Pritzlaff Ranch
San Ignacio, New Mexico
Demonstrating Better Land Management
The Biophilia Foundation has invested in restoring the Pritzlaff Ranch facilities, including the beautiful Pueblo frescos painted in the 1940’s by Ma Pe Wi. Habitat and forestry restorations on the Ranch include riparian and stream restoration, and over 800 acres of forest thinning followed by prescribed burning.
These habitat restorations and enhancements were made possible with the help of our funding and technical partners: Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage; The Natural Resource Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency of USDA; and the New Mexico EM & Natural Resources/Forestry Division.
The Ranch serves as an exceptional resource for the education and training of private citizens, public school students and teachers, university students, local landowners and business managers, and professional forest workers on topics of conservation and sustainable management of forests and watersheds.
The Ranch has become a model area for rehabilitation and management practices to restore natural processes (e.g., fire, erosion, nutrient cycling, etc.) to their natural range of variability prior to European influence.
Toward this end, the foundation has formed numerous collaborations and partnerships, including the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute at New Mexico Highlands University. These collaborations and partnerships support a variety of programs that are actively researching and addressing resource issues facing the forests and watersheds of northern New Mexico and the southwest.
Take a Virtual Tour
The New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute completed a Virtual Forest Tour at Pritzlaff Ranch. The tour takes participants through three different forest management demonstrations areas at the ranch.
While the overarching goals of managing the forest to reduce the severity of forest fire, increase climate resilience and improve biodiversity were the same in each of the three demonstration areas, each area had a more specific goal including developing a remnant-based patch, a patch designed to enhance habitat for the Northern Goshawk and a genetics patch. You can take the tour here.
The Biophilia Foundation advances biodiversity conservation on private lands by fostering systemic change through people, their communities, and direct action.
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