The Santa Cruz River in Sonora, Mexico. Photo © Jonathan Mabry

The vision of a National Heritage Area designation for the Santa Cruz Valley in southern Arizona is gaining momentum due to a convergence of local efforts to conserve natural resources and open spaces; to preserve historic structures and archaeological sites; to educate the public about the history and cultures of this region; to increase national recognition of the region; to develop heritage tourism and bring other economic benefits to local communities; and to improve cultural ties across the U.S.-Mexico border. This document summarizes why such a designation is appropriate, needed, and timely.

The Santa Cruz Valley connecting Arizona and Sonora in the southwestern U.S./northwestern Mexico region has been an important borderlands corridor and homeland for millennia. Maize agriculture spread northward through this valley 4,000 years ago. The early farming culture that flourished in the valley for the next two millennia developed the earliest pottery, canals, and villages in western North America. Later in prehistory, the valley was a boundary between the Hohokam culture spreading southward from the Phoenix Basin and the Trincheras culture centered in northern Sonora. When the first Spanish colonists and Jesuit missionaries arrived in the late 17th century they found numerous villages of the Sobaipuri Pima (O'odham) Indians along the riverbanks. Over the next 150 years the Spanish and then the Mexicans established cattle ranches, farms, mines, missions, and presidios (forts) on this northern frontier, and with their O'odham allies defended them from constant Apache attacks. In 1775, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza led a group of soldiers and colonists through the valley before bearing westward to reach California and establish a settlement at San Francisco. Late 19th-century Anglo ranchers also braved the Apaches to develop a ranching industry in the valley.

Today, standing historic structures (some still in use), adobe ruins, and archaeological sites line the Santa Cruz Valley on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. At the headwaters of the Santa Cruz River in Arizona, the San Rafael Ranch State Park includes an early 20th century ranch house and remains of earlier Anglo and Mexican ranches. Preserved in the upper valley in Sonora are the remains of prehistoric and historic Indian villages, Spanish colonial missions and a presidio, and early Mexican ranches. In the upper valley on the Arizona side, the ruins of Spanish period missions and a presidio are showcased at Tumacacori National Historical Park and Tubac Presidio State Historic Park. The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail is marked with interpretive signs at several locations. In the middle valley near Tucson are Pima County's historic Canoa Ranch; the Tohono O'odham Nation's late-18th-century church at San Xavier, a National Historic Landmark considered to be the finest standing example of Spanish colonial architecture in the U.S.; the City of Tucson's new archaeological park at the prehistoric Julian Wash village site; and the San Agustín Mission and Garden and northeast corner of the Tucson Presidio, all to be rebuilt as the main features of the Tucson Origins Park by the City of Tucson's Rio Nuevo project. In the Arizona portions of the valley, many historic buildings are currently on the National and State Registers of Historic Places, and other buildings and archaeological sites are on Pima County's list of Priority Cultural Resources. Along major tributaries are buildings of the 19th-century Empire Ranch in the Cienega Valley, and the ruins of the Spanish-period mission of Sonoitac and Fort Buchanan and Fort Crittenden along Sonoita Creek.

In addition to these well-preserved cultural resources, the Santa Cruz Valley also contains several stretches of natural river flow; important riparian and grassland habitats; unfragmented wildlife migration corridors; and diverse plant and animal communities, including numerous endangered species. The river flows on the surface through much of the upper valley in the San Rafael Valley and Sonora, and its tributaries flow in the Sonoita and Cienega valleys, supporting many native and migratory species. On the Arizona side, grassland and desert habitats in the valley are preserved in the San Rafael Ranch State Park; the U.S. Forest Service's Santa Rita Experimental Range and Wildlife Area; Las Cienegas National Conservation Area; Saguaro National Park East and West, and the Tumamoc Hill National Landmark. Mountain habitats in the river's watershed are preserved in Pima County's Tucson Mountain Park and Tortolita Mountain Park; Catalina State Park; Saguaro National Park East and West; and Coronado National Forest. Biological core areas and open spaces in the valley have been identified as preservation priorities by Pima County's Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.

As well as ecological value, the valley's natural resources and open spaces also have aesthetic and recreational values which significantly contribute to southern Arizona's high quality if life. There are numerous rural roads, trails, and camping facilities open to the public. Fishing is popular in Patagonia Lake State Park and several lakes in Coronado National Forest. Valley residents and visitors enjoy many unobstructed views of scenic landscapes, clean air, and dark night skies full of stars.

The Santa Cruz Valley is also a working landscape occupied by a diverse population with cultural continuities extending far back in time. Native Americans with prehistoric roots continue to live and farm along the river in the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation; Mexicans and Mexican-Americans who trace their lineages back to the 18th century in this region continue to farm and ranch; Anglo ranching families in Arizona raise cattle on the same valley lands as their 19th-century ancestors; ejidos (farming and ranching cooperatives) established during the early 20th century in the Sonora reach of the valley have survived many modern economic upheavals.

Natural Heritage Area designations seek to preserve and celebrate America's defining landscapes and its cultural diversity and traditions, and also to stimulate economic growth in regions with strong ties between communities and landscapes. A National Heritage Area is typically a corridor or region that includes historic, cultural, natural, open space, recreational, and business resources that can be promoted together for the benefit of multiple stakeholders and objectives. For example, the growth of heritage tourism and eco-tourism as a result of designation simultaneously encourages preservation of significant cultural and natural landscapes and provides increased incomes and economic opportunities for local businesses.

With its density of important cultural and natural resources and diversity of communities with deep historical roots, the Santa Cruz Valley is an ideal region to be added to the 23 existing National Heritage Areas in the U.S., only one of which is in the West. Like these areas, it is a settled landscape that has shaped the traditions and cultural values of the peoples who have continuously occupied it, and which has itself been shaped and sustained by their use of the land. This will be the first National Heritage Area that commemorates Native American, Spanish colonial, and Mexican cultural connections between the U.S. and Mexico.

National Heritage Areas reach designation status through a local effort by a coalition of residents, businesses, nonprofit organizations, local governments, and legislative sponsors. These groups demonstrate support and participate in the planning.

First, a "Feasibility Study" is completed by the coalition with local funding and the guidance of the National Park Service. The study identifies:
1) why the area is of national importance, expressed in terms of a set of themes;
2) the natural and cultural resources which contribute to these themes and have adequate integrity to support interpretation;
3) the conceptual boundaries of the proposed area; and
4) the local constituencies that support the designation. The components of a Feasibility Study include analysis and documentation that show:

After completion of a Feasibility Study, federal legislators from the relevant districts sponsor a bill to designate the new National Heritage Area. Existing parks within the boundaries of the National Heritage Area are commonly included in the designation. Private lands remain in private hands (inclusion in a National Heritage Area does not involve federal regulation of private property). However, the long-term plan may include preservation of privately held resources and open spaces through voluntary land-management agreements.

After designation, with funding authorized by the Secretary of the Interior and further guidance from the National Park Service, the coalition develops a "Management Plan." The Management Plan identifies conservation, interpretation, education and other activities to be managed by a partnership among federal, state, and local governments and the private sector. The plan identifies a "management entity" such as a local government agency, nonprofit organization, or independent federal commission that will coordinate the partners' voluntary actions. In addition, the partnership role of the National Park Service is identified. The plan is approved by the Secretary of the Interior.

The National Park Service provides technical and financial assistance for a limited number of years after designation, up to $10 million over a period of 15 years. The financial assistance is in the form of 50-percent matching funds, so local financial support is also necessary. Each year, the management entity works with the National Park Service to identify projects that will be funded, and submits annual reports.

There is considerable flexibility in what the match funding can be used for. For example, it may be used for preparation and publication of visitors' guides, maps, and educational materials; installation of signage for scenic roads, historic places, and trails; construction of trails, road pullouts, and scenic overlooks; development of visitors' centers and museums; rehabilitation of historic buildings and districts; stabilization of historic ruins; investigation of archaeological sites; production of tours and festivals, etc. One of the few limitations is that the federal funding cannot be used for property acquisition.

Improved cultural and economic connections between the U.S. and Mexico are an additional opportunity provided by a National Heritage Area designation for the Santa Cruz Valley. Although the Heritage Area's official boundaries cannot cross the border, the identified themes of significance will also apply to resources in the Sonora portion of the valley. Also, the federal funding could potentially be used for tours; tourist guides; educational materials; traveling exhibits; interpretive signage; development of sites for heritage tourism; inventories and research of natural and cultural resources; and other programs and activities that will also benefit valley residents in Mexico. It is likely that these benefits will attract other programs and funding from both sides of the border. Increased recognition of the important resources in the valley in Sonora will enhance appreciation of their ecological and cultural values, and may eventually lead to a comparable designation as a heritage zone by the Mexican government or the World Heritage Sites program of the United Nations.

Now is a good time to begin working toward a National Heritage Area designation for this region because it coincides with several other efforts and trends in the region. A partial list includes:

Concurrently, rapidly growing urban areas in the valley are impacting water resources, wildlife, and archaeological sites, as well as the rural character of the region. The increased recognition of the ecological and cultural values of the valley's landscape gained by a National Heritage Area designation will help preserve these resources, maintain the historical ties between the landscape and local communities, enhance tourism, and improve cross-border connections.

Prepared by Jonathan Mabry, May 2003
Center for Desert Archaeology