The Conservancy has owned and operated Bear Mountain Lodge for the past eight years. Our Work Continues While we are sorry to end the Bear Mountain Lodge program, we are excited about our burgeoning conservation projects – from our expanding preserves to our new statewide Living Rivers program. Learn more about where we work.

The past year has been a period of exceptional conservation achievements for The Nature Conservancy in New Mexico.

In partnership with the New Mexico Game and Fish Department, we expanded both our Gila Riparian Preserve and the Rio Nutria Preserve. And in January, we purchased the 9,160-acre Johnson Ranch, located adjacent to our Milnesand Prairie Preserve in southeastern New Mexico. The Milnesand Preserve now contains more than 27,000 acres of some of the best remaining habitat for the Lesser Prairie Chicken.

Our scientists continue their groundbreaking work in identifying strategies to help nature and people adapt to climate change. And, the regeneration and restoration of our Santa Fe Canyon Preserve has been stunning, aided greatly by the efforts of a newly-established colony of ambitious beavers.

At the same time, The Nature Conservancy, like most non-profits, businesses and families, is adjusting to economic conditions not seen in more than a generation. We are responding by scrutinizing our budget, reducing expenses wherever possible and directing our resources toward our highest priority conservation projects. Unfortunately, these changes have and will continue to affect some Conservancy projects, preserves and staff all over the world.

Here in New Mexico, we are focused on projects that will have the most lasting conservation outcomes for the benefit of New Mexicans now and well into the future.

This process has helped lead us to the difficult conclusion that we can no longer continue to sustainably operate our Bear Mountain Lodge facility located in Silver City. And so, we are sorry to announce that Bear Mountain Lodge closed operations on October 5, 2009.

Those who visited the lodge over the past eight years experienced the ambiance of the facilities and witnessed the dedication of our staff. We are grateful to the extraordinary people who managed the lodge and whose efforts made it a welcoming and stimulating haven. And, we are appreciative of all of the gracious comments and support from our members who visited the lodge and enjoyed its amenities. 

Through our programs at Bear Mountain we have learned many valuable lessons, met many new friends and benefitted from many new supporters. However, while we put forth our best efforts, in recent years it became more and more apparent that running a nature lodging facility is simply not core to our mission and was a net drain on our resources. Our organization is designed and staffed to develop the best science and to design and implement collaborative, large-scale conservation projects. And we have learned that, especially in these times of limited resources, it is crucial for us to maintain a keen focus on our organizational mission to insure that we are using our limited resources to accomplish long-lasting conservation outcomes.

In light of this, we are moving forward with a plan to place the lodge on the market. Prior to the sale or transfer of the lodge, development restrictions will be in place preserving  as much of the open space as possible. Proceeds from the transfer or sale will be utilized to support the expansion and stewardship of our preserves.

While we are sorry to end this program, we are excited about our burgeoning conservation projects – from our expanding preserves to our new statewide Living Rivers program.  We are committed to utilizing our precious resources to achieve the greatest conservation results possible now and for future generations.  

If your travel plans have been impacted by this difficult decision please accept our apologies.  Full refunds will be processed and we have taken steps to contact those affected.

Thank you again for your support of The Nature Conservancy! 

Best regards,

 

Terry Sullivan, State Director
tsullivan@tnc.org

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © TNC (Bear Mountain Lodge).