The Southwest United States is a landscape of enchantment. From the high mountains, forests, and deserts in the Rio Grande Headwaters of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, the landscape follows the Rio Grande south along the New Mexico Highland Wildlands. In the southern reaches of New Mexico, along the U.S. – Mexico border, remnant, native Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands provide one of the last tracts of ecologically unique black grama grassland. West from the Rio Grande, the landscape rises to the Colorado Plateau centered on the Four Corner’s states and south of the Plateau, to the biologically rich Sky Islands of southwest New Mexico and southeast Arizona.

Water defines this place, giving rise to the common phrase “agua es vida” – “water is life.” So does the land’s intense history, arcing back thousands of years, and providing a shared narrative for Native, Hispanic, Anglo, and, indeed, all American peoples.  Although the threats to this landscape’s natural and cultural heritage are immense, dedicated communities and organizations provide inspiration, hope, and a voice for conservation.