Media Advisory

Salazar to Hold America’s Great Outdoors Meeting in Colorado’s San Luis Valley

Will discuss ongoing efforts to preserve American Latino history, working landscapes; National Park Service to Present Findings of New Reconnaissance Survey Report

12/22/2011

ALAMOSA, Colo.— As part of President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative, on Wednesday, Jan. 4, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will hold a meeting in the San Luis Valley to discuss ongoing efforts in the community to conserve the area's natural and cultural resources.

In May, Governor John Hickenlooper and Secretary Salazar identified the San Luis Valley as one of three priority projects in Colorado for the America’s Great Outdoors initiative. Interior and other federal agencies will work with the State, local stakeholders, private landowners and other partners to help conserve healthy lands and waters and promote tourism in the San Luis Valley and the Rio Grande River Corridor.

During the meeting, Secretary Salazar will discuss the recommendations put forth in the National Park Service’s (NPS) San Luis Valley and Central Sangre de Cristo Mountains Reconnaissance Survey Report, which was recently released. The report, requested by Salazar, identifies nationally significant American Latino heritage sites that reflect the history, culture, and traditions of the American Southwest Frontier. From Colorado’s oldest documented town to the oldest church, the report covers over 3,264,000 acres located within the San Luis Valley and central Sangre de Cristo Mountains of south-central Colorado and northern New Mexico.

The meeting will be open to the public and members of the media. Secretary Salazar will hold a media availability immediately following three breakout sessions, which include: 

• National Historic Park and Other Cultural/Historic Designation Options
• Trails System Proposal
• Landscape Scale Conservation and Management Opportunities