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News and Notes

Camino Real is a new World Heritage Site

The World Heritage Committee has added Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Mexico) to the list of World Heritage Sites! The inscribed property consists of 55 sites and five existing World Heritage sites lying along a 1400 km section of this 2600 km route, that extends north from Mexico City to Texas and New Mexico, United States of America.

CARTA Awarded a BLM Challenge-Cost-Share Grant: "Documenting Internationally Significant Trail Landscapes Along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail"

CARTA has signed an agreement to work independently and in coordination with BLM to develop and implement an international training program to document significant El Camino Real cultural landscapes. The current agreement can remain in effect for up to five years. The first award is in the amount of $20,000, with additional awards expected over the next two or three years. We will be working with our federal partners, and students, professionals, and volunteers on both sides of the border. We are in the initial planning stage now... please follow our progress here and in the Chronicles of the Trail!

New Highway Signs on I-25

Please notice on your next I-25 trip that there are striking "El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail" highway signs sporting the National Historic Trail logo and directing visitors to the Trail in the Jornada del Muerto! Signage is posted at the Upham exit and near Truth or Consequences. Watch here for dates and details regarding the public unveiling of three wayside exhibits in the Jornada as well!

Mexico's National "Ruta 2010" Initiative

CARTA is still looking for a volunteer to explore Mexico's national calendar to keep our members apprised of designated "Ruta 2010" sites and upcoming events. This celebration commemorates the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s Independence from Spain and the 100th anniversary of its Revolution. Information about the routes and related historical events is available on the official Bicentennial website at http://www.bicentenario.gob.mx. Each route has maps in portable document format (.pdf) that can be downloaded and printed. The site also provides information about historical figures involved in important events. Please let us know if you would like to track and highlight upcoming Ruta 2010 sites and activities for our members.

Engineers Without Borders (Mendoceño, Mexico)

The New Mexico State University "Engineers Without Borders" 2010 project was focused along El Camino Real at Mendoceño, approximately 10 miles south of Satevo. Over their March Spring Break, and at the town’s invitation, the students installed new potable water piping, valves, and implemented a simple flow control system for grateful residents. Disappointingly, CARTA did not participate in this year's project except for a small personal donation from the Executive Director. CARTA is looking for a volunteer to coordinate closely with the Engineers Without Borders initiative whenever the students are assisting communities along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. This is an ideal opportunity for CARTA to actively engage (either through donations, expertise, or hands-on work) in worthwhile endeavors across the border. Ultimately, our International Liaison should be able to participate more actively in future CARTA/EWB collaborations.

El Camino Real Cultural and Heritage Tourism Corridor Master Plan

Rather than teaming up with the non-profit Groundwork Doña Ana (GWDA) which finds itself still in formation lo these many months, CARTA is taking the lead in the long-term effort to create spur and loop trails from El Camino Real communities to the proposed statewide Rio Grande River trail. A task force comprised of GWDA steering committee members, community leaders, and CARTA members Sandy Geiger, Paul Deason, Daniel Villa, and Meghan Berver are carrying the effort forward. Developing the spur and loop trails into a larger Cultural and Heritage Tourism Corridor Master Plan was identified by the Board in the recent Strategic Planning process as the top "Trail Maintenance" priority.

The task force will work over the next eight to ten months preparing a grant application to apply for federal 2011 Scenic Byways funding. We will be working closely with Mike Taylor (NPS), Sarah Schlanger (BLM), and Scenic Byways director and CARTA member Laurie Frantz throughout the process. A final draft of the grant application will be posted on our Web site for review and comment. If awarded, the funding will be used to hire a team of consultants to develop and implement the corridor master plan. We are seeking "gateway community" representatives to partner with us in this unprecedented CARTA endeavor!

Paul Deason Research (Vado, NM to Fort Seldon, NM)

Paul Deason continues his research with Herbert W. Yeo collections at the Branigan Public Library and the Rio Grande Historical Collection (RGHC MS 0094). As a long-time state surveyor and avocational archaeologist, Herbert Yeo conducted a lifetime of primary research along El Camino Real. Working with CARTA members Mary Kay Shannon, Stephanie Long, and the Rio Grande Historical Collection archivists, Deason has arranged for the conservation of the highway map hand-annotated by Yeo himself. He has also culled trail-related information from a series of binders that Yeo compiled. The results of this important and timely research will contribute to the corridor master plan, including the development of El Camino Real community spur and loop trails. We look forward with much anticipation to Deason’s final report due out this summer.

NPS Challenge-Cost-Share Grant Tentatively Awarded to CARTA Document the Jornada del Muerto

Working with CARTA, filmmaker Jason VanCamp’s Challenge-Cost-Share proposal and narrative to engage young film students to document the Jornada del Muerto has received tentative approval from the National Park Service. CARTA is working with Jason VanCamp and NPS technical advisor Otis Halfmoon to submit a final application before the 1 June deadline. Board members Richard Loose and Tom Harper have offered to assist with any aerial filming using their unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

A New CARTA "Speakers' Bureau"!

CARTA’s Executive Director has participated in AM 570 radio interviews, press releases, maintaining the United Way Website, a non-profits "Show-and-Tell" evening at the Branigan Cultural Center, Green Chamber of Commerce meetings, Mesilla Valley Economic Development luncheons, creating a CARTA panel at the Historical Society of New Mexico Conference, serving as a New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance Board member, a number of history-related conferences, a summer lecture series at the Railroad Museum, a presentation at the new Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park, a lecture at the invitation of Alamogordo’s Rotary Club, and other activities designed to heighten public awareness and gain new members. But she can’t do it alone! CARTA is looking for a few good volunteers to form a "Speakers' Bureau" to help get the word out! Please let us know if and how you would like to participate.

Armendaris Ranch Tours (Engle, NM)

Members Jim Andress and Tom Harper continue to coordinate with Ted Turner's Armendaris Ranch manager, Tom Waddell, to schedule "insiders' tours" of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro trail segments located on Ted Turner's private property north of Engle, NM. A fall excursion is planned. In the meantime, we have planned our first official "Insiders' Tour" on El Camino Real near Anthony, New Mexico on Saturday, 5 June 2010! We are optimistic that this first Insiders' Tour will be the first in a fruitful series to entertain and educate our members during excursions on the Trail. Thanks to Harper and Andress for their efforts on our behalf. Please see the calendar for details.

National History Day (Albuquerque, NM)

Ms. Marie Julienne, a high school teacher from the Native American Community Academy in Albuquerque, took her 9th grade students on a research journey using the El Camino Real as the entry point for exhibits in this year's National History Day competition, "Innovations in History: Impact and Change." Students who entered the senior group exhibit with their project, "The Religious Conquest of Indigenous Cultures" included a four-foot long, hand-drawn map of the trail from Mexico City to Ohkay Owingeh. Although this project did not place for the 2010 National History Day State Competition, the experience was empowering. Julienne tells us she looks forward to working with CARTA on El Camino Real-related research during next year’s National History Day competition, noting, "the trajectory of ideas motivated by the innovation of this ancient trail is so relevant to our youth." For more information on National History Day (NHD) please go to: http://www.nhd.org. Please help us identify additional teachers and students willing to participate in Camino Real research for next year’s NHD competition!