Our National Heritage
National Forests in the so-called “desert” state of New Mexico cover more than 8.5 million acres, about 11 per cent of the state’s area. National Monuments and Carlsbad Caverns National Park only extend over about 430 square miles but cover ten of New Mexico’s most scenic areas that are of national geologic, archeologic, and historic interest. These are our national heritage, set aside by the federal government for the perpetual equal use of all Americans.
The forests cap the higher ranges of the state, except on windblown peaks that extend above the timberline. They provide protection for the watersheds that feed New Mexico’s rivers, supply about 125 million board feet of cut timber each year, and yield forage for more than 150,000 cattle and sheep. Picnic nooks and camp grounds are plentiful, fish abound in the rushing mountain streams, and big game awaits the hunter throughout the forest lands. The primitive virgin wilderness is preserved in its natural state, accessible only by pack trip, in the Gila Wilderness area of the Diablo and Mogollon mountains north of Silver City and the Pecos Wilderness area east of Santa Fe in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Incomparable Carlsbad Caverns is in the state’s only National Park. National Monuments include the glistening gypsum dunes of White Sands, the volcanic cone of Capulin Mountain, the prehistoric ruins of Chaco Canyon, Aztec Ruins, Bandelier, and Gila Cliff Dwellings, the Spanish ruins at Gran Quivira, Inscription Rock at El Morro, and the crumbling walls of old Fort Union. In the near future, Valle Grande may be added to the National Park System and will include Valle Caldera, one of the world’s largest volcanic calderas, a mountainous jumble with cool streams, thick coniferous forests, and lush high meadows.