The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. It is the headwaters of the Rio Grande. It contains 6 counties and portions of 3 others. The San Luis Valley was ceded to the United States by Mexico following the Mexican–American War. Hispanic settlers began moving north and settling in the valley after the United States made a treaty with the Utes and established a fort. Prior to the Mexican war the Spanish and Mexican governments had reserved the valley to the Utes, their allies. During the 19th century Anglo settlers settled in the valley and engaged in mining, ranching, and irrigated agriculture. Today the valley has a diverse Anglo and Hispanic population.
Alamosa is a city under Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 8,780 at the 2010 United States Census. The city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado, and is the home of Adams State University.
Conejos County is one of the 64 counties of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,256. The county seat is the unincorporated community of Conejos.
Alamosa County is one of the 64 counties of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,445. The county seat is Alamosa. The county name is the Spanish language word for a "grove of cottonwood trees."
La Jara is a statutory town in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. The population was 818 at the 2010 United States Census.
The Town of Manassa is the Statutory Town that is the most populous municipality in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 991 at the 2010 United States Census.
The Town of San Luis is a statutory town that is the county seat and the most populous town of Costilla County, Colorado, United States. Formerly known as San Luis de la Culebra, San Luis is the oldest continuously occupied town in Colorado. The population was 629 at the 2010 census.
The Conejos River is a tributary of the Rio Grande, approximately 92.5 miles (148.9 km) long, in south-central Colorado in the United States. It drains a scenic area of the eastern San Juan Mountains west of the San Luis Valley.
The Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge is an 11,169-acre (4,520 ha) United States National Wildlife Refuge located in southern Colorado. The site is located in the San Luis Valley along the east side of the Rio Grande approximately 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Alamosa primarily in southeastern Alamosa County, although very small parts extend into northeastern Conejos and western Costilla counties. It is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service jointly with the Baca and Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuges. It was established in 1962 as a haven for migratory birds and other wildlife.
State Highway 15 in the U.S. state of Colorado is a north–south, then east–west, state highway in the San Luis Valley region of Southern Colorado. It connects the two towns of Monte Vista and La Jara. There is a gap in the route.
Rio Grande National Forest is a 1.86 million-acre (7,530 km²) U.S. National Forest located in southwestern Colorado. The forest encompasses the San Luis Valley, which is the world's largest agricultural alpine valley, as well as one of the world's largest high deserts located around mountains. The Rio Grande river rises in the forest, and the Continental Divide runs along most of its western border. The forest lies in parts of nine counties. In descending order of land area within the forest they are Saguache, Mineral, Conejos, Rio Grande, Hinsdale, San Juan, Alamosa, Archuleta, and Custer counties. Forest headquarters are currently located in Monte Vista, Colorado, but will move to Del Norte as early as February of 2020. There are local ranger district offices in Del Norte, La Jara, and Saguache.
Conejos is a census-designated place, a U.S. Post Office, and the county seat of Conejos County, Colorado, United States. Conejos has the distinction of being the only unincorporated county seat in the state of Colorado. As of the 2010 Census, the CDP had a population of 58. The community is located in the San Luis Valley.
San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center (SLVRMC) is an acute care hospital located in the San Luis Valley in Alamosa, Colorado. It serves southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.
State Highway 371 (SH 371) is a Colorado state highway in Alamosa and Conejos counties. SH 371's southern terminus is at SH 15 west of La Jara, and the northern terminus is at SH 368 east of Estrella.
News Media Corporation (NMC) is a newspaper corporation that was founded in 1975 by John C. Tompkins. It publishes 65 different newspaper titles in eight states across the United States. Currently, it operates in smaller cities and towns with populations between 5,000 and 50,000. In 2012, NMC created a new strategic business unit called News Media Digital, which is responsible for the organization's digital marketing and advertising ventures.
The San Luis Valley Conservation Area is a proposed "landscape scale" National Conservation Area in south-central Colorado and far northern New Mexico which would be administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
The Blanca Wetlands Area of Critical Environmental Concern, or Blanca Wildlife Habitat Area, is an area of the San Luis Valley in Colorado, United States, that serves as a refuge for birds, fish and other wildlife. It is about 11 miles (18 km) northeast of Alamosa on County Road 25. The wetlands had been completely destroyed by pumping and diversion of water for irrigation. Starting in 1965 the Bureau of Land Management began to restore them, and they have become an increasingly important ecological habitat for shorebirds, waterbirds and other wildlife and native plants.
McIntire Ranch, in Conejos County, Colorado near Sanford, Colorado, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The listing included the remains of ranch buildings on a 14.2 acres (5.7 ha) area.
Colorado's 35th Senate district is one of 35 districts in the Colorado Senate. It has been represented by Republican Larry Crowder since 2013.
