The Cibola National Forest (pronounced SEE-bo-lah) is a 1,633,783 acre (6,611.7 km2)
United States National Forest
In the United States, national forest is a classification of protected and managed federal lands. National forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned collectively by the American people through the federal government, and managed by ...
in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
, USA. The name Cibola is thought to be the original
Zuni Indian name for their pueblos or tribal lands. The name was later interpreted by the Spanish to mean "buffalo." The forest is disjointed with lands spread across central and northern New Mexico, west Texas and Oklahoma. The Cibola National Forest is divided into four Ranger Districts: the Sandia, Mountainair, Mt. Taylor, and Magdalena. The Forest includes the
San Mateo,
Magdalena,
Datil,
Bear, Gallina,
Manzano,
Sandia,
Mt. Taylor, and
Zuni Mountains of west-central New Mexico. The Forest also manages four
National Grasslands that stretch from northeastern New Mexico eastward into the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma. The Cibola National Forest and Grassland is administered by Region 3 of the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
from offices in
Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
, New Mexico. Elevation ranges from 5,000 ft (1,500 m) to 11,301 ft (3,445 m). (The preceding figures do not include any of the four National Grasslands mentioned below, which are detailed in their individual articles.) The descending order of Cibola National Forest acres (not counting the three Grassland areas) by county are:
Socorro,
Cibola,
McKinley,
Catron,
Torrance,
Bernalillo
Bernalillo () is a town in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 8,320. It is the county seat of Sandoval County.
Bernalillo is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Histor ...
,
Sandoval County, New Mexico
Sandoval County is located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,561, making it the fourth-most populous county in New Mexico. The county seat is Bernalillo.
Sandoval County is part of the Albuquerque ...
,
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
,
Sierra, and
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
counties in New Mexico. The Cibola National Forest currently has 137,701 acres designated as
Wilderness. In addition to these acres, it has 246,000 acres classified as
Inventoried Roadless Areas pursuant to the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
The Cibola National Forest is organized into several divisions over three states. The
Rita Blanca National Grassland
Rita Blanca National Grassland is a National Grassland on the Great Plains near the community of Texline in northwest Dallam County, Texas, in the Texas Panhandle, and in southern Cimarron County, Oklahoma, in the western Oklahoma Panhandle ...
in
Dallam County, Texas and
Cimarron County, Oklahoma
Cimarron County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its county seat is Boise City. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,296, making it the least-populous county in Oklahoma; and indeed, throughout most of its hi ...
,
Black Kettle National Grassland
The Black Kettle National Grassland, in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma and Hemphill County, Texas, contains of which are in Oklahoma.
Named for the Indian leader Black Kettle, the grassland is managed by the Cibola National Forest, which also ...
in
Roger Mills County, Oklahoma
Roger Mills County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,647, making it the third-least populous county in Oklahoma. Its county seat is Cheyenne. The county was create ...
and
Hemphill County, Texas
Hemphill County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,382. The county seat and only incorporated community in the county is the city of Canadian. The county was created in 1876 and org ...
, and
McClellan Creek National Grassland
McClellan Creek National Grassland is a National Grassland located in southern Gray County, Texas, United States. It was purchased with the goal of restoring badly eroded land to its natural state. The grassland is administered by the U.S. For ...
in
Gray County, Texas
Gray County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 21,227. The county seat is Pampa. The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1902. is named for Peter W. Gray, a Confederate lawy ...
are in the
Oklahoma-
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
panhandle region. The combined Cibola National Grasslands are 262,141 acres (1,060.8 km2) in size.
New Mexico is home to much of the Forest, including the
Kiowa National Grassland in
Harding,
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
,
Mora
Mora may refer to:
People
* Mora (surname)
Places Sweden
* Mora, Säter, Sweden
* Mora, Sweden, the seat of Mora Municipality
* Mora Municipality, Sweden
United States
* Mora, Louisiana, an unincorporated community
* Mora, Minnesota, a city
* M ...
, and
Colfax counties, New Mexico. The Cibola National Forest's Sandia Ranger District is just east of Albuquerque in Central New Mexico and includes the most visited mountains in the state of New Mexico. The Sandia District includes national forest land in eastern
Bernalillo
Bernalillo () is a town in Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 8,320. It is the county seat of Sandoval County.
Bernalillo is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Histor ...
and southeastern
Sandoval
Sandoval is a habitational surname of Spanish language, Spanish origin. It primarily originates from Sandoval de la Reina, Spain, earlier called ''Sannoval'', which is a blend word of Latin ''saltus'' (meaning 'grove' or 'wood') and Latin ''novalis ...
counties, and includes the Sandia Peak Tram and the Sandia Crest National Scenic Byway. The Sandia Mountains lie in the northern portion of the District. It is here where Congress designated the
Sandia Mountain Wilderness
Sandia Mountain Wilderness, part of Cibola National Forest, is located east of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and comprises much of Sandia Mountains. It became part of the National Wilderness Preservation System in 1978 by an act of the United States ...
(37,200 acres) in 1978. The Cibola's Sandia Ranger District also includes the Manzanita Mountains, which stretch south, between the Sandia and the Manzano Mountains. The Manzano Mountains are managed by the Cibola National Forest's Mountainair Ranger District.
![6](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/6.18.08SandiaMountainsByLuigiNovi82.jpg)
The Mountainair Ranger District manages national forestland in
Torrance, northwestern
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
, and eastern
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
counties, which are in central New Mexico. Within the Mountainair District are the
Gallinas Mountains and the
Manzano Mountains
The Manzano Mountains are a small mountain range in the central part of the US State of New Mexico. They are oriented north–south and are 30 miles long. The center of the range lies due east of the town of Belen. The name "Manzano" is Spani ...
. Congress designated the
Manzano Wilderness in 1978. The Mount Taylor Ranger District manages land in northern
Cibola, southern
McKinley, and western Sandoval counties in western New Mexico.
Mount Taylor and
Zuni Mountains Zuni may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Zuni people, an indigenous people of the United States
* Zuni language, their language
Places
* Zuni, Virginia, an unincorporated town in Virginia in the United States
* Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, a ce ...
are within the Mount Taylor District.
Overseeing approximately 800,000 acres, the Magdalena Ranger District is the largest of the Cibola National Forest's four mountain districts. The Cibola’s Magdalena District manages land in south central New Mexico in western
Socorro, northeastern
Catron, and northern
Sierra counties. The
Bear Mountains
The Bear Mountains lie just north of the village of Magdalena and north of the Magdalena Mountains in New Mexico. The Bear Mountains are located within the Magdalena Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest. There are two Inventoried Ro ...
,
Datil Mountains
The Datil Mountains are a small range on the northern edge of the Mogollon-Datil volcanic field, just northwest of the Plains of San Agustin in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The range lies in Socorro and Catron Counties, north of the town of ...
,
Magdalena Mountains
The Magdalena Mountains are a regionally high, mountain range in Socorro County, in west-central New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The highest point in the range is South Baldy, at 10,783 ft (3,287 m), which is also the tallest ...
and
San Mateo Mountains are all within the Magdalena District. There are two Wilderness areas in this District - the
Apache Kid
Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl ( 1860 – in or after 1894), better known as the Apache Kid, was born in Aravaipa Canyon (25 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Carlos Agency) into one of the three local groups of the Aravaipa/Arivaipa Apache Band (in Apa ...
(44,626 acres) and the
Withington
Withington is a suburb of Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies from Manchester city centre, about south of Fallowfield, north-east of Didsbury and east of Chorlton-cum-Hardy. Withington has a population of just ...
(19,000 acres) Wilderness areas, both of which are in the San Mateo Mountains. In addition to the designated Wilderness, the Magdalena Ranger District has 205,972 acres of Inventoried Roadless Areas. The Magdalena Ranger District's officers are stationed in the Village of Magdalena. The District has roots in the Gila Forest Reserve, created by President William McKinley in 1899, making the U.S. Forest Service the “oldest continuous business in Magdalena.”
Ecology
Cibola biomes range from Chihuahuan desert to short grass prairie to piñon-juniper to sub-alpine spruce and fir. The region also boasts wildlife as diverse as the biomes they inhabit.
Animals represented include:
*
black bear
Black bear or Blackbear may refer to:
Animals
* American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species
* Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species
Music
* Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...
*
cougar
*
prairie dog
*
mule deer
The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer.
Unlike the related whi ...
*
pronghorn
The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...
*
black rosy finch
The black rosy finch or black rosy-finch (''Leucosticte atrata'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Fringillidae native to alpine areas above treeline, of the western United States. It is the most range-restricted member of its genus, ...
*
goshawk
Goshawk may refer to several species of birds of prey, mainly in the genus ''Accipiter'':
* Northern goshawk, ''Accipiter gentilis'', often referred to simply as the goshawk, since it is the only goshawk found in much of its range (in Europe and N ...
*
Mexican spotted owl
*
wild turkey
The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally d ...
Due to the
Rio Grande, a large variety of migrating waterfowl and other birds follow the river's
flyway
A flyway is a flight path used by large numbers of birds while migrating between their breeding grounds and their overwintering quarters. Flyways generally span continents and often pass over oceans. Although applying to any species of migrat ...
during the spring and fall.
Birds of prey
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...
are also present using the updrafts and
thermals
A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example ...
along the north-south alignment of the central mountains for their migration.
File:Strix occidentalis lucida-2.jpg, The Cibola National Forest contains thousands of acres of critical habitat for the threatened Mexican spotted owl.
File:Pronghorn - Magdelena Background.JPG, A pronghorn herd standing in front of the Magdalena Mountains
The Magdalena Mountains are a regionally high, mountain range in Socorro County, in west-central New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The highest point in the range is South Baldy, at 10,783 ft (3,287 m), which is also the tallest ...
. Photo courtesy of Josh Hicks.
File:mule_deer_fawn_in_snow.jpg, A mule deer fawn in the snow. Photo: US Forest Service.
File:Kaibab Elk.jpg, The Cibola National Forest is home to healthy herds of elk. Photo: US Forest Service.
File:Bear on MtTaylor USFS.jpg, A cinnamon bear on Mount Taylor in Cibola National Forest. Photo: US Forest Service.
The ‘
sky islands
Sky islands are isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau, and has extended to similarly isolated high-elevation forests. The isolation has si ...
’ region of the Cibola hosts more than 200 rare plant and animal species, with more than 30 species listed as endangered or threatened by New Mexico or the federal government. The region is home to more bird and mammal species than any other ecoregion in the Southwest.
The Rio Grande Watershed, which contains the Cibola’s four mountain ranger districts, ranked second out of eight watershed regions for species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) in the New Mexico Game and Fish’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy.
The Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy also ranked the Arizona-New Mexico Mountain Ecoregion, within which the Magdalena and Mt. Taylor Ranger Districts are located, second out of six ecoregions in the state for SGCN, with 80 identified SGCN.
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in 1951, The Nat ...
has identified the San Mateo, Magdalena, and Datil Mountains within the Cibola's Magdalena Ranger District as key conservation areas due to their ecological diversity.
Recreation and special uses
The Cibola offers an abundance of recreational opportunities including picnicking, backpacking, camping, skiing, hiking, wildlife-viewing, star-gazing, horseback-riding, hunting and mountain biking as well as driving for pleasure and enjoying the aerial
Sandia Peak Tramway
The Sandia Peak Tramway is an aerial tramway located adjacent to Albuquerque, New Mexico. It stretches from the northeast edge of the city to Sandia Peak on the ridge line of the Sandia MountainsThe upper station of the tramway is at a point o ...
with a restaurant and skiing at the top. The two most popular recreational activities on the Cibola are hiking/walking and viewing natural features with 35% and 15% of visitors citing these as their main activities, respectively.
![Hiking the Cienega Trail in the Sandia Mountains](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Hiking_the_Cienega_Trail_in_the_Sandia_Mountains.jpg)
In addition to ample recreational opportunities, the Cibola provides special facilities for scientific research. The largest special use permit on the Cibola is for the Langmuir Research Site, with 31,000-acres on South Baldy Peak. The
Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research
The Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research is a scientific laboratory studying the cloud processes that produce lightning, hail, and rain, located in the Magdalena Mountains of central New Mexico. The lab is operated by the New Mexico Inst ...
was established to study atmospheric processes that result in lightning, hail, and rain. The
Magdalena Ridge Observatory (MRO), also located on South Baldy, studies astronomical events with a 2.4-m telescope and the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer. Both Langmuir and MRO are operated by the
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech and formerly New Mexico School of Mines) is a public university in Socorro, New Mexico. It offers over 30 bachelor of science degrees in technology, the sciences, engineering, man ...
.
Additional multiple uses that occur on the Cibola National Forest include grazing, mining, logging, and oil/gas development.
History
The lands in the Cibola National Forest have a rich cultural history. The forest itself grew out of lands first established as Forest Reserves in the late 1800s to protect natural resources, such as watersheds, trees, and soils. The human and cultural history of these national forest lands stretch back well before the 1800s. Basham noted in his report documenting the archeological history of the Cibola’s Magdalena Ranger District that “
e heritage resources on the district are diverse and representative of nearly every prominent human evolutionary event known to anthropology. Evidence for human use of district lands date back 14,000 years to the
Paleoindian period providing glimpses into the peopling of the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
and
megafaunal extinction.“
File:1908-ZuniMountains.JPG, The Zuni Mountains of the Cibola National Forest in the winter of 1908. Photo: US Forest Service.
File:1925-MtTaylor_Kartchner.JPG, The Forest Supervisor near Mount Taylor in 1925. Photo: US Forest Service.
Much of the now Magdalena Ranger District were a province of the
Apache. Bands of Apache effectively controlled the Magdalena-Datil region from the seventeenth century until they were defeated in the Apache Wars in the late nineteenth century.
Outlaw renegades
Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch and notorious Apaches like
Cochise
Cochise (; Apache: ''Shi-ka-She'' or ''A-da-tli-chi'', lit.: ''having the quality or strength of an oak''; later ''K'uu-ch'ish'' or ''Cheis'', lit. ''oak''; June 8, 1874) was leader of the Chihuicahui local group of the Chokonen and principa ...
and
Geronimo have ties to the San Mateos. Vicks Peak was named after Victorio, “a Mimbreño Apache leader whose territory included much of the south and southwest New Mexico.”
Famous for defying relocation orders in 1879 and leading his warriors “on a two-year reign of terror before he was killed,” Victorio is at least as highly regarded as Geronimo or Cochise among Apaches.
Perhaps the most famous outlaw was the
Apache Kid
Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl ( 1860 – in or after 1894), better known as the Apache Kid, was born in Aravaipa Canyon (25 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Carlos Agency) into one of the three local groups of the Aravaipa/Arivaipa Apache Band (in Apa ...
whose supposed grave lies within the Apache Kid Wilderness. Stories of depredations by the Apache Kid, and of his demise, became so common and dramatic that in southwestern folklore they may be exceeded only by tales of lost Spanish gold.
Native Americans lingered in the San Mateos well into the 1900s. We know this by an essay written by
Aldo Leopold in 1919 where he documents stumbling upon the remains of a recently abandoned Indian hunting camp.
File:The Apache Kid.jpg, The Apache Kid is the namesake for a Wilderness area in the Cibola National Forest.
File:Victorio Chiricahua Apache Chief.jpg, Vicks Peak in the San Mateo Mountains is named for Victorio, an Apache warrior and chief.
File:Goyaale.jpg, Geronimo (Goyaałé), a Bedonkohe Apache; kneeling with rifle, 1887.
File:Butch Cassidy with bowler hat.jpg, Butch Cassidy poses in the Wild Bunch group photo, Fort Worth, Texas, 1901.
A mining rush followed the Apache wars – gold, silver, and copper were found in the mountains. It wasn’t until this time that extensive use of the area by non-Native Americans occurred.
While some mining activity, involving gold, silver, and copper, occurred in the southern part of the range near the end of the nineteenth century,
[Butterfield, Mike, and Greene, Peter, ''Mike Butterfield's Guide to the Mountains of New Mexico'', New Mexico Magazine Press, 2006, ] the prospecting/mining remnants are barely visible today due to collapse, topographic screening, and vegetation regrowth. While miners combed the mountains for mineral riches during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, stockmen drove tens of thousands of sheep and cattle to stockyards at the village of Magdalena, then linked by rail with Socorro.
In fact, the last regularly used cattle trail in the United States stretched 125 miles westward from Magdalena. The route was formally known as the Magdalena Livestock Driveway, but more popularly known to cowboys and cattlemen as the Beefsteak Trail. The trail began use in 1865 and its peak was in 1919. The trail was used continually until trailing gave way to trucking and the trail official closed in 1971.
Fires
In 2008 the
Trigo Fire burned mostly within the Mountainair Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest.
References
External links
*
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Black Kettle National GrasslandMagdalena Ranger District- Cibola National Forest
{{Authority control
National Forests of New Mexico
Protected areas established in 1931
Protected areas of Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Protected areas of Sandoval County, New Mexico
Protected areas of Socorro County, New Mexico
Protected areas of Cibola County, New Mexico
Protected areas of McKinley County, New Mexico
Protected areas of Catron County, New Mexico
Protected areas of Torrance County, New Mexico
Protected areas of Lincoln County, New Mexico
Protected areas of Sierra County, New Mexico
Protected areas of Valencia County, New Mexico
Protected areas of Dallam County, Texas
Protected areas of Cimarron County, Oklahoma
Protected areas of Roger Mills County, Oklahoma
Protected areas of Hemphill County, Texas
Protected areas of Gray County, Texas
1931 establishments in New Mexico