The purpose of the heritage partnership program funding is to engage national heritage arearecipients, partners, communities, and or visitors in shared environmental stewardship

The National Park Service (NPS) awarded Sangre De Cristo National Heritage Area a $1,000,000 cooperative agreement under the Heritage Partnership Program (CFDA 15.939) effective May 21, 2025, through December 31, 2026. This funding supports the implementation of the organization's management plan and enables comprehensive heritage area stewardship activities across its designated region in Colorado. The cooperative agreement funds a broad range of products and services including historic preservation initiatives, conservation work, heritage tourism development, interpretation and educational programming, community engagement activities, and associated administrative functions necessary to advance the heritage area's mission.

The Heritage Partnership Program emphasizes building resource stewardship ethics while promoting public and private participation in preservation, conservation, education, and outdoor recreation programs. Through this award, Sangre De Cristo National Heritage Area will engage recipients, partners, communities, and visitors in shared environmental stewardship, with beneficiaries including the general public, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and private entities. The award enables the organization to conduct extensive work in heritage interpretation, economic development strategies, community outreach, environmental conservation, and collaborative partnerships with local stakeholders across the culturally and historically significant heritage area.

This is done bypromoting greater public and private participation in preservation, conservation, education, and outdoorrecreation programs and activities, and building resource stewardship ethics in its participants. Heritage partnership programs promote the conservation of local natural, historic, scenic, and cultural resources through national heritage areas, national heritage corridors, national historic districts, and other designations (nhas). These authorized programs are the management responsibility of federal commissions, nonprofit groups, universities, state agencies or municipal authorities. They are not units of the national park system, and their lands are not federally owned or managed. Beneficiaries include general public, states and ortheir political subdivisions, non-profits, private entities, the heritage area management coordinating entity.