Continue reading »]]> The deadline for submitting nominations has now been extended to March 31, 2012.          CALL FOR NOMINATIONS 2012

A CALL FOR NOMINATIONS TO THE 2012 NEW MEXICO HERITAGE PRESERVATION ALLIANCE’S “MOST ENDANGERED PLACES” LIST 

Since 1999, the New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance has annually requested nominations to its “MOST ENDANGERED PLACES (MEP)” list. The MEP program is a statewide initiative that promotes awareness of threatened cultural resources, including important historic, architectural, and archeological sites and significant landscapes and open spaces. In addition cultural heritage and other intangible cultural resources such as the New Mexico Night Sky have been nominated in the past and continue to be eligible. As a program coordinator noted, “each of the endangered resources holds a special place in our collective memory and helps to define who we are as a people, a culture, and a State.”  More than 80 sites have been added to the MEP list to date. Threats to their continued preservation have included ignorance, neglect, abandonment, and urban sprawl. A high percentage of the listed sites have been saved through the efforts of concerned individuals and organizations, once their endangered status became apparent. Nominations to the MEP list raises public awareness of the threat, creates support for the site’s preservation, and makes property owners aware of available resources, financial and otherwise, for the preservation and continued use of the site. 

Nominations to the New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance’s 2012 MEP program are now being accepted. The deadline for submitting a completed nomination March 31, 2012 The nomination form and guidelines are found on a separate form.  The completed form, and required attachments, should be emailed to MEP Committee Chair Lois Snyderman, blueskiesnm@gmail.com.  A “paper copy”, with all attachments, should also be mailed to Lois at 912 Los Lovatos, Santa Fe, NM 87501. Be sure to include digital images (jpegs or tiff files)along with the printed images as part of the hard copy nomination package.  

Questions? Call Lois at 505-820-2402, or email to blueskiesnm@gmail.com

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ADVISORY

The New Mexico Heritage Preservation Alliance requests that its members become and remain vigilant of matters affecting the preservation of our state’s cultural patrimony. There are several issues that need our members’ immediate and continued attention at the state government level, including, but not limited to:

• ·         The extended vacancy of the State Historic Preservation Officer and its role as director of the Historic Preservation Division within the Department.
• ·         The more than year-long rash of criticism of the former Cultural Review Committee’s actions related to the designation of “traditional cultural properties” – specifically the designation of Mount Taylor as one such property.
• ·         The interest by some state legislators and state government officials in redefining the role of the Cultural Properties Review Committee through legislation and/or executive action.
• ·         The Historic Preservation Division’s continued loss of personnel due to retirements or transfers, and the inability of the division to fill these critical vacancies.
• ·         The proposed legislation during the 2011 general legislative session, and again through legislation introduced during this year’s legislative session (HB 157) to merge the existing Tourism and Cultural Affairs department into a Tourism and Cultural Affairs Department.
• ·         The continued debilitating of the Division of State Monuments within the Department of Cultural Affairs due to the loss of personnel, funding and the continued lack of leadership and capable management.

Please take action and contact your elected representatives as well as specific government officials and express your concerns!

Continue reading »]]> NMHPA’s 2012 annual preservation conference, commemorating New Mexico’s centennial, will be held at La Posada Hotel, in Santa Fe, May 3 – 5, 2012.

Save the date and watch this site for additional information as it becomes available. We will be calling for conference presentation proposals soon.

Please note that our new email address is: information@nmheritage.org

Continue reading »]]> Hello everyone! This is our new website for the NMHPA. We should have most of the original content from our old site up soon. We also intend to add some new features and have a more interactive approach.

We can’t wait to get it fully running and look forward to working together to preserve the amazing historical places in this beautiful state.

Please contact us at information@nmheritage.org for more information.

Thanks, Vicky Jacobson, NMHPA President