cruz Valley, which dates back 12,000 years or more, is a special one, so special that a bill was introduced last spring in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Raul Grijalva, and Gabrielle Giffords to designate it as a National Heritage Area.

The effort was first begun in 2003, but now that the bill has been introduced, supporters have hopes that it will clear the House and Senate by the end of this year, said Vanessa Bechtol, newly named programs manager for the non-profit Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance.

“Once the bill is approved, it will take three years to complete a management plan, with public input, public meetings and meetings with local governments. While the meetings are going on, we will carry out preservation and protection projects,” she said.

Designation as a National Heritage Area would make the Santa Cruz Valley eligible for federal grants of up to $1 million annually for up to 10 years, she said, noting that federal dollars must be matched with donations and private funds.

There are 36 designated heritage areas throughout the country, Bechtol said, most of them in the East and the South.

The National Park Service describes a National Heritage Area as a place “where natural, cultural, historic and recreational resources combine to form cohesive, nationally distinctive landscapes arising from patterns of past and present human activities shaped by geography.”

Heritage area supporters believe that describes the Santa Cruz Valley, with its combination of cultures, history, languages, traditions and landscapes, perfectly.

Heritage boundaries

The boundaries of the proposed Heritage area stretch from Marana to the north to Nogales, Ariz. to the south.

The area is bordered on the east by Catalina State Park, the Rincon Mountains, Sahuaro National Park, the Las Cienegas National Conservation area to the east and by Ironwood National Monument, Tohono O’odham Nation and the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge to the west. The area roughly includes some 3,300 square miles.

The mission of the Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance, Bechtol explained, is “to connect people to cultural resources, historical sites and the natural resources of the Santa Cruz Valley through education, preservation and promotion.”

The benefits of a heritage area are both economic and non-economic,” she said.

“Designation as a heritage area has proven to be a successful tool at stimulating economic growth through an increase in heritage tourism. This has proven to be true in other heritage areas which over a 10-year period have seen a doubling of tourism-related jobs,” Bechtol said, adding that preservation, conservation and protection of the area’s priceless heritage are other key benefits.

The alliance’s first project is the recent publication of a tourist map which focuses on the heritage experiences in Santa Cruz Valley destinations, highlighting 10 themes.

The themes are

Native American Lifeway (11,000 B.C. to the present)

The Santa Cruz Valley is one of the “longest inhabited places in North America and the homeland of two Native American tribes.” The area includes abundant archaeological evidence of prehistoric cultures, “whose achievements include the earliest agriculture, canals, pottery and villages in the Southwest.”

Streams in the Southwest

“The Santa Cruz Valley watershed has 90 miles of steams and rivers that flow year-round. These ‘ribbons of life’ support riparian habitats that are both beautiful and critical to wildlife.”

Mining Booms

“Historically, one of the most important activities was mining. Today, active copper mines are surrounded by the ghost towns left by several 19th century gold and sliver rushes.”

Bird Habitats and Migration Routes

“A wide range of elevations and habitats support more than 400 bird species. Rated one of the top birding destinations in the nation, the valley is also a migratory corridor for species that winter in the tropics.”

Desert Farming (2000 B.C. to present)

The Santa Cruz Valley is “perhaps the longest continuously cultivated region in the United States, with an agricultural heritage stretching back more than 4,000 years.”

U.S. Mexico Border Culture ( 1854 to present

“...people on both sides are connected through family ties, economic interaction and common history and traditions.”

Ranching Traditions (1690 to present)

“Cattle ranching is a living tradition with a three-century unbroken link with Spanish, Mexican and American pioneers.”

Sky Islands and Desert Seas

“The forested mountain ranges of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands rise thousands of feet above desert and grassland seas like islands in the sky. They are globally unique due to their rich diversity of species and habitat.”

Spanish and Mexican Frontier (1680 to 1854

“The region was once the northern frontier of New Spain, and later it was part of Mexico, There are well-preserved missions, presidio fortresses, and ranches from those periods as well as many living descendants of early Spanish and Mexican settlers.”

U.S. Military Posts on the Mexican Border

“Remnants of forts show how the U.S. Army staked the nation’s claim to this region of Mexico, conducted the Apache campaigns and prevented the Mexican revolution from spilling across the border.

“Bomber groups and intercontinental ballistic missiles deployed here were also a critical part of the national defense during the decades of the Cold War.”

The Santa Cruz Valley Heritage Alliance has a volunteer board of directors. which includes local residents Nan Stockholm Walden and John Maynard. The group will begin a membership campaign this fall and is planning a Heritage Foods workshop as well to bring together local food producers, restaurants, food co-ops, food banks, farmers’ markets and more to plan the development of a local farm-to-chef network and a regional food brand.

You can learn more about the organization by visiting the Web site at www.santacruzheritage.org.

Bechtol is available to speak to local groups about plans and possibilities for a Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area.

To learn where you can get a copy of the Heritage Map, e-mail the Heritage Alliance at info@santacruzheritage.org.

kengle@gvnews.com.| 547-9732