CLF News

SANTA FE — The community-led campaign to protect one of the most ecologically rich and culturally significant landscapes in the Southwest today released a multi-media collection of stories and a virtual field trip as part of the effort to connect the broader public with Tribal representatives and others closely connected to the special landscape of the Caja del Rio Plateau.

Located just a few miles outside of Santa Fe, the Caja del Rio Plateau holds deep historical value and continues to remain of vital importance to the Pueblo people of the middle Rio Grande. The Caja StoryMap brings some of this important history and connection to life.

“The Caja del Rio Plateau is culturally significant both to the Pueblo people who live here today and whose ties date back to time immemorial as well as to the people from traditional Hispano communities, who remain connected to the land and rely on its many resources to sustain traditional ways of life,” said Romir Lahiri, associate program director based in Albuquerque for Conservation Lands Foundation.

“Their stories and the environmental significance of the Caja are important for the broader public to know and will hopefully inspire overwhelming support to protect this special landscape,” Lahiri said.

The Caja del Rio Plateau also is part of a critical wildlife migration corridor along the Upper Rio Grande from New Mexico to Colorado, supporting animal mobility and providing vital habitats for a diverse range of plants and many endangered and sensitive species of mammals, reptiles and birds.

“Everyone is encouraged to take a virtual field trip through the Caja and then add their name in support of protecting it at https://www.protectcajadelrio.com,” Lahiri said.

The Caja StoryMap was produced by Conservation Lands Foundation with support from New Mexico Wild and the Caja del Rio Coalition.

About Conservation Lands Foundation

Conservation Lands Foundation leads the only national movement of grassroots advocates to protect, restore and expand National Conservation Lands. CLF is headquartered in Durango, Colorado with field offices throughout the West and in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit conservationlands.org.