A significant portion of annual funding for Cache NHA comes from Congress. Federal funding is not guaranteed so each year we advocate for inclusion in congressional budget priorities. During a year of increased scrutiny over federal spending, we need your support to encourage Congress to continue funding National Heritage Areas.
Northern Colorado is home to the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area (Cache NHA), one of 3 such designations across the state and 62 across the country. Since 2009, we have celebrated and preserved the natural beauty, history, and culture associated with the Cache la Poudre River flood plain, from Roosevelt National Forest to the confluence of the South Platte.
Through public-private partnerships, Cache NHA is able to promote historical and cultural opportunities, engage residents and visitors in the river corridor, and inspire learning, preservation, and stewardship of this incredible river we all know, love, and depend on. We are proud of the work we do and honored to have such strong collaborative support from a wide array of community partners and volunteers.
Increased scrutiny over how taxpayer dollars are spent is welcome. But scrutiny should mean identifying and fully funding the programs that are cost-effective. By any measure – billions in economic impact, millions of annual visitors, hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours – the 62 NHAs are a good return for the taxpayer.
Without this funding, many of our programs and projects will be in jeopardy. In the past decade Cache NHA has invested nearly a million dollars in community grants and passthrough funding and leveraged nearly $15 million dollars of public-private funding. An economic impact study completed by Tripp Umbach found that the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area generates an annual economic impact of $81.6 million, while supporting over 1,000 jobs and generating $6.9 million in tax revenue.
Like many of our partners in and along the Poudre River watershed, we need your help to show Congress how important the Cache NHA is to you as a local constituent and partner in this work. Collectively, the Alliance of National Heritage is requesting $33.5 M which keeps all 62 heritage areas funded and maintains level funding for our Colorado NHAs. We are requesting our partners and supporters write letters of support by March 13th or sign on to the Cache NHA’s letter. The button below opens a letter template you can customize and send to your Congressional delegation.
Intstructions for Writing a Letter
- Use your organization’s letterhead if available, or a letter if you are a private citizen
- Customize the benefit of the NHA and/or the impact of a potential loss of funding specific to your program or initiative. Things that may be important to you:
- Funding you receive as a grant recipient – what projects have we funded or are you hoping to apply for funding soon
- Events and community groups you participate in or partner with us to bring to the community
- Educational programming like Learning in Our Watershed and Poudre Pub Talks
- Promotion of tourism, local events, partner work and programming
- The economic power of promoting and supporting local businesses through programming and promoting tourism
- Resources developed: lesson plans, interpretive signage, brochures, and digital campaigns like Play it Safe
- Historic preservation: oral histories, site planning documents, historic tours, historical content, and research
- Share a copy of your letter with me or copy me on your email to the delegation.
- Greg Mills | District Manager, Rep. Gabe Evans mills@mail.house.gov
- Raven Finegan| District Manager, Rep. Lauren Boebert finegan@mail.house.gov
- Abbie Callahan | Senior Legislative Assistant, Rep. Joe Neguse abbie@mail.house.gov
The other 61 National Heritage Areas are working to make a strong and robust effort with participation from as many partners as possible. Thanks to your efforts in prior years, we have found that a letter campaign like this is successful in educating our legislators about our impact and far-reaching support from their constituents. Thank you for your past and continued support.
I am grateful for the opportunity to partner with you and look forward to working with you in the coming months.
With gratitude,
Sabrina Stoker, Executive Director
Poudre Heritage Alliance, Managing Entity of the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area
