Until the 1990s, open space preservation was not the highest priority in Santa Fe County, possibly because one third of the County is owned by federal and state agencies. But inevitably, an increasing number of people were drawn to Santa Fe’s spectacular scenery, diverse culture and year-around recreational opportunities. As developments sprang up, people began losing access to lands and trails that had traditionally been available for public use. County voters responded by overwhelmingly approving a $12-million bond to begin protecting the best remaining open space areas. After only one decade, Santa Fe County is demonstrating not only strong commitment to open space protection but also a unique approach to preservation that protects cultural and historic sites as well as critical natural areas. In recognition, the Trust for Public Land and the National Association of Counties selected Santa Fe County to receive a Leadership in Conservation Award in 2006.

The Santa Fe County Open Space and Trails Program aims to preserve land with historic and cultural as well as environmental significance, like this mesa decorated with petroglyphs.

After passing the first open space bond in 1998, the voters of Santa Fe County followed up by approving an $8-million conservation bond in 2000, a 0.25-percent gross receipts tax partly for open space protection in 2002 and another $3.5-million parks bond in 2008. To date, the Open Space and Trails Program has acquired over 4,600 acres in 19 properties.

Cerrillos Hills Historic Park, one of the first acquisitions of the Open Space and Trails Program, provides a good example of how Santa Fe County aims to combine the preservation of its cultural and natural heritage. As the County’s Open Land and Trails Plan puts it: “Throughout New Mexico’s history, how people live their lives, earn a living and make decisions about land, water and community help define the many landscape layers that transform physical spaces into meaningful places.” In Cerrillos Hills Park, visitors can learn about the several centuries of miners that shaped this place from the Rio Grande Pueblo potters in the 1300s who dug for lead and turquoise to those who flocked here in the late 1800s, staking over 1,000 mining claims and turning the adjacent village of Cerrillos into a short-lived boomtown.

The federal government contributes over 310,000 acres of open space to Santa Fe County. Of this total, almost 240,000 acres lie within the Santa Fe National Forest, including parts of the Santa Fe Mountains and Pecos Wilderness, home to turkey, elk and bighorn sheep. Santa Fe County also contains a 1,480-acre section of Bandelier National Monument where visitors who don’t mind climbing ladders can view petroglyphs, ancient cave dwellings and ruins of the Ancestral Pueblo village of Tsankawi. The federal Bureau of Land Management controls another 62,390 acres in Santa Fe County, including the 4,500-acre La Cienega Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), which includes rock art from the 14th century and a portion of the historic El Camino Real as well as springs and wetlands within the Santa Fe River Canyon. In 2007, the Trust for Public Land (TPL) facilitated the expansion of this ACEC as part of a plan to ultimately link public open space in this historically and environmentally-rich area.

In another demonstration of public-private cooperation, TPL and Santa Fe County teamed up to preserve a pasture that serves as the backdrop for the Santuario de Chimayo, 25 miles north of the City of Santa Fe. This small adobe chapel was built between 1813 and 1816 and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visited by 300,000 people a year, it is famously known as the “Lourdes of America” for the pilgrimages undertaken by those who believe in the healing power of dirt from the chapel’s el pocito, or “little well”. The owners of the pasture were tempted to sell this prominent, scenic site to developers. But ultimately, they sold the property to TPL and Santa Fe County for preservation as grazing land, as a historic setting for the Santuario and as a segment in the County’s future trail system. As a result, this single project is accomplishing the County’s vision of preserving a combination of natural, historical and cultural resources.