One of Ghost Ranch's priorities is to reinforce our connectedness in northern New Mexico, its communities, its history, its needs and its environment, with special concern for land and water. Below are some ways in which we live out this calling.

Ghost Ranch Abiquiu Community Programs

Ghost Ranch aims to be a good neighbor. To this end we work with the residents of villages surrounding the Ranch to improve our collective lives in the upper Chama Valley and to preserve a way of life that is important to everyone. The Ranch and its neighbors have been able to serve one another through some of the following programs and practices.

Rio Arriba county is slightly larger than the state of Connecticut with a population of approximately 34,000 people. About 3/4 of the total land area is federal, state or Indian Pueblo land. Rio Arriba (upper river) is one of the poorest counties in the United States.

Although officially tax-exempt, the Ranch makes an annual financial contribution to Rio Arriba County. 

Ghost Ranch Abiquiu Ranchlands

Ghost Ranch is committed to a program of soil conservation and restoration of the land we hold in trust. Holistic Resource Management techniques are used to redevelop the existing rangeland in a way that allows for some livestock grazing and rejuvenation of vegetation volume and diversity. At Ghost Ranch we attempt to seek harmony with the land through education and the conscious and conservative use of natural resources.

Ghost Ranch Abiquiu Winter Grazing and Livestock Marketing

From November to March neighboring owners of small herds of cattle have grazed livestock on Ghost Ranch land at less than market grazing fees to the extent that good land conservation practices permit. The numbers vary from year to year depending on theamount of rainfall and the carrying capacity of the grassland. In 1972 Ghost Ranch provided 100 acres of land to the New Mexico Producers and Marketing Cooperative where a sales barn was constructed. From this barn cattle sales are now managed by Ranch staff each fall.

Chama After-School Library Program

Aided through money from the Presbytery of Santa Fe, Ghost Ranch employs a part-time community worker to aid the after-school library program in the city of Chama, 45 miles north of the Ranch.

Summer Swimming Program

For many years Ghost Ranch has provided  swimming instructors for the summer to teach children from neighboring villages to swim. The pool is reserved for this program in the morning hours during the summer.

Summer Teacher Training Institute

For one week each summer, the Museums at Ghost Ranch host and provide training for local area school teachers in the various sciences. Included are lessons in geology, life science, paleontology, anthropology, and others. Teachers are encouraged to take these materials back to their classes and incorporate them into their lesson plans.

Educational Classes for School Groups at the Museums

Each school year 2,000--3,000 school children visit the Museums at Ghost Ranch on field trips. They are given tours of the Anthropology and Paleontology Museums, and participate in educational classes focusing on traditional arts and crafts, including opportunities to learn tinworking, sand painting, and straw inlay work, or participate in a simulated dinosaur bone dig, and hike to paleontological and archaeological sites on the Ranch.

Seminar Participation
Our neighbors are encouraged to attend seminars at Ghost Ranch and a scholarship fund is provided for those most in need to be able to attend. We also draw on the talent and knowledge of our neighbors to provide leadership in seminars throughout the year.