March 19, 2021 – The Sangre de Cristo Mountains within the Columbine-Hondo Wilderness in New Mexico are 20 million years old, yet they are one of the youngest mountain ranges on earth.

The Wilderness Land Trust’s Columbine Hondo property

Designated in 2014, the Columbine-Hondo Wilderness contains the headwaters of the Rio Hondo and Red River, both major tributaries of the upper Rio Grande. While our Commodore Lode property that leads into this wilderness may only be 20 acres in size, we helped protect the larger watershed within the 44,372-acre wilderness when we purchased it in 2019.

We are pleased to announce we have transferred our Commodore Lode property over to public ownership as part of the national forest directly adjacent the designated wilderness. This single project adds to our history of success protecting designated wilderness in New Mexico since 2004, including the Gila, Columbine Hondo and Sabinoso Wilderness Areas, as well as the El Malpais National Conservation Area.

Thank you for providing the vital funding to support our work. From our perspective, the Trust couldn’t protect our nation’s treasured wilderness areas without your generous support.

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