President’s Message

Urgent: AZ SHPO Funding Crisis Threatens Protection of Cultural Resources on Public Lands

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Jim McPherson, Vice President, Phoenix

On behalf of the Alliance Board of Directors, I am reaching out to the Alliance’s partners, members and
friends regarding an urgent situation that directly threatens the mission that the Alliance has championed since 1992 – protecting, preserving, and enhancing Arizona’s historic, cultural, and natural heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), which manages significant portions of the State Parks Heritage Fund and numerous other heritage-related programs, is facing imminent closure by August 2025 due to a severe funding crisis.

Crisis Directly Impacts Alliance Mission

This situation strikes at the core of the Alliance’s founding purpose and goals:

  • Protecting the Integrity of the Heritage Fund: Without SHPO to administer the preservation components of the State Parks Heritage Fund, these resources would effectively be frozen or redirected, undermining the voter intent that the Alliance has worked to protect for over 30 years.
  • Sustainable Funding for Heritage Programs: SHPO’s crisis exemplifies exactly what the Alliance has fought against – the vulnerability of heritage programs without dedicated, sustainable funding sources. SHPO operates with 87% federal funding and only minimal state support, creating the precarious situation we now face.
  • Public Education About Heritage Benefits: The potential loss of SHPO would severely impact public awareness and appreciation of Arizona’s historic resources, directly countering the Alliance’s goal of educating Arizonans about the benefits of our cultural heritage.

The Funding Crisis

SHPO operates with just 12 full-time employees, supported primarily by federal Historic Preservation Fund grants (approximately $1.1 million annually). The situation has become critical due to:

  • No dedicated line item in the State FY2026 Budget for SHPO operations
  • Delays in the disbursement of 2025 federal grant reimbursements
  • Proposed federal budget cuts that threaten future funding

Since 2009, SHPO has met its required 40% state match through in-kind volunteer hours from the Site Steward Program rather than direct state funding. This arrangement, while cost-effective, has left SHPO exceptionally vulnerable to federal funding disruptions.

Heritage Programs at Risk

If SHPO ceases operations, numerous programs that align with the Alliance’s mission would be severely impacted:

  • Historic preservation grants to communities across Arizona
  • Technical assistance for heritage tourism initiatives
  • Support for the adaptive reuse of historic buildings
  • Documentation and protection of archaeological resources
  • The Site Steward Program’s 500+ volunteers who monitor archaeological sites

Additionally, SHPO’s role in reviewing development projects would be eliminated, forcing Arizona projects to consult directly with federal authorities in Washington, D.C. – adding months of delays to critical infrastructure projects while potentially reducing protection for heritage resources.

The Alliance’s Unique Position to Help

As the organization specifically dedicated to protecting the integrity and voter intent of the Heritage Fund, the Alliance is uniquely positioned to lead on this issue. Our bipartisan composition and focused mission make your advocacy particularly powerful.

Your support is urgently needed to:

  • Advocate for emergency gap funding to sustain SHPO through the remainder of FY2025
  • Support the establishment of a dedicated SHPO line item in the FY2026 state budget
  • Mobilize your network to highlight the importance of SHPO’s functions to legislators
  • Frame this crisis as a direct threat to the Heritage Fund’s voter intent and effectiveness

While this challenge originates at the federal level and affects SHPOs nationwide, Arizona is particularly vulnerable due to minimal direct state financial support. The Alliance’s 30-year commitment to sustainable heritage funding makes you the ideal voice to address this structural vulnerability.

Your leadership on this issue would be invaluable in preserving the heritage protection infrastructure that Arizonans have consistently supported. Thank you for your consideration and your continued dedication to Arizona’s historic, cultural, and natural heritage.

Jim McPherson, President
Arizona Heritage Alliance
azheritage.org
mail@azheritage.org

Restore Full Funding for the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund in 2023!

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Arizona’s local, regional, and state parks and recreation facilities are economic development generators that encourage the spending of tourist dollars, attract businesses whose workforce choose jobs in locations with quality of life benefits, strengthen community cohesion, and increase property values. Historic preservation initiatives in our rural communities and urban areas promote economic development by creating jobs, revitalizing historic areas, increasing property values, and promoting heritage tourism.

The Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund served Arizona well from 1991 to 2008 and again, starting in 2021, with its support for parks, historic preservation, non-motorized trails, and outdoor and environmental education. It is the goal of the Arizona Heritage Alliance to encourage state officials to restore full funding for the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund in 2023. During the fiscal year 2021 and 2022 grant cycles, the demand has exceeded expectations, so full funding is essential.

Help us achieve our goal!

* CHICK HERE  to add your name to the list of Arizonans who care deeply about our state’s natural, cultural, and historic resources and encourage full funding for the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund through its original funding source, the Arizona Lottery.

* CONTACT your newly-elected legislators asking them to support the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund in the next legislative session. Since the election results are still coming in (as of 11-13-22), contact information for new legislators has yet to be finalized. To find your legislator, visit: https://www.azleg.gov/findmylegislator/

* FOLLOW the Alliance’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/azheritage

* INVITE the Alliance to make a presentation at an organization you represent. Drop us a note at mail@azheritage.org 

With graditude, thank you for your continuing support.

Arizona Heritage Alliance Board of Directors

Information for 2022 Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund

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Thank you for supporting the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund.  On June 28, 2022, the Governor signed the 2022/2023 Budget which included an one-time appropriation of $2.5 million to fund the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund.  Please feel free to email or call us at 602,738.8381 if you have any questions or need more information.

2021 Heritage Fund Report

2022 Heritage Fund Fact Sheet

Support Flyer – Vote Yes on SB1270

List of 2021/2022 ASP Heritage Fund grant awards (as of 6.29.2022)

2021/2022 Estimated Totals of ASP Heritage Fund and ARAP grant awards (as of 6.29.2022)

Arizona Heritage Alliance Email blast – 2022 Legislative Session is Open

Alert:  SB1270 is on AZ Senate Appropriations Committee 2.1.2022 Agenda 

Live Webinar on Background of the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund.

Letter to the Editor by AHA Board Member Natalya Brown – Phoenix Independent

Letter to the Editor by AHA Board Member Natalya Brown – Daily Independent

Letter to the Editor by AHA Board Member Steve Farley – Tucson Daily Star

Guest Column by AHA President Russ Jones  – Yuma Sun

Letter to the Editor by AHA Board Member Bryan Martyn – Daily Independent

Colorado College released the results from their 2022 Conservation in the West Poll. It’s chalk full of resources that you could incorporate into your discussions with decision-makers and communications materials on the benefits of public lands spaces to Arizonans, Here’s a few resources to highlight:

Alert:  SB1270 is on the AZ House Land, Argiculture and Rural Affairs Committee 3.14.2022 Agenda

February 2022 Poll – Arizona Statewide Issues – Prepared for the State Innovation Exchange by TargetSmart

Alert:  SB1270 Still Needs Your Support to Restore the ASP Heritage Fund in the Lottery

FY 2023 Executive Arizona State Parks Budget Handout

 

Funding Restored for Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund 

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On June 30, 2021 Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed the state budget for Fiscal Year 2022 , including $5 million to fund the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund.  

The State Parks Heritage Fund was restored in the 2019 legislative session via Senate Bill 1241, sponsored by then Senator Kate Brophy McGee of Phoenix, but without dedicated funding until 2029 when Arizona Lottery funds would be utilized. This session, Senator T.J. Shope of Coolidge and Representative Joanne Osborne of Goodyear introduced bills, Senate Bill 1384 and House Bill 2127respectively, that gained strong bipartisan support in both chambers. Through the budget negotiation process, the final outcome was $5 million. 

 Through a matching grant process to be developed by the Arizona State Parks Board in consultation with staff of Arizona State Parks & Trails and the State Historic Preservation Office, the monies in the State Parks Heritage Fund will be allocated as follows: 

  • 50% on local, regional, and state parks for outdoor recreation and open space development, restoration, or renovation, 
  • 30% on local, regional, and state historic preservation projects, 
  • 10% on local, regional, and state non-motorized trails, and 
  • 10% on outdoor and environmental education 

LEADERS RESPOND 

Representative Joanne Osborne, who also sponsored a bill in 2019 to support the State Parks Heritage Fund, noted, “My family came to Arizona in the late 1800’s. Our state’s history can be found in so many places and needs to be preserved for future generations. Arizona is a unique and special place from its glorious lands to incredible places. Let’s keep the West alive and our Arizona Way. It was an honor to carry the bill to advocate for funding for the State Parks Heritage Fund.” 

According to Senator T.J. Shope, “After 11 years, our state’s executive and legislative branches finally came together to fund the State Parks Heritage Fund to maintain and upgrade the growing number of parks, trails, and historic preservation projects that have languished or are newly-proposed in every municipality, county, and tribal area in our state. I’m excited to see what projects start coming out of the ground to enhance the communities in which they’re located.” 

Russ Jones, former state representative from Yuma and current board president of the Arizona Heritage Alliance, a long-time advocacy organization for both the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund and Arizona Game and Fish Heritage Fund, noted that, “Communities may have the opportunity to double their impact by using State Parks Heritage Fund grant dollars to draw down a match from the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).” The LWCF is one of the nation’s most important conservation programs, responsible for protecting parks, wildlife refuges, and recreation areas at the federal, state, and local levels. 

Janice Miano, past president and former executive director of the Alliance, noted, “The Arizona Heritage Alliance never gave up advocating for the restoration of the State Parks Heritage Fund. We just kept at it year-after-year to honor the legacy of long-serving board members who passed away during the funding hiatus – Brian Pinney, Beth Woodin, and Tom Woods – and to benefit future generations of Arizona residents and visitors.” 

ARIZONANS SUPPORT OUR NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES 

The importance of Arizona’s local, regional, and state parks, trails, and open spaces became more evident as elected officials, businesses, and residents worked to overcome the social and economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Public parks and open spaces provided Arizonans the space for socially distanced recreation and respite during these challenging times. In a recent study conducted by the National Parks and Recreation Association, three in five U.S. residents – more than 190 million people – visited a park, trail, public open space, or other recreation facility at least once during the first three months of the pandemic (mid-March through mid-June 2020). 

A 2020 survey by Gallup and the Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) finds widespread agreement among Arizonans on a broad range of policy objectives for the next decade, including the environment. Arizonans overwhelmingly appreciate the state’s natural beauty, with 91% rating it as “excellent” or “good.” A similarly high proportion (92%) say it is important for the state to “preserve and protect its rivers, natural areas, and wildlife,” one of the highest levels of consensus seen in the Gallup Arizona survey. 

According to Samantha Coffmann, executive director of the Arizona Parks and Recreation Association, “The work of the Arizona Heritage Alliance has been significant for our state’s parks, trails, open space, and cultural sites. Protecting funding for grants made available through the Heritage Fund is vital to Arizona’s quality of life and the overall economy. Monies received have positively impacted our state over the last 27 years. The Arizona Parks and Recreation Association and our members greatly appreciate the years-long effort the Alliance board has put into advocating for permanent authorization of funding for this key program.” 

ABOUT THE ARIZONA HERITAGE ALLIANCE 

If you hike, boat, ride, hunt, fish, watch wildlife, visit a park, or tour historic sites, then Arizona’s Heritage Fund affects your life. The Arizona Heritage Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created in 1992 to protect Arizona’s Heritage Fund and its objectives. The Alliance is guided by a Board of Directors drawn from a broad base of outdoor sports, environmental conservation, and historic preservation groups that helped pass the 1990 statewide voter initiative creating the Heritage Fund. 

The Alliance’s mission is to preserve and enhance Arizona’s historic, cultural, and natural heritage. It accomplishes its mission by actively: 

  • Protecting the integrity and voter intent of the Arizona Game and Fish Heritage Fund and working to restore funding for the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund, 
  • Monitoring state legislative and agency activity, 
  • Pursuing sustainable and dedicated funding sources for Arizona’s historic, cultural and natural initiatives, programs, and activities, and 
  • Educating people of Arizona about the benefits of Arizona’s wildlife, open space, parks, and historic and cultural resources