The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking the assistance of principal investigator(s) for a project to complete a Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI) of the Colony Mill Road in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI), California. The Colony Mill Road represents the first access road to the Giant Forest. The road was originally constructed by the Kaweah Co-operative Colony from 1886 to 1889 in an effort to create an equal, utopian society of men and women as a logging community within the Giant Forest. When Sequoia National Park was established in 1890, its boundary included the terminus of this road that accessed the Giant Forest. Then the Kaweah Colony’s claims to the land were canceled and the road became property of the U.S. Government. Substantial road improvements were made in 1903 by the Buffalo Soldiers, under the command of Col. Charles Young, allowing many more tourists to access the park. Work on a new park road and entrance from Three Rivers, CA was opened to the public in 1926, and Colony Mill Road no longer represented the primary access point to the park. This historic 15-mile road represents a unique period of pre-park and early park development that is lacking documentation and is not yet listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Cultural Landscapes Inventory (CLI) is an evaluated inventory of all landscapes in the National Park Service system that have historical significance and are listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, or otherwise managed as cultural resources through a public planning process and in which the NPS has or plans to acquire any legal interest. The CLI identifies and documents each landscape’s location, size, physical development, landscape characteristics, character-defining features, condition, impacts, as well as other valuable information useful to park management.
Funding Source: National Park Service
Funding Amount: $80,125
Deadline: April 18, 2025, 8:00 PM ET
For more information see the Request for Interest