Friday, Mar 16, 2018 2:17 PMUpdated Friday, Mar. 16, 2018 11:11 PM
Money helps maintain and improve historic site
Members of the Mesa Verde Helitack team practice procedures at the Old Fort Lewis land near Hesperus during summer 2016. Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed a bill making it easier for FLC to tap into funds generated at the historic campus, which should make it easier to pay for upkeep and improvements at the original site of the school.
Durango Herald file
A helicopter carrying members of the Mesa Verde Helitack team soars above Hesperus during training. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.
As team members work from the ground, a helicopter soars above Hesperus during training. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.
A helicopter carries a member of the Mesa Verde Helitack team during a training flight conducted from the old campus of Fort Lewis College in Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Members of the Mesa Verde Helitack team watch as a crew member is lifted skyward by a helicopter during training conducted out of the old campus of Fort Lewis College in Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Mike Spink, Mesa Verde Helitack program manager, watches team members work on the ground below during a training flight conducted from the old campus of Fort Lewis College in Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
A trainee with the Mesa Verde Helitack team is lifted by a helicopter during training conducted from the old campus of Fort Lewis College in Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Mike Spink, Mesa Verde Helitack program manager, checks ropes prior to training flights. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
A trainee with the Mesa Verde Helitack team waits to be lifted skyward by a helicopter during training conducted from the old campus of Fort Lewis College in Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
As Mesa Verde Helitack team members work from the ground, a helicopter soars above Hesperus carrying other members of the team during training. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Mike Spink, Mesa Verde Helitack program manager, watches from a helicopter as team members work on the ground below during training flights conducted from the old campus of Fort Lewis College in Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Members of the Mesa Verde Helitack team practice procedures before taking to the air for training flights conducted from the old campus of Fort Lewis College in Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
A trainee with the Mesa Verde Helitack team is carried by a helicopter during training conducted from the old campus of Fort Lewis College in Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
A trainee with the Mesa Verde Helitack team is carried by a helicopter during training conducted from the old campus of Fort Lewis College in Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Brian Reilly, right, a helicopter pilot for Hillsboro Aviation, readies a helicopter along with Mike Spink, Mesa Verde Helitack program manager, left, prior to training flights from Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Krystal Reddy, right, checks the equipment of Brock Ottenbacher before Mesa Verde Helitack training flights conducted from Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald.
Krystal Reddy, right, speaks with Brock Ottenbacher during Mesa Verde Helitack team training flights conducted from Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Mike Spink, Mesa Verde Helitack program manager, second from the right, discusses the mission for the Mesa Verde Helitack team before training flights conducted from the old campus of Fort Lewis College in Hesperus. Photo by Shaun Stanley/Durango Herald
Fort Lewis College will have greater access to funds generated by the Old Fort Lewis land near Hesperus after Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill freeing up use of the money.
Previously, law required the college to be granted permission, an appropriation, from the Legislature before it could use funds for upkeep and improvements on the historic site.
Some money is generated by the Old Fort through leases and permits to use the land, and that money goes into an account called the Hesperus Account.
Coram
“To me, it’s amazing it hadn’t been done sooner,” said Sen. Don Coram, R-Montrose. “You had to go through an appropriation every time you wanted to use the fund. The whole thing was a total waste of time.”
Coram said the measure faced virtually no opposition.
In 1911, the state accepted what is today the Old Fort Lewis land near Hesperus, and it agreed to maintain the land as an institution of learning. Though Fort Lewis College eventually moved to Durango, the Old Fort land has remained an educational, cultural and historical resource.
Today, Fort Lewis College manages the Old Fort Lewis land in partnership with the Colorado State Land Board. The land has become a center for Fort Lewis College’s sustainable agriculture initiatives, including farmer-in-training programs and the Old Fort Market Garden Incubator.
College classes are held at the Old Fort, and the area is a resource for research. External agencies, such as the Mesa Verde Helitack and the Fort Lewis Mesa Fire Protection Department, use the land as well.
Over the last century, use, time and the elements have taken their toll on the land and its structures. As a result, repairs and restorations are needed to continue the Old Fort’s educational mission and preserve its historical and cultural heritage.
Hickenlooper signed HB 18-1048 into law on March 7.
McLachlan
The bill, which was sponsored by state Rep. Barbara McLachlan, D-Durango, and Coram would eliminate the need for an appropriation to tap the Hesperus Account funds.
McLachlan also said the bill faced almost no opposition.
The new law allows continuous appropriation of the money, which would help with the maintenance of the Old Fort Lewis land.
Thomas
“Old Fort Lewis is an important educational resource and holds the powerful history of Fort Lewis College and the peoples of the Southwest,” said FLC President Dene Thomas. “I’m grateful to Rep. McLachlan and Sen. Coram for helping us to keep the Old Fort as the institution of learning it was designated as more than a century ago and giving us the opportunity to expand its value and service to the Four Corners region.”
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to our policies
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
