History Colorado seeks permission to sell two donated mineral rights; committee advances bill to whole

Senator Hendrickson described House Bill 1304 as narrowly authorizing History Colorado to sell two deeded mineral rights that were intended by donors to benefit the agency’s preservation work, and he emphasized the bill applies only to those specific rights.

Chris Creighton, CFO of History Colorado, said the rights were donated by Eleanor Bain and that the agency does not manage mineral rights as an ongoing function. Creighton said the agency hired a consultant, concluded selling the two rights now is the best option, and expects to use proceeds to retrofit a north storage facility to better preserve a collection the agency described as about 15,000,000 artifacts.

With no witnesses in opposition, the committee approved a motion to send the bill to the committee on the whole with a favorable recommendation and asked that it be placed on the consent calendar.