Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

National Trails System - National Park Service

Trail News

April 7, 2004

Trails Offices Reorganized

The Salt Lake City and Santa Fe national trails offices were recently combined to form a single office, administered by Superintendent Jere L. Krakow.

As part of the reorganization, Interpretive Specialist Sharon Brown, formerly of the Santa Fe trails staff, has been duty-stationed at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington; and Interpretive Specialist Charles Milliken and a Cultural Resource Specialist Lee Kreutzer have joined the Salt Lake City trails staff.

Personnel in Salt Lake City continue to administer the Oregon, California, Pony Express, and Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trails. Staff in Santa Fe continue to administer the Trail of Tears, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program, and they also share administrative responsibilities with our sister agency, the Bureau of Land Management, for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and the recently authorized Old Spanish Trail.

The reorganization encourages greater efficiency and consistency within the Intermountain national trails program.

Salt Lake Branch Office Moves

The office of the National Trails System-Salt Lake City has moved down the hall from its former quarters. Trails office staff remain on the same floor of the same building, at the southwest corner of 300 South and State Street, but have offices in a different suite.

The new address is: National Trails System-Salt Lake City, 324 South State, Suite 200, P.O. Box 45155, Salt Lake City, UT 84145-155.

Office telephone and fax numbers are unchanged.

Old Spanish Trail Planning Effort Underway

Federal administrators and trail partners this summer will launch a lengthy public planning process for the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, which crosses 2,700 miles of public and private lands in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California.

The Old Spanish National Historic Trail, authorized by Congress in 2002, is jointly administered by the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management. In consultation with the Old Spanish Trail Association, the two agencies are taking the first steps toward developing a Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) to guide management, resource protection, development, and public uses along the trail. The planning process will involve months of public scoping, drafting, public review and comment, and revisions before final review and official approval of the plan.

The Old Spanish Trail was a commercial pack route used by traders leading large herds of horses and mules, and by livestock caravans carrying textiles and other trade goods. Slaves, many of them American Indian women and children captured and sold by enemy raiders, also were traded along the way. The trail was most heavily traveled between 1829 and1848, when the region was part of Mexico. Its use had significant economic, political, and social impacts on Mexico, the developing United States, and numerous American Indian nations along the route.

Watch this web page for updates on the Comprehensive Management Planning process for the Old Spanish Trail.

Challenge Cost Share Supports Trails Projects

Need some help with an historic trails project?

The National Park Service Challenge Cost Share Program (CCSP) could be the answer. CCSP can match up to half the costs of qualified national trails project.

There are, naturally, some conditions. First, your part of the match cannot include money from other federal sources – but it can include the value of your labor, non-federal grants, and donations. Second, total CCSP matching funds for your project cannot exceed $30,000 – but that’s still a lot! Third, the CCSP funds are not provided up-front – rather, you must submit vouchers for reimbursements for your allowable expenses.

If you, your organization, business, or charitable group can work with those conditions, you are eligible to ask for some of those matching funds. For an application packet, contact us staff at the phone numbers or addresses posted on this web site. Staff in Salt Lake City can help you with projects on the Oregon, California, Pony Express, or Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trails. Staff in Santa Fe can assist with projects on El Camino Real, the Santa Fe Trail, and the Trail of Tears.

In past years, CCSP has funded proposals to map historic trails, transcribe 19th century journals, place trail markers, develop, purchase and install interpretive wayside exhibits, perform archeological survey, and conduct historical research. Other funded projects have developed trails-related web sites, conducted teachers’ seminars, prepared National Register nominations, documented historic inscriptions, stabilized sites and buildings, and prepared museum exhibits.

This year’s Challenge Cost Share Program budgets are currently $94,100 for the Salt Lake City trails program and $60,000 for the Santa Fe trails program.

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