Poudre Heritage Alliance Awarded Nearly $125,000 in Grants

Poudre Heritage Alliance Awarded Grants for Strategic Interpretive Planning and Oral History Projects within the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area

The Poudre Heritage Alliance (PHA), the nonprofit managing entity of the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area (CALA), has received two large grants to support their programs that promote historical and cultural opportunities, engage people in the Poudre River corridor, and inspire learning, preservation, and stewardship.

Through the Colorado the Beautiful Grant Program, administered by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), PHA has been awarded $96,877 to complete a new Strategic Interpretive Plan for the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area.

Grant funds will be used to:

1) Update the original Feasibility Study and Resource Inventory completed in 1990

2) Develop a Strategic Interpretive Plan to help CALA become more accessible to the public as a whole

3) Provide visitors with a seamlessly integrated experience

4) Build partner capacity

The PHA will collaborate with a variety of stakeholders throughout the strategic planning process, including partner sites, staff, user groups, neighbors, government agencies, towns and municipalities, community decision-makers, and local businesses.

The PHA has also been awarded a $25,000 “Women in Parks Innovation and Impact” grant from the National Park Service (NPS) and the National Park Foundation (NPF). The goal of this grant “is to support projects and programs that help the NPS share a more comprehensive American narrative that includes the voices of women.” In particular, the initiative is meant to increase awareness about the 19^th Amendment’s centennial and highlight stories of women who continue to shape the world.

Through their project, “Lifting Voices from the Shadows,” the PHA, Colorado State University’s Native American Cultural Center, the National Heritage Areas Program, and the Northern Arapaho tribe will work together to compile stories from Northern Arapaho women that run in parallel with or counter to, the Suffragette movement and modern society.

Grant support from the Women in Parks grant will enable PHA to 1) record women’s oral histories; 2) create educational videos and interpretive videos; and 3) share relevant content that aligns with 19^th Amendment milestones.

The Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area is treasured by a community that values it for a variety of recreational activities and the tranquility of a natural corridor, while also depending on it as a water source for municipal, industrial and agricultural uses. A wide range of cultural perspectives from our rich Poudre River heritage. These grant funds will help the PHA present creative and balanced interpretation, representing the variety of cultures that make up our river corridor and helping citizens find a sense of place and continuity in a rapidly changing world.

ABOUT THE CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA AND THE POUDRE HERITAGE ALLIANCE

The Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area (CALA), a 45-mile stretch of the Lower Poudre River, tells the story of the river where Western Water Law took shape and how the river still informs the use of water throughout the arid West today.  CALA’s 501(c)3 nonprofit managing entity – the Poudre Heritage Alliance – PROMOTES a variety of historical and cultural opportunities; ENGAGES people in their river corridor; and INSPIRES learning, preservation, and stewardship. Find out more at:  https://www.poudreheritage.org/