The Galisteo Basin Preserve is planned as a 13,522-acre, stewardship-oriented, conservation-development initiative located 13 miles south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the central Galisteo Basin. The Galisteo Basin is internationally celebrated for its scenic, cultural, and wildlife habitat values. Commonweal Conservancy, a nonprofit conservation-based community development organization, is leading the initiative.

In collaboration with representatives of Santa Fe County, conservationists, archaeologists, professional planners, and neighborhood groups, Commonweal Conservancy is working to purchase, plan, and protect the Preserve, previously known as Thornton Ranch. The approximately 20-square-mile property is considered a “high-risk development area”—one whose subdivision into widely dispersed “ranchettes” would threaten the scenic, wildlife habitat, water, public service (e.g., schools, fire fighting, police), historic, cultural, and traditional economic resources of the central Galisteo Basin.