New Mexico's last free-flowing river.
The Gila Riparian Preserve New Mexico's last free-flowing river. © Erika Nortemann/The Nature Conservancy

Places We Protect

The Gila Riparian Preserve

New Mexico

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New Mexico's last free-flowing river.

ABOUT THE PRESERVE

The Gila Riparian Preserve protects more than 1,200 acres of the southwest's fragile riparian habitat and the verdant gallery woodland among the Gila River, the last of the southwest's major free-flowing rivers.

In 2009, the Conservancy added 40 acres of important riverside habitat to the Gila Riparian Preserve. The new stretch inserts an important piece to this project area, which includes the preserve and more than 250,000 acres collaboratively managed by the Conservancy, local landowners, federal and state agencies, and local organizations.

The Conservancy's long-term vision for the preserve is simple: let the river rediscover its natural floodplain and enable new cottonwoods and willows to spring up, providing habitat for neotropical migratory songbirds, especially the southwest willow flycatcher—a species whose population is in trouble. A host of other rare animal species also use the preserve's habitats.

PARTNERSHIPS

A portion of the preserve is owned by the Conservancy in conjunction with the State of New Mexico pursuant to the Natural Lands Protection Act. Further down the river, the Conservancy was instrumental in protecting 560 acres in the Gila Lower Box which is now managed by the Bureau of Land Management. 

The Lichty Ecological Research Center, located on the preserve, is a research hub designed to advance understanding of the Gila and Mimbres watersheds.

PLANTS AND ANIMALS

Bring your binoculars and keep an eye out for migratory neotropical songbirds.

The Gila River supports one of the highest concentrations of breeding birds in North America and an astonishing array of plant and animal life. In the river are found several fish, including the loach minnow and spikedace, which are federally listed as threatened. A host of other rare animal species also use the preserve's habitats.

The rugged Gila Wilderness is home to bobcat and cougar, as well as mule deer, white-tailed deer and pronghorn. Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and elk were both were reintroduced in the 1950s.

See some of the animals of Gila Riparian Preserve in our trail cam slideshow.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the Gila Riparian Preserve, please call the New Mexico Chapter at 505-988-3867. For more information regarding other activities, events and services in the Silver City area, visit The Silver Web.

Support Our Work at the Gila Riparian Preserve

We’re grateful for your enthusiastic support! The Gila River's future is uncertain, but you can help us protect its natural floodplain, riparian habitat and wildlife.

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Photo Essay

New Mexico: Gila Preserve Trail Cam Slideshow

Check out these trail camera photos from Gila Riparian Preserve.

A flowering Yucca plant frames the landscape of The Nature Conservancy's Mimbres Preserve located in southwestern New Mexico near Silver City.

Places We Protect

Mimbres Preserve

An irreplaceable riparian area in Southwestern New Mexico.

in New Mexico, part of the Malpai borderland area, from the high elevation of the Coronado National Forest.

Places We Protect

See More Places We Protect in New Mexico

The Nature Conservancy is working across New Mexico to protect wildlife, rivers, lakes, and wetlands for people and nature.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)
GOOD NEWS FOR BIRDS Annual Cliff-Gila Valley surveys showed large and stable populations of endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and threatened yellow-billed cuckoo. © Jim Williams
Led by Dr. Keith Geluso, University of Nebraska-Kearney students visited the preserve to learn about mammals in the Gila watershed including bats.
PLACE OF DISCOVERY People have lived along the Gila for centuries. A crew of archaeologists—including 15 college students—excavated a Salado site from the early 1300s at Gila River Farm. © Keith Geluso/The Nature Conservancy
Haying fields at Gila River Farm
FARM PARTNERSHIP To support the local economy and fund ongoing stewardship at our larger Gila Riparian Preserve, the Conservancy’s Martha Cooper, Southwest New Mexico field representative, works with an agricultural partner to hay fields each year at the Gila River Farm.  © The Nature Conservancy
Bat surveyed along Gila River
LIVING LABORATORY Led by Dr. Keith Geluso, University of Nebraska-Kearney students visited the preserve to learn about mammals in the Gila watershed, including bats.  © Martha Cooper/The Nature Conservancy
Upper Gila ditch gate
MODEL EXAMPLE Conservancy staff enrolled water rights in an Upper Gila ditch conservation plan this year, demonstrating one tool for keeping water in the river during periods of low flows.   © Martha Cooper/The Nature Conservancy
Mountain lion via preserve trail motion sensor camera
HOME FOR MANY A great diversity of people and animals call the river and floodplain home, including this mountain lion seen by our preserve’s motion sensor cameras. © Keith Geluso/The Nature Conservancy
protects more than 1,200 acres of the Southwest’s fragile riparian habitat and the verdant gallery woodland along the Gila River in New Mexico.
THE GILA RIVER New Mexico's last free-flowing river. © Erika Nortemann/The Nature Conservancy
× Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)
× Led by Dr. Keith Geluso, University of Nebraska-Kearney students visited the preserve to learn about mammals in the Gila watershed including bats.
× Haying fields at Gila River Farm
× Bat surveyed along Gila River
× Upper Gila ditch gate
× Mountain lion via preserve trail motion sensor camera
× protects more than 1,200 acres of the Southwest’s fragile riparian habitat and the verdant gallery woodland along the Gila River in New Mexico.