Titled, "Saving Places 2003: Preserving Western Heritage," the conference will be held at the Denver Athletic Club, 1325 Glenarm Place.On Feb. 7, an educational session will describe how historicpreservationists and environmental conservationists are teaming up to save Colorado's agricultural heritage. Speakers will include Jackie Powell and Gary Higgins of Central Colorado Preservation Partners Inc., of Salida, CO, and Winnie DelliQuadri and Laureen Schaffer of Historic Routt County.

"Colorado was shaped by ranching and farming," says Ann Pritzlaff,CPI's Conference Coordinator. "Unless we work together, we are in danger of losing our agricultural heritage. This session gives communities a blueprint for partnerships."

CPI's conference is the largest statewide historic preservation event inthe nation. The 2003 conference explores the challenges, opportunities and benefits of preserving Western heritage, presenting more than 50 general sessions, educational seminars and workshops, tours, receptions and the only regional trade show of preservation goods, services and products in the Rocky Mountains.

The opening reception and the first annual Governor's Award for Historic Preservation, hosted by the Colorado Historical Society and the State Historical Fund, will be held at the Colorado History Museum on Feb. 6. Main Street Finalists and Colorado's Most EndangeredPlaces List for 2003 will be announced at a special luncheon at the Denver Athletic Club on Feb. 7. Colorado Preservation Inc.'s Endangered Places Program has supported the efforts of communities and individuals to preserve more than 40 historic and cultural buildings, landscapes and streetscapes throughout Colorado since 1997.Conference speakers include U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO); Congresswoman Diana DeGette, Congressman Mark Udall; architect Peter Dominick, FAIA, of Urban Design Group; Patricia Limerick from the Center for the American West; Karen Wade of the National Park Service; Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation; John L. Nau, appointed by PresidentGeorge W. Bush as Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; and other nationally renowned architects, historians, archeologists and preservationists.