The Conservation Fund has helped protect 65,000 acres of critical wildlife habitat in the Navajo River watershed. Composed of privately held ranches, the watershed is the last place grizzly bears were spotted in Colorado.

The Navajo River watershed is one of the wildest and most pristine landscapes we have ever protected in Colorado. Its majestic natural beauty is on par with that of national parks such as Yosemite or Yellowstone. After many decades of conservation, the watershed provides a much-needed sanctuary for diverse wildlife species and will bring ongoing water-quality and economic benefits to the surrounding area.

Our Role

Thirty years ago, TCF set out to permanently protect 65,000 acres of private ranch lands in the Navajo River watershed — preserving one of the most important wildlife migration corridors for mule deer and elk in the Rocky Mountain region.

Three decades later, the final phase of this project is complete. A conservation easement on the 16,700-acre Banded Peak Ranch safeguarded the last unprotected property in the upper Navajo River watershed. The easement was made possible by a $7-million investment from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program, which is funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

In total, this decades-long effort in the Navajo River watershed has garnered national support and $37 million from federal, state and private partners, including charitable foundations, Great Outdoors Colorado, and the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s Forest Legacy Program.

Why It Matters

By safeguarding the Navajo River watershed from development and fragmentation, we were able to secure a critical wildlife corridor for endangered and threatened species, preserve the magnificent views afforded by popular hiking areas and connect a largely undisturbed and beautifully wild forest landscape. The protection of this essential watershed provides water resources to Colorado and New Mexico communities downstream and supports water quality and quantity to the San Juan and Colorado Rivers, which are called upon to meet enormous demands in the face of a changing climate.

Wildlife

Most of the wildlife species found along southern Colorado’s Continental Divide inhabit a series of protected ranches that encompass the Navajo River watershed. Elk, black bears, mountain lions, peregrine falcons, bald eagles, bighorn sheep and many other species thrive in the area. Federally threatened Canada lynx also live on these properties. The streams on Banded Peak Ranch support the recovery of the San Juan subspecies of Colorado cutthroat trout, which was presumed extinct for 100 years until it was rediscovered on the ranch in 2018. Grizzly bears were present in this remote wilderness area until the late 1970s. In fact, the watershed is the last place that this iconic and threatened species was seen in Colorado.

Water Quality

The watershed provides critically important benefits for downstream users in Colorado and New Mexico, supplying irrigation and drinking water for more than a million people in New Mexico, including 90 percent of Albuquerque’s surface water supply. Protecting the Banded Peak Ranch safeguards 33 miles of streams on the property, including a five-mile stretch of the Navajo River, along with 850 acres of riparian and wetland habitat.

Economic Impact

While the public won’t be able to recreate on these privately owned properties, the protected land will help enhance the viewshed at various adjacent public lands, supporting Colorado’s robust recreational economy. The protected ranches are almost completely surrounded by 3.75 million acres of popular recreation land, including the South San Juan Wilderness, San Juan National Forest, Rio Grande National Forest and the Continental Divide Trail, which runs along part of the ranchlands for 10 miles.

While under the protection of conservation easements, the ranches will continue to support the community and economy. For example, Banded Peak Ranch hosts a premier deer and elk hunting program that provides stimulus to the regional economy, while carefully managed timber operations support regional wood processing mills.