In late June, tribal leaders and New Mexican officials celebrated Indigenous peoples鈥� access to a new swath of public land, a 54,000-acre addition to the Marquez Wildlife Area that was previously private.
鈥淲hen we restore people鈥檚 connection to land, we restore their oral history; we restore their identity for future generations,鈥� said Theresa Pasqual, the director of Pueblo of Acoma鈥檚 historic preservation office. 鈥淲e restore their cultural connection to the landscape that hadn鈥檛 seen their footprints in generations.鈥�
The landscape is a mixture of juniper forests, the remains of volcanic cones and a dirt road snaking through it all 鈥� Pasqual鈥檚 ancestral land.
She is one of many stakeholders praising the state's purchase of the property known as L Bar Ranch.
The vast grasslands that transition to red mesas and ponderosa pines are the traditional homelands of the pueblos of Acoma, Laguna and Zuni, as well as the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation and others.
The land is religiously significant to as many as 30 tribes, according to a about the acquisition. It sits near Mount Taylor, significant to several Indigenous creation and migration stories.
This conservation deal was brokered by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, which has some 96 active projects around the Mountain West. It calls the L Bar Ranch deal 鈥渁 once-in-a-generation win,鈥� creating New Mexico's largest state-owned recreation property.
Jim Pettersen, who leads TPL's work in the Mountain West and Southwest, says the size of the acquisition is 鈥渧ery uncommon鈥� for the region and one of the biggest public land acquisitions in the U.S. this year. TPL also is involved in an upcoming transfer of 50 acres for Zion National Park to the National Park Service, and the acquisition of about 19,200 acres to create a Fishers Peak State Park in southern Colorado.
For Martin Kowemy, the governor of the Pueblo of Laguna, access to the L Bar Ranch lands is about the survival of Indigenous culture.
鈥淚t is important that our future 鈥� our kids, the ones that are not here yet 鈥� are able to enjoy the natural beauty of this place,鈥� Kowemy said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 the most important thing 鈥� that we need to provide for them, save for them.鈥�
While enjoying the view in a rocking chair at the ranch鈥檚 lodge set atop a mesa, he mused about the cultural knowledge that could be passed on to Laguna youth.
鈥淲hat are the medicines around here? What did we use? How did we use it? How did we cultivate? There鈥檚 just so many things, even just to hunt [and] skin,鈥� he said.
It鈥檚 not only Indigenous leaders celebrating the deal. A hodgepodge of New Mexico lawmakers, environmental advocates, state agencies and private funders advocated for the $34 million purchase.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM, is excited that the new addition connects winter and summer habitat for a variety of animals.
鈥淚f you look at where the other public land is out here, the national forest, this kind of wraps around all this, and the wildlife in particular, need access to all of that,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you developed this, it would really make things hard on the elk herd out here.鈥�
Stewart Liley of the state Department of Game and Fish says they鈥檙e planning a lot of grassland habitat restoration for elk foraging in the winter. He says they also want to restore the pronghorn population and conserve at-risk migratory birds.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 so unique about this, again, it鈥檚 unfragmented 鈥� from grassland to montane meadows to the top of Mount Taylor,鈥� Liley said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the last big unfragmented habitats that鈥檚 now intact.
Liley says the department expects to open the property up for hunting next year.
鈥淥ur goal is 鈥� because it鈥檚 now our largest wildlife management area in the state 鈥� is to really make it a showcase, and really have it be a robust wildlife management area,鈥� he said.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, 九色网 in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the .
