B. Travis Wright MPS

B. Travis Wright, MPS—known as Travis—is a Colorado historian who knows historic preservation rises or falls on the decisions communities make. His work centers on Rollins Pass and the Moffat Tunnel, where the past is still visible, but never guaranteed. When policy choices, development pressure, or neglect threaten these places—especially public lands and irreplaceable cultural landscapes—he brings evidence into the public process to defend what cannot be replaced.

Wright combines the historian’s record with modern field documentation and technology. His approach is straightforward: if you can’t document it, you can’t defend it. He pairs archival research with rigorous field evidence to bring proof into the rooms where preservation outcomes are shaped, translating complex land use and review systems into informed, actionable public engagement.

An FAA Part 107–certified drone pilot and DronePro Representative with the FAA Safety Team, Wright uses aerial photography and cinematography to support informed stewardship through safe, responsible operations—making threatened places visible not only to historians, but also to the public and those responsible for land use outcomes. His imagery has been featured in broadcast television and regional and international documentaries, including collaborative work connected to Colorado Preservation, Inc.’s Endangered Places Program.

As Chair of the Gilpin County Historic Preservation Commission, Wright advises the Board of County Commissioners on historic properties, preservation policy, and land use decisions with cultural and architectural significance. Unanimously appointed and later reappointed by the Board, he evaluates projects for historical integrity, interprets local ordinance alongside state and federal preservation criteria, and helps resolve conflicts involving landmark designations, stay-of-demolition reviews, and preservation planning. In that role, he has drafted, defended, and secured formal landmark designations and helped protect historic structures—even in cases involving demolition pressure from multibillion-dollar corporations—by building practical, defensible solutions that uphold preservation values while addressing owner concerns.

Wright also serves as President of the Grand County Historical Association (GCHA), providing strategic leadership for a nonprofit that operates multiple museums, stewards archival collections, and advances public understanding of Grand County’s history—from Indigenous presence and pioneer settlement to railroads, recreation, and modern transformation. Since 2019, he has worked to expand preservation impact, strengthen partnerships, modernize public engagement, and represent the organization in public forums and Section 106 reviews. In select cases, he submits formal Section 106 consulting-party comments on behalf of the Grand County Historical Association, reflecting board direction, under the National Historic Preservation Act.

He is co-founder of Preserve Rollins Pass, a long-term initiative dedicated to protecting one of Colorado’s most threatened historic and prehistoric landscapes. Over the past 15 years, Wright has authored two books on the region, mobilized a targeted public response that stopped a billion-dollar federal land exchange, and partnered with archaeologists, tribal leaders, land managers, and subject matter experts to advocate for preservation outcomes. These efforts have helped keep public lands in public hands while strengthening the long-term integrity of one of Colorado’s most historically layered corridors. In 2022, he received a State Honor Award from Colorado Preservation, Inc. for preservation leadership and for defending public lands and cultural resources on Rollins Pass, presented in partnership with historic preservation legend Dana Crawford.

Wright’s Rollins Pass work is recognized across Colorado’s preservation community and strengthened by hands-on field documentation. He contributed to a U.S. Forest Service Passport in Time project on the pass (2016), received an Archaeology and Historic Preservation Award in Boulder County presented by the Boulder Heritage Roundtable (2018), and was named Partner of the Year by Headwaters Trails Alliance (2023) for planning and logistics on its largest boots-on-the-ground Rollins Pass project—including strategic placement of more than 860 feet of buck-and-rail fencing to protect fragile alpine tundra and guide sustainable trail use. His fieldwork also includes discovering and documenting the oldest known human-made artifact identified on the pass—now held at Colorado State University for the public trust.

A keynote speaker across Colorado, Wright has been featured in evening news coverage, documentaries, podcasts, and print journalism related to Rollins Pass, the Moffat Tunnel, and preservation strategy. His presentations draw from a deep, continuously updated library of more than 2,500 custom slides, tailored to place, audience, and purpose. That work is supported by one of the largest private collections of Rollins Pass and Moffat Tunnel imagery, including nearly 50TB of present-day audio, video, and photographic documentation. He is a dual-degree graduate of the University of Denver, where he graduated summa cum laude and later earned his master’s degree with a concentration in alternative dispute resolution—experience that shapes how he handles conflict: anticipating objections early, bringing hard concerns into the open before they escalate, and guiding groups toward durable decisions they can defend.

When applicants and project proponents want to move fast, they don’t always welcome the checklist—or someone reading the fine print. Wright holds to the standards, because process isn’t red tape when it’s the last protection a historic place has.

He lives in the mountains of Colorado—near Rollins Pass, naturally—with his wife, Kate.

© B. Travis Wright, MPS | Updated: January 16, 2026