To OSTA, stewardship means protecting the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, the lands and landscapes that comprise its route corridors, the archeological, historical, and natural resources within those corridors, and the recreational and inspirational values intended through its designation as part of the National Trails System. Every effort of OSTA aid and complement stewardship of the Trail through understanding, knowledge and education, however, the Association actively pursues involvement in protecting Trail lands, resources and values in a very direct fashion through its advocacy and activism.
Our stewardship program focuses on:
- Continual consultation on and encouragement of the proper federal legal administration of the OSNHT by the Department of the Interior and OSNHT Co-Administrators: The National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
- Direct involvement in the development of BLM and NPS Trail administration plans.
- Regular identification, consultation, and comment on proposed federal governed actions along the OSNHT to protect Trail lands, resources, and values, and as necessary, to mitigate any otherwise unavoidable degradation of Trail resources and values.
- Insistence upon all federal land agencies’ and managers’ compliance with National Trails System Act requirements, and agency specific regulations and policies related to the NTSA in all management actions; and compliance with all provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) as related to the OSNHT.
- Continued pursuit and recognition of the most well documented and historically feasible realignments of OSNHT routes, where warranted, to best protect the lands, resources and values of the OSNHT.
- Review proposed actions on state and local government lands, and private lands having potential adverse impacts on OSNHT lands, resources and values, and attempt to influence such actions to prevent, or mitigate, such adverse consequences.
- Identify, plan, and collaborate on negotiated acquisition of private lands, or interests in lands, along the OSNHT of significant historic, anthropological, or recreational value to the Trail, or facing adverse impacts due to potential development.