History
Perhaps nowhere in Arizona staged the territory's turn-of-the-century tale more dramatically than the Conservancy's Muleshoe Ranch Cooperative Management Area,where cowboys, Indians, prospectors, the U.S. cavalry, wealthy Eastern visitors and Arizona's most precious resource, water, all played a historic role. Even a brief Civil War skirmish erupted there! Sale of Muleshoe to The Nature Conservancy in Arizona in 1982 marked the start of a new use for the land. Partnering with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, the Conservancy formed the Muleshoe Cooperative Management Area in 1988. Soon after, the team began a project to restore the natural habitat. In cooperation with the BLM, Conservancy scientists designed a program of grazing, rest and prescribed burning. The results have been dramatic.