Tucson Valley Ranch

Tucson Valley Ranch contains extensive grassland, savanna, pinon-juniper woodland, and some conifer stands. The ranch provides valuable habitat for elk, pronghorn, black bear, mule deer, mountain lion, and other species including an array of raptors. It also provides open space with rich scenic vistas across a functioning ranch landscape, buffering public lands in the Capitan Mountain Wilderness and Patos Mountains.

The property is operated primarily as a cattle ranch. The landowners have used controlled burning, rotational grazing, and other techniques to restore health to the property.

The Tucson Valley Ranch easement was transferred to NMLC from the Southern Rockies Agricultural Land Trust (SRALT) in 2011.

SRALT was established by Sid and Cheryl Goodloe in 1999. Over more than a decade they 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.”