Until very recently sportsmen and women had given up on hunting the elk, deer, turkey and even Barbary sheep that inhabit the Sabinoso Wilderness in northeastern New Mexico.

Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the more than 16,000-acre wilderness was designated in 2009. Unfortunately the Sabinoso is landlocked. No legal public access currently exists. 

This could change, however, due to the actions of a generous landowner, who has offered to provide public access to the Sabinoso Wilderness by donating his ranch, which sits on the western boundary of the wilderness and provides the much-needed access point. The 4,080-acre Rimrock Rose Ranch has been purchased by the Wilderness Land Trust, which is willing to facilitate the transfer of ownership to the BLM.