Breathtaking desert that inspired Georgia O’Keeffe is now protected
A new conservation plan would ensure visitors can continue to access the spiritual retreat, along with winter pasture for livestock
A new conservation agreement has been announced to safeguard a significant expanse of New Mexico desert, renowned for its breathtaking vistas that captivated 20th-century painter Georgia O'Keeffe. The pact also ensures continued public access to an adjacent educational retreat, partners confirmed on Tuesday.
The initial phase establishes a conservation easement across approximately 26 square kilometres of land near Abiquiu, owned by a charitable arm of the Presbyterian Church.
This protected area, featuring reservoir waterfront and native grasslands, stretches towards a remote home once owned by O'Keeffe's estate, though her larger Abiquiu residence and studio, managed by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, remain outside the conservation zone.
The landscape, with its distinctive desert washes, sandstone bluffs, and the distant silhouette of Cerro Pedernal, will be instantly recognisable to admirers of O'Keeffe's work.
Jonathan Hayden, executive director of the New Mexico Land Conservancy, which helped broker the plan, emphasised the area's unique value. "The stark colourful geology, the verdant grasslands going right down to the Chama River and Abiquiu lake -- all that just makes it such a multifaceted place with tremendous conservation value," he stated.
Hayden added that the voluntary plan aims to prevent potential modern development that could subdivide and alter the property, despite no immediate proposals.
Beyond preserving natural beauty, the agreement guarantees continued access for film productions – the land famously served as a temporary set for a recreation of wartime Los Alamos in the 2024 film Oppenheimer.
It also protects traditional winter grazing routes for local farmers. The State of New Mexico is substantially underwriting the initiative through a trust established in 2023, with an approved $920,000 award allocated for easement surveys, transaction costs, and a financial endowment.
This fund will support programming at the adjacent Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Centre, which attracts around 10,000 overnight visitors annually for spiritual, artistic, and literary retreats, alongside twice as many day visitors.
These initial phases are part of a broader ambition to protect over 78 square kilometres of the region through further easements and public land transfers, potentially extending protections to the Chama River banks and additional wildlife habitats. The area also holds deep historical significance, with many Native American communities tracing their ancestry to this northern New Mexico landscape that O'Keeffe explored and immortalised in her art.