Historic Preservation

B. Travis Wright, MPS has a passion for history and is an active advocate for historic preservation throughout Colorado.

B. Travis Wright, MPS is “an extraordinary champion of the entire Rollins Pass region.”

“East Portal Cabins—history didn’t end when the tunnel opened,” The Mountain Ear (page 17)—June 8, 2023

STATE HONOR AWARD

B. Travis Wright, MPS, is a 2022 Colorado Preservation Inc. State Honor Award recipient for his advocacy of Rollins Pass.

The Colorado Preservation, Inc. board unanimously voted to award B. Travis Wright, MPS, with a State Honor Award at the 2022 Dana Crawford Awards “for the incredible work you have done over the years for Rollins Pass.” Colorado Preservation, Inc.’s annual Dana Crawford & State Honor Awards honors individuals, organizations, public agencies, and businesses from across the state, whose work demonstrates excellence in historic preservation.

“It was immediately apparent not just how much passion Travis had for Rollins Pass but also how much knowledge he had about its history, about its cultural importance, but also about how historic preservation worked.”
—Colorado State Archaeologist and the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer at History Colorado

PARTNER OF THE YEAR AWARD (2023), HEADWATERS TRAILS ALLIANCE

“The Rollins Pass project was by far, our biggest boots on the ground project of the season. We built 860-feet of buck and rail [fencing] up on Rollins and we couldn’t have done it without these two people [Travis and Kate Wright]. We partnered with them to do all the planning, get all the logistics for where we were going to place the fence, and Travis [delivered the keynote address] at our Trails Symposium in September.” —Sean Burke, Field Manager at Headwaters Trails Alliance, November 10, 2023

REGIONAL COUNCIL, COLORADO’S MOST ENDANGERED PLACES PROGRAM

The Regional Council works with organizations to identify threatened historic resources, provides advice for competitive EPP nominations, assists individual preservation projects on a limited basis, builds partnerships at the local and regional level, publicizes and shares successful project efforts with other EPP sites, and otherwise assists the director with program implementation.

GILPIN COUNTY

Travis is a preservation commissioner and Vice Chair of the Gilpin County Historic Preservation Commission.

Advocate for the preservation of historic structures throughout Gilpin County, appointed unanimously by the Board of County Commissioners. Negotiate and resolve conflicts during public meetings to ensure preservation issues, programs, policies, landmark designations, and stay-of-demolition reviews adhere to criteria defined by county ordinance and set by the National Historic Preservation Act and Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Archaeology and Historic Preservation.

KEY ACHIEVEMENT:

Saved multiple historic structures and established county landmarks by strategizing innovative resolutions with property owners requesting demolition permits, including multibillion-dollar corporations.

“[Travis has] outstanding qualifications and will be [an] excellent addition[] to the commission.”
—Gilpin County Historic Preservation Commission

GRAND COUNTY

Travis is President of the Board of Directors of the Grand County Historical Association.

Drive preservation of history, artifacts, and buildings in Grand County through the use of technology, advocacy, commercial aerial photography, board member recruitment, partnerships with Colorado State University Extension internships, grant writing, and fundraising efforts. Lead as board of governance with strategic oversight of operations and budgets of 4 museums, including $500-600K endowment fund.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:

Implemented county-wide master plan to define vision and framework for future growth and physical development of 4 campuses, securing competitive and non-competitive grants including $67K grant recently received from State Historical Fund.
Guided historical association, its museums, staff, and board members through multiple crises in 2020 including revenue loss due to COVID-19 and multiple wildfires that threatened structures/artifacts.

BOULDER COUNTY

For the 2018 publication, Rollins Pass, both Kate and Travis received a 2018 Archaeology and Historic Preservation Award for contributions to local history and historic preservation in Boulder County given by the Boulder Heritage Roundtable and Historic Boulder.

“Historic preservation is a conversation with the past about our future.” —National Park Service

The primary purpose of our work is to inform the public.