How ATF Operates

The role of the ATF is to work in close cooperation with the NPS to promote the mission of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. To that end, the ATF has a formal agreement with the NPS to provide “donation assistance and support for trail project and program needs; promote the protection, understanding, and appreciation of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail; and support projects and programs that will enhance the visitor experience or improve and protect natural and cultural resources along the trail.”

To accomplish this support role, the ATF frequently partners with other federal land management agencies and non-profit organizations. Many of these agencies administer lands crossed by the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail and share a common goal of resource protection and promotion. The ATF does not employ any staff and is strictly run by a volunteer board. Governmental, private, and tribal partnerships are essential to helping the ATF reach its goals.

Photo Credit: National Park Service

2021 National Trails System Intern Grant

PARTNERSHIP ORGANIZATION(S): 
Anza Trail Foundation
San Diego State University
San Diego State University, Borderlands Institute
Imperial Valley Desert Museum
National Park Service, Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail

FUNDING SOURCE(S):
Partnership for the National Trails System

FUNDING AMOUNT:
$10,000

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The goals for the National Trails System Internship are to plan and produce new content for the website known as Web de Anza. Of special importance will be documents, images, maps, and commentary that help to place the Anza expeditions in a broader historical context. A second focus will be new content related to the impact of the Anza expeditions on indigenous peoples along the trail, starting with the Quechan, the Native American group closest to San Diego State University, Imperial Valley.

ATF ROLE IN PROJECT:
The ATF is the grant recipient for this project, working in direct partnership with Dr. Carlos Herrera of San Diego State University to both oversee the project internship and to ensure that project goals are met. One of the missions of the ATF is to provide up-to-date and accurate information about the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail and to facilitate access to this information by diverse constituents. By providing online access to primary source documents related to Juan Bautista de Anza’s two 18th century expeditions, the website known as Web de Anza is one of the most important tools for accomplishing this mission and has therefore been supported by the Anza Trail.

2020 National Trails System Intern Grant

PARTNERSHIP ORGANIZATION(S): 
Anza Trail Foundation
Anderson & Associates
San Diego State University, Imperial Valley

FUNDING SOURCE(S):
Partnership for the National Trails System

FUNDING AMOUNT:
$10,000

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The goal for the 2020 PNTS Internship Project was to produce a detailed specification sheet, design plans, and webpage mock-ups for a new, robust, and sustainable version of Web de Anza. These plans were then used to recreate the website within a state-of-the-art content management system (Drupal). The new version of Web de Anza maintains the desired content, features, and functionality of the existing website, but also provides the 21st century features and functions important to participating partners and stakeholders. Funds were used to hire an intern to work as web-designer and web-developer in collaboration with the project’s database programmer to create this new version of Web de Anza and prepare it for transfer to the Borderlands Institute at San Diego State University, Imperial Valley.

ATF ROLE IN PROJECT:
Under the supervision of ATF Grant Manager Richard Rojas, the Anza Trail Foundation served as fiscal agent for this project. The mission of the Anza Trail Foundation (ATF) is to provide up-to-date and accurate information about the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail and to facilitate access to this information by diverse constituents. The 2020 PNTS Internship program advanced the conversion and migration of Web de Anza to its new host site at San Diego State University, Imperial Valley. For the ATF, this is progress toward ensuring website sustainability as well as providing increased access to and visibility of the website’s important online resources by scholars, students, descendants, and groups along the trail.

2019 Anza Trail Cultural History Park

PARTNERSHIP ORGANIZATION(S): 
Anza Society, Inc.
National Park Service
Pima County
Arizona State School for the Deaf and the Blind
Anza Trail Foundation
Others

FUNDING SOURCE(S):
National Park Foundation
National Park Service
Anza Trail Foundation
Pima County
Union Pacific Foundation
Anza Society, Inc.
Others

FUNDING AMOUNT:
$121,000+

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The goal for the Anza Trail Cultural History Park Project was to create an urban cultural history park in Tucson, AZ, that provided accessibility to all, including individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind. The park is a student-designed, collaborative project that resulted in the creation of a physically accessible trail, outdoor classroom space, and interactive art and cultural exhibits. The multilingual park uses English, Spanish, O’odham, Braille, and American Sign Language. Interactive exhibits, art installations, and native plant landscaping can be experienced through touch, sight, and sound. Students and faculty from the Arizona State School for the Deaf and the Blind, located adjacent to the park, served on the design team and provided substantial contributions to the design and testing of the space and exhibits.

ATF ROLE IN PROJECT:
The ATF served as the fiscal agent for the National Park Foundation, National Park Service, and ATF grants, which provided significant funding for the project. As the fiscal agent, the ATF worked with project partners to ensure that grant funds were expended as required throughout the 3-year planning and construction process. In addition, ATF provided fundraising support, including soliciting individual donations and assisting with writing four other grants, resulting in grants totaling $35,000.

2014 Anza Colonist Project, Phase 1

PARTNERSHIP ORGANIZATION(S): 
Anza Trail Foundation
Anderson & Associates

FUNDING SOURCE(S):
U.S. Bureau of Land Management

FUNDING AMOUNT:
$20,000

TIMELINE:
September 1, 2014 – September 1, 2017

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The goal for Phase 1 of the Anza Colonists Project was to develop and test a digital portal linked to Web de Anza that would provide users with easy access to online resources relevant to the study of individual Anza colonists and their descendants. The Anza Colonists Project portal was designed to provide users with a one-stop access to the following online resources: (a) existing databases such as the Early California Population Project at the Huntington Library; (b) collections of ebooks such as Google books and the Internet Archive; and (c) digital libraries of primary source documents and images such as the California Historical Society Digital Library. In addition, funds were used to create a model for an instructional video designed to teach users how to access and locate relevant information on individual Anza colonists. Phase 1 funding from the BLM provided project planning funding; unfortunately, two follow-up grant proposals to bring the full project to fruition were not awarded funding.

ATF ROLE IN PROJECT:
Under the supervision of ATF President Richard Rojas, the Anza Trail Foundation served as the fiscal agent and grant manager for the project, working in collaboration with Dr. Lynne Anderson of Anderson & Associates and Bill Gibson of the Bureau of Land Management. The ATF has been a key partner to the Web de Anza Project for more than a decade and has invested in maintaining and improving its online presence. The ATF views Web de Anza as one of its most important tools for interpreting the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail because it provides access to primary source documents, images, maps, and other resources related to the Anza expeditions.

Partners

The Anza Trail Foundation (ATF) plays a significant role in supporting the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. While the Anza Trail has many federal, state, tribal, county, local government, and non-profit partners, the ATF is the only partner that financially supports the NPS-administered trail through a fundraising agreement established in 2010. This important partnership helps to fund interpretive and educational projects and support historical research. The mission of the ATF is accomplished with the help of the following partners: