The EC Bar Ranch Conservation Easement protects 94 acres of restored riparian habitat along a three-mile stretch of Nutrioso Creek, an important perennial stream and tributary of the Little Colorado River. Nutrioso Creek and the surrounding riparian area provide significant habitat for a variety of fish and wildlife, including several state and federally threatened and endangered species. EC Bar Ranch Estates adjoins the conservation easement and Nutrioso Creek.

It’s taken Jim Crosswhite almost 15 years to make sure the three-mile section of Nutrioso Creek that runs through his EC Bar Ranch Estates subdivision meets the government’s standards for water quality and aquatic/ wildlife habitat. Now that he has achieved that goal through a lot of hard work, time and money, he is making sure the 94-acre riparian corridor will be preserved into perpetuity by donating the EC Bar Ranch Conservation Easement to the New Mexico Land Conservancy, which holds 31 easements in the Southwestern United States.