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Taos County outlines Cultural Treasures Project to map local cultural and outdoor assets
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Summary
County staff briefed the joint meeting on a community‑driven Cultural Treasures Project funded in part by an Economic Recovery Corps fellowship and county American Rescue Plan funds; the project aims to create a public GIS/story map and policy recommendations tied to destination stewardship.
Jessica Stern (Taos County staff working in economic development) introduced the Cultural Treasures Project to the joint county‑town meeting, describing a multi‑phase effort to map tangible and intangible cultural and outdoor assets, engage hundreds of residents, and create a publicly accessible GIS story map and policy recommendations.
Stern said the project will collect participatory mapping data and oral histories and aim to produce policy guidance for stewardship‑oriented economic development. “We plan to engage hundreds and hundreds of community members across the county to collect their stories, to understand what is of value to them,” she said.
The project is funded in part through an Economic Recovery Corps (ERC) fellowship. Stern said Taos County was the only New Mexico community selected as an ERC host; the fellowship contribution has a stated value of $225,000. Stern said the county had contributed about $213,000 in cash to the project so far and had also received support from the Lohr Foundation, Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area and discretionary council funds for initial visibility and signage.
Stern described a work plan with community engagement in 2025 and data analysis, mapping and policy recommendations in 2026. She said project partners include the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (participatory cultural mapping methodology), the Earth Data Analysis Center at UNM (ArcGIS mapping) and Gizmo Productions (communications and graphics). An advisory group of 17 county residents and representatives will help lead outreach and will receive honoraria.
Stern underscored an urgency: the ERC program is under federal review and could lose funding, which would create a capacity gap because the fellowship currently provides key staffing. She asked the town council to consider partnering on funding in the FY26 budget and noted a pending NEA grant decision.
Why it matters: county officials and councilors said the study could inform land use, heritage preservation and tourism planning while centering local stewardship and equitable distribution of economic benefits. Examples Stern cited from other places included linkages between asset mapping and policy or bond outcomes (Santa Monica, Austin, York County) when communities used mapped cultural assets to create policy responses.
County and town officials asked about timeline, current funding status and contingency plans if federal fellowship support is lost. Stern said the project leadership estimates the project is roughly a third complete on the work plan, with $250,000 in cash raised to date (including the county’s contribution) and a target budget near $650,000 excluding the in‑kind fellowship value. She asked elected officials to consider additional discretionary or FY26 budget support to ensure continuity if ERC funds are curtailed.
Quote available from the meeting: “We cannot safeguard that which we cannot identify,” Stern told the joint session, characterizing the mapping exercise as the foundation for stewarded, locally led economic development.
