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Oct 24
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Mississippi Delta NHA wins National Park Service Award

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MDNHA Receives National Park Service Centennial Award for Oral History Program

CLEVELAND, MS. (October 11) – The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University and the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area recently received 2016 National Park Service Centennial Awards for creating the Delta Jewels Oral History Partnership.

The cultural heritage interpretation project honors the lives of unsung Mississippi Delta church mothers featured in Delta Jewels: In Search of My Grandmother’s Wisdom, a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalism professor Alysia Burton Steele. The MDNHA was the only National Heritage Area to receive a NPS Centennial Award this year.

“We are honored to receive this esteemed recognition from the National Park Service for this important cultural heritage development project,” said Dr. Rolando Herts, director of The Delta Center and executive director of the MDNHA. “The fact that Delta State and the MDNHA are acknowledged together truly demonstrates the power of partnerships and collaboration when telling the Delta’s story.”

For 18 months in 2015 and 2016, the Delta Jewels Oral History Partnership’s community gatherings engaged over 1,000 Mississippi Delta residents, visitors and supporters. The gatherings took place in diverse, welcoming venues throughout the state including universities, churches and tourism and cultural centers.

“We are thrilled with the results of the Delta Jewels partnership,” said Dr. Myrtis Tabb, chair of the MDNHA. “This program was one of our very first and was extremely successful right off the bat. We are eager to build upon that success with continued partnerships that will help share the diverse stories of the Mississippi Delta.”

The Delta Center continued to host presentations with Steele in 2017, which have focused on community impacts documented in the Delta Jewels Oral History Partnership 2015-2016 Report.

Most recently, these have taken place at the National Heritage Areas Southeast Region workshop in Atlanta, Georgia; the Smithsonian African American Interpretation Workshop in Charleston, South Carolina; the NPS Collaboration Clinic in Biloxi, Mississippi; and the Association for African American Museums conference in Washington, D.C. In addition, Herts and Steele have been invited to present at the upcoming Oral History Association conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“We have used the report as an interpretive and educational resource, which enhances the storytelling experience,” said Steele. “In addition to photos from the community events, the report includes survey results from participants. An overall program rating of 4.9 out of 5 clearly indicates that sharing the Delta Jewels’ oral histories have had positive impacts in the communities we engaged.”

The MDNHA and The Delta Center commemorated the 2016 NPS Centennial through other projects and events. Together, they organized an opening reception with Delta State University’s 2015 Winning the Race conference featuring former NPS director Bob Stanton.

In addition, the MDNHA Passport to Your National Parks program attracted NPS Centennial travelers, and a MDNHA promotional videowas screened at a NPS Centennial film festival in Atlanta. Since its release, the video has been viewed over 20,000 times on social media.

The Delta Jewel Oral History Partnership 2015-2016 report is available online at The Delta Center. View the MDNHA promotional video on their homepage.

The mission of The Delta Center is to promote greater understanding of Mississippi Delta culture and history and its significance to the world through education, partnerships and community engagement. The Delta Center serves as the management entity of the MDNHA and is the home of the International Delta Blues Project and the National Endowment for the Humanities “Most Southern Place on Earth” workshops.

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Oct 17
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Yuma’s Heritage Area Benefits Local Recreation and Fishing

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This article is a good shout-out to our Heritage Area partners over there in Yuma. Keep up the good work! For the full article, click here:

Excerpt from “An Underrated Bass Fishery United This Town on the Colorado River”:

“It was 107 degrees in the September sun in Yuma, Arizona, and yet people were out bass fishing. Twenty years ago, this would not have been the case. But Yuma’s renewed focus on its river, the mighty Colorado, is an extraordinary story of diplomacy and determination that has resulted in benefits for the local economy, outdoor recreation, and Yuma’s people. I was able to witness this firsthand on a recent canoe trip through the Yuma Heritage Area’s wetlands restoration sites, through the downtown park—now vibrant after struggling in the late 20th century —to below the Ocean to Ocean (“peace”) bridge—rebuilt quite literally to bring together residents of Yuma on the river’s east bank with members of the Quechan Reservation on its west bank, with whom relations had been poor.”

Photo courtesy of J. Jakobson.

Oct 10
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Clean Water. Great Beer.

By News

Loving the shoutout from Odell Brewery. It’s great to have a community partner recognizing the importance of healthy forests and clean rivers. Check out the full article from the Nature Conservancy here.

Exerpt from the article:

COREY ODELL, ODELL BREWERY

“Odell Brewing is engaged in OktoberForest because we are passionate about our most valuable resource: water. As a brewery, water makes up approximately 95% of our finished product so without access to clean water, we have nothing to offer our consumers.  Fort Collins water comes directly from the Rocky Mountains through the Cache la Poudre River. Forest health and water quality were brought to focus in 2012, when the High Park Fire devoured a huge section of forest above our town followed by a 100-year flood event in 2013. This series of events inundated our City with ashy, muddy water for a long time after.  Ensuring the health of our forests is vital to both the quality of our beer as well as our mental well being. Add a beer to easy forest access and you’ve got yourself a great recipe for an adventure year round.”

Oct 03
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Colorado State University Spotlights Water Resources Archivisit, Patty Rettig

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Exerpt from full article: https://source.colostate.edu/provosts-council-engagement-spotlight-patty-rettig/

How have you, your program or students benefitted from what you have learned as an engaged faculty member? And, has there been any sort of reciprocity – or two-way learning – with the communities outside of CSU that you have been involved with?

An archival repository that collects historically important materials from outside its home institution is inherently dependent on engaging with the appropriate communities. The Water Resources Archive cannot be isolated and effective at the same time. From the beginning of the Archive in 2001, with the assistance of numerous university water folks along the way, I have been active in the Colorado water community, listening to issues, learning about organizations, and meeting individuals.

The outcome of my work, as far as saving and making available historically important water-related documents, benefits not only students who might be interested in using such materials for research, but also the whole state and anyone around the world who might want to learn about the important achievements related to Colorado water. The water community also benefits not only through having their heritage prioritized, preserved, and honored here, but also through events we have held, such as Water Tables, which allows them to both learn from us and teach us – and each other – more about our common history.

The best example of reciprocity that I have is a recent one, when I began working with the Land Rights Council in the San Luis Valley. They needed assistance with their historical documents and, though wary of outsiders, were open to discussions about the Water Resources Archive’s expertise. I in turn learned a great deal about their needs and concerns, and it has resulted in the start of a great partnership to preserve their history.

Sep 25
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Unheard Voices: People of the Poudre Presentation

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Heritage Culturalist Volunteers Denise Fisher and Robert Ward presented on the Northern Arapaho people along the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area on Friday September 22 at the Farr Regional Library in Greeley, CO. The event spurred interesting discussion and fostered intriguing questions. It also highlighted the Poudre Heritage Alliance’s Video Series on the Northern Arapaho, which can be found here. The speaker series continues with talks on September 29 and October 6. See above for more info.

Sep 13
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Larimer County, Broomfield Finalize Innovative Water Agreement

By News

LOVELAND, Colo. – Larimer County Department of Natural Resources and the City and County of Broomfield have finalized an innovative water-sharing agreement that keeps a working farm in production while helping fill municipal water needs. The deal closed Tuesday, August 22.

In 2016, Larimer County purchased a farm and its associated water rights southwest of Berthoud with the goal of keeping the farm in active production while offsetting the cost through a water-sharing agreement. After studies by experts in the fields of water, engineering, economics and agriculture, Larimer County determined the amount of water the farm would need to remain viable in perpetuity. Larimer County and Broomfield then entered into an agreement where some of the unneeded water would be purchased by Broomfield outright and a portion of the water would be shared by the two counties in drought years.

This agreement, known as an Alternative Transfer Method (ATM), is the first of its kind in Colorado where water is shared from agricultural to municipal use in perpetuity. ATMs are promoted in the 2015 Colorado Water Plan as a way to provide drought water to cities without permanently drying up productive farmland.

Check out the full article here.

Sep 07
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New study to show massive volume of water Colorado gives up to other states

By News

Check out an interesting article about the complexities of water management: inter-state compacts, in-stream storage, building reservoirs, Western Slope versus Eastern Slope, agricultural/municipal/industrial water use, and more!

New study to show massive volume of water Colorado gives up to other states

(Picture above: South Platte in Denver–Photo by Mr.TinDC via Creative commons license, Flickr)

Sep 01
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Northern Arapaho Tribe Three-Part Video Series Released by Poudre Heritage Alliance

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Northern Arapaho Tribe Three-Part Video Series Released by Poudre Heritage Alliance

The Poudre Heritage Alliance (PHA) has posted three online video interviews of current Northern Arapaho Tribal Elders that chronicle the people, places, and events that shaped the history of Northern Colorado’s first inhabitants. All three videos can be found on PHA’s website: https://poudreheritage.org/videos/. The clips include interviews with Hubert Friday, a descendant of the famous “Chief” William Friday, and other tribal elders Crawford White and Mark Soldier Wolf. The short 2-4 minute segments were recorded, produced, and edited by Slate Communications.

The videos were created to tell the story of the Poudre River Council Tree location and the historical importance of the river from the Northern Arapaho Tribe’s perspective. Kathleen Benedict, Executive Director of the Poudre Heritage Alliance, explained, “The ultimate goal of the videos is to tell the story of the Northern Arapaho Tribe in the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area from the tribe’s point of view.” The funding to make the videos in conjunction with Slate Communications came from PHA’s federal funds through the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.

QR codes on the sign at the Council Tree site in the City of Fort Collins Arapaho Bend Natural Area will allow people to connect to the videos while experiencing the river themselves. The Council Tree site itself was used by Native American tribes prior to the 1860s. This area of the Poudre River Valley, where Boxelder Creek joins the Poudre River, was a meeting area – where all 13 Arapaho tribal bands would gather periodically due to the lush grass and abundant game.

PHA and City representatives met with Northern Arapaho Tribal Elders on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming last year to develop the Council Tree sign after PHA Heritage Culturalist Volunteers helped identify the location of the site. Although the actual Council Tree burned down years ago, the site location is still just as important to the Northern Arapaho people to this day. (See a previous article in the Coloradoan about the Council Tree dedication ceremony.)

For more information about PHA or CALA, please contact the Poudre Heritage Alliance Office at admin@poudreheritage.org or 970-295-4851. DVDs of the video series can be ordered for $20 each by visiting PHA’s Contact Us page.

Above Photo: Heritage Culturalist volunteer doing research on Council Tree site

Aug 30
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Poudre River Nonprofit Hosts Bipartisan Engagement Event for Colorado’s Federal Legislators

By News

On August 17th, 2017, the Poudre Heritage Alliance (PHA) hosted an Engagement Event with community partners and legislative staff from both sides of the aisle in an effort to showcase the importance of projects and partnerships within the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area (CALA). At the event, six staffers from Colorado’s Democratic and Republican federal legislative offices listened to presentations from and interacted with twelve local community partners. The community partners presented six different projects and programs that PHA helps make possible through grant-funding, staff support, and stakeholder engagement.

Staff members from Congressman Ken Buck, Congressman Jared Polis, Senator Michael Bennet, and Senator Cory Gardner’s offices attended the event. They held conversations with and listened to presentations from the Poudre Fire Authority, the City of Fort Collins, Poudre Landmarks Foundation, the Greeley History Museum, Northern Colorado Rehabilitation Hospital, BHA Design, and PHA’s very own Heritage Culturalist Volunteers. During the event, community partners had five minutes each to introduce their project or program and discuss PHA’s involvement.

The Engagement Event showcased PHA’s active role in the community to the Congressional staff and reaffirmed the importance of the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area to Northern Colorado. Projects and programs showcased at the event included PHA’s Wellness Program, the Smithsonian H20 Today Exhibit at the Greeley History Museum, the Fort Collins Water Works building restoration, the water trail project with the Poudre Fire Authority, and the Heritage Trail markers with the Fort Collins Whitewater Park.

 

For more information about PHA or CALA, please contact the Poudre Heritage Alliance Office at admin@poudreheritage.org or 970-295-4851.

Above Photo: Heritage Culturalist Volunteers with Kathleen Benedict, PHA Executive Director, and staff members from Congressman Jared Polis’ office

Aug 23
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Nature Conservancy’s Phantom Canyon Preserve Highlights Poudre River’s Heritage

By News, Uncategorized

(Excerpt from article)

“A KEY ROLE IN HISTORY

While most visitors to the Phantom Canyon preserve come for the beauty of the landscape, few realize the historical significance around them: It was in this watershed where Western water law was born.

In the 1870s a drought led to overdrawing of the water in the Cache la Poudre River. Irrigation canals dried up, causing a dispute between two of the water users – upstream farmers near Fort Collins and downstream farmers in the Union Colony commune founded by Horace Greeley, famous for having declared, “Go West, young man!”

The issue was settled in court in favor of the first water users – the Union Colony commune – a decision that formed the bedrock principle of Western water law: “First in time, first in right.” In recognition of this, Congress declared the Cache la Poudre River a National Heritage Area*** in 1996.”

***The exact boundaries of the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area lie to the south and east of Phantom Canyon Preserve. The Heritage Area designation begins along the eastern edge of the Roosevelt National Forest near the mouth of the Poudre Canyon and extends through 45 miles of the river until its confluence with the South Platte River east of Greeley, Colorado. It was designated as National River Corridor in 1996, and then as an official National Heritage Area in 2009.

For the full article, check out the Nature Conservancy’s website here.

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