Nature Conservancy's plan to buy a historic NM coal town is 'stalled' for now

The Nature Conservancy’s bid to acquire what was once the New Mexico coal town of Dawson has hit a snag.

Brad Cory, the conservation organization’s principal project manager for the purchase, acknowledged last week that the Dawson Elk Valley Ranch deal is “stalled for the time being.”

“We remain hopeful that the project continues,” he said in an email, though he declined to respond to a series of questions on what has changed since an agreement to purchase the Colfax County ranch was announced last December.

The sale of the land — site of one of our nation’s deadliest mine disasters — had been expected to close in March.

Under the agreement, The Nature Conservancy was to acquire the private ranch for an undisclosed sum from the Colfax Land & Cattle Co. LLC in partnership with the state and a nonprofit tribal organization with the assistance of a $50 million U.S. Forest Service grant awarded last year to the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.

Afterward, The Nature Conservancy intended to transfer roughly 32,500 acres of prime timberland to the state to co-manage with its tribal partners. The remaining 17,000 acres were to remain in conservation until a similar management plan was in place.

Carol Bada, Forest Legacy Program state coordinator for the New Mexico Forestry Division, attributed the delay to uncertainty with the status of the federal grant under the Trump administration.

“The initial purchase agreement fell through when the January 31, 2025, funding date was reached because of funding threats from the new administration,” she said by email. “With so much uncertainty, TNC decided it was risky to follow through on payments for any purchase agreements.”

While the Forest Legacy Program grant agreement has been “executed and obligated” — meaning it has been signed and funds have been committed — Bada said its status remains unclear.

“Whether the grant can still be rescinded by the federal government is an open question,” she said. “To date, EMNRD has not received any communication about rescission. That does not mean it is not possible at a future date.”

The 50,000-acre ranch, located 35 miles southwest of Raton, has been for sale since early 2020 at a listing price of $96 million.

The property was home in the first half of the 20th century to the mining town of Dawson, which holds the unwanted distinction as the site of two of the nation’s worst mine disasters. In 1913, the second-deadliest in U.S. history killed 263 men. Ten years later, a second explosion claimed the lives of another 120 miners.

The only visible reminder of the town today is Dawson Cemetery, near the entrance to the ranch, where identical white iron crosses memorialize the nearly 400 miners killed in the two explosions. The cemetery was accepted onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

The Dawson ranch, which abuts Ted Turner’s 550,000-acre Vermejo Park Ranch, consists of thousands of acres of cottonwood, piñon-juniper, and ponderosa pine forests, as well as 11 miles of the Vermejo River. It is home to an abundance of wildlife, including antelope, bear, deer, elk, mountain lion and turkey.

Despite the setback, Bada remains optimistic.

“TNC is still looking at ways to fund the purchase of the property,” she said, “and we, as well as the tribes involved in the tribal entity, are still interested in having the property to co-manage.”