SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO
State buys 11,000 acres for new wildlife area
Former Mimbres Valley ranch to preserve habitat for fish and game
Published
Modified
An 11,000-acre property adjacent to the Gila National Forest will encompass a new wildlife management area, after the state purchased it with funds appropriated by the state Legislature.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham鈥檚 office announced the acquisition last week in tandem with the state Department of Wildlife, formerly known as the Department of Game and Fish.
The property is a former ranch in the Mimbres Valley northeast of Silver City and includes approximately two miles of the Mimbres River. The Department of Wildlife said it purchased the land at its appraised value of nearly $23 million from the nonprofit Trust for Public Land.
In an interview, Jim Petterson, TPL鈥檚 vice president for the Mountain West region, said the parcel comprises 鈥渃lassic New Mexico landscape鈥� with a biologically significant river.
鈥淚t鈥檚 got endemic fish in the river that are really important,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he ranch borders the national forest on three sides. It鈥檚 also adjacent to a Nature Conservancy-owned Mimbres River Preserve. 鈥� Lots of really great riparian habitat along the river waterways. It鈥檚 really important for certain species of birds, including some threatened and endangered species. It鈥檚 got a little bit of everything.鈥�
Lujan Grisham said in a statement that the Mimbres Ranch Wildlife Management Area will eventually be open for outdoor recreation, offering 鈥渕ore places for New Mexico families to hunt, fish, and get outside 鈥� for generations to come.鈥�
Kirk Patten, chief of the department鈥檚 Fisheries Management Division, said the area will create a protected habitat for the Rio Grande sucker 鈥� listed as an endangered species in Colorado but not federally, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 鈥� and the Chihuahua chub, listed as a threatened species.
鈥淏oth these fish are native to the Mimbres drainage, and this acquisition will ensure they continue to thrive there for years to come,鈥� Patten stated in a news release.
The area also provides connected habitat for elk and deer, wild turkey, mountain lions, bears and more, the department said.
鈥淓verything we do is about connecting people to the outdoors,鈥� Petterson said of the Trust for Public Land, which worked on the exchange with the state for about a year. 鈥淲e typically do that by helping identify and create the places that people use to get outside. 鈥 think this is going to be a terrific place for New Mexicans to get out 鈥� for those that are hunters to have a new place to hunt, and for everyone else, a place to get outside, move around outdoors and get to experience nature.鈥�
Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.
