New Mexico

New Mexico’s peaceful and diverse landscapes are steeped in heritage thousands of years in the making 

The Land of Enchantment

Vibrant desert landscapes. Towering snowcapped mountains. Breathtaking national monuments. New Mexico’s peaceful and diverse landscapes are steeped in heritage thousands of years in the making, inspiring adventurers from across the country to descend upon this southwestern state. It’s no surprise New Mexico is known as “the land of enchantment.”

From the Sangre De Cristo Mountains to the Organ Mountains and everywhere in between, New Mexico’s geological evolution has created a colorful patchwork of mountains, valleys and basins with a biological diversity that has evolved over 700,000 years. The state ranks second in number of native mammal species (after California and not including marine mammals) and is dominated by five major ecosystems: Alpine-conifer, desert and basin, juniper-scrub, plains-mesa and riparian habitats.

But despite boasting some of the nation’s most majestic wildlands, New Mexico has less protected wilderness than any other western state. Only 2.5 percent of New Mexico’s total land area is protected as wilderness and 10.5 percent protected as tribal land, with an estimated five million additional roadless acres deserving of protection. Without it, this beautiful, colorful landscape is vulnerable to permanent destruction from oil and gas development, mining, commercial logging and other threats.

Protecting New Mexico through the Wilderness Land Trust

The Trust acquired a 57-acre piece of land long the Arroyo de los Frijoles in the Santa Fe National Forest through a legacy donation and is now working to transfer it to the public for permanent protection

Since 2004, the Trust has been purchasing properties from willing sellers and then transferring them over to public ownership to be incorporated into the surrounding wilderness. So far, we have protected nearly 5,000 acres, successfully removing private use threats in the Gila, Columbine Hondo, Organ Mountains and Sabinoso Wilderness Areas and the El Malpais National Conservation Area (NCA).

By systematically acquiring these properties, the Trust is stitching together the fabric of the wilderness one project at a time, until it’s completely free from the threat of private development.

We need your help 

The Trust is currently working to acquire properties in El Malpais National Monument.

Wilderness Land Trust Vice President and Senior Lands Specialist Aimee Rutledge with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on a site visit to the Sabinoso Wilderness

We are also in the process of transferring properties to the public in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peak National Monument, Arroyo de los Frijoles IRA, El Malpais NCA and the Sabinoso Wilderness.

Your generous contribution toward these efforts will help us continue our critical work to protect New Mexico’s breathtaking landscapes, preserving this land of enchantment for us, our families and future generations.

For more information, contact:

Brad Borst, President at 206-842-1214 (o) | 206-397-5240 (c) | brad@wildernesslandtrust.org

Aimee Rutledge, Vice President and Senior Lands Specialist at 415-606-5895 (c) | Aimee@wildernesslandtrust.org

Recently Completed New Mexico Projects