Carrizo Valley Ranch

Read their feature story on land management practices

Carrizo Valley Ranch is located just north of Capitan on the eastern flanks of the Jicarilla Mountains in south-central New Mexico. Decades of watershed restoration, fire management and careful rotational grazing have returned this ranch to a sustainable mix of native grass and woody plants supporting wildlife and range animals.

The property is a working cattle ranch with large areas of rangeland and summer pasture. It provides habitat for elk and mule deer, as well as pronghorn antelope, black bears, bald and golden eagles, bobcats and wild turkeys.

For more than a half century Sid Goodloe and his family have engaged in efforts to understand and rehabilitate watersheds and grasslands using controlled burning, rotational grazing, and other techniques. Mr. Goodloe lends his expertise to a number of organizations (including NMLC) who work in the areas of working land conservation and restoration. He has served as an international livestock consultant in Australia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Brazil and other countries.

In 2011, the Carrizo Valley Ranch easement was transferred to NMLC from the Southern Rockies Agricultural Land Trust (SRALT), which was established by Sid and Cheryl Goodloe in 1999.

Over more than a decade the Goodloes worked to preserve farm and ranchland in New Mexico, helping to place over 13,000 acres under easement. In 2011, the Goodloes and SRALT’s Board of Directors decided to insure the future of the SRALT easements by transferring them to NMLC. NMLC is dedicated to carrying on SRALT’s work to “uphold the concept of private ownership and management resulting in sustainability of family operated ranches and farms.”