Editing Socorro County, New Mexico (section)

==Ecology, recreation and tourism==
{{wide image|Bosque del Apache at night.jpg|400px|Sandhill cranes sleep under a starry sky at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.}}
With multiple mountain ranges, extents of grasslands and marshes providing a wide array of available habitats, Socorro County is home to an extensive variety of ecosystems and wildlife. Socorro County contains 826 species of wildlife, including 14 amphibians, 60 reptiles, 336 birds, and 96 mammals.<ref>Biota Information System of New Mexico.[[BISON-M home page]]. Retrieved March 28, 2013.</ref> Wildlife in the County includes [[coyote]], [[deer]], [[elk]], [[pronghorn antelope]], [[bighorn sheep]], [[Barbary sheep]], [[American black bear|black bear]], [[mountain lion]], [[wild turkey]], various [[furbearer]]s, [[Mexican spotted owl]], and [[quail]].

There are three congressionally designated Wilderness areas located within Socorro County. The [[Apache Kid Wilderness|Apache Kid]] and the [[Withington Wilderness]] Areas are both located in the San Mateo Mountains within the Cibola National Forest's Magdalena Ranger District. The Bosque del Apache Wilderness comprises two separate sections, totaling 30,427 acres of the National Wildlife Refuge. There are an additional 172,143 acres of Forest Service Inventoried Roadless Areas and 159,891 acres of BLM Wilderness Study Areas in the county. These undeveloped lands without roads offer outstanding opportunities to experience the area's amazing natural heritage, to getaway and enjoy the outdoors and, for the hearty, to explore deep into the backcountry and challenge yourself in the area's big wild.

The high mountains, remote canyons, pristine forests and diverse wildlife found on the area's national forests, national wildlife refuges, national monuments, and BLM's national system of public lands provide for phenomenal recreation opportunities, including picnicking, hiking, backpacking, wildlife viewing, horseback-riding, and hunting. In fact, the four biggest elk in New Mexico were bagged in Socorro county and the [[Datil Mountains]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Safari Club International (SCI) New Mexico Big Game Records|url=http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/recreation/hunting/documents/records/NMexoticrecords.htm|publisher=New Mexico Game and Fish|access-date=August 8, 2013|archive-date=October 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018000142/http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/recreation/hunting/documents/records/NMexoticrecords.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The two most popular recreational activities on the Cibola National Forest are hiking/walking and viewing natural features with 35% and 15% of visitors citing these as their main activities, respectively.<ref>{{cite book|title=National Visitor Use Monitoring Results for FY 2011 for the Cibola National Forest|year=2012|publisher=US Forest Service|url=http://apps.fs.usda.gov/nrm/nvum/results/ReportCache/Rnd3_A03003_Master_Report.pdf}}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The [[Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge]] hosts the Festival of the Cranes every November, celebrating the arrival of sandhill cranes and other migratory birds.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sharpe|first=Tom|title=Refuge prepares for 25th annual crane festival|url=http://www.sfnewmexican.com/Local%20News/110412cranes#.UfbSiazO3FM|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130808195147/http://www.sfnewmexican.com/Local%20News/110412cranes%23.UfbSiazO3FM|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 8, 2013|publisher=The New Mexican}}</ref> Rare [[whooping crane]]s are also found occasionally on the Bosque del Apache.

<gallery caption="Wildlife in Socorro County, New Mexico" class="center" widths="160" heights="130" style="line-height:130%">
File:Strix occidentalis lucida-2.jpg|Socorro County contains thousands of acres of critical habitat for the threatened [[Mexican spotted owl]].
File:Sandhill cranes at Bosque del Apache NWR.jpg|[[Sandhill crane]]s at [[Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge]] during the Festival of the Cranes.
File:Kaibab Elk.jpg|Socorro County is home to healthy populations of elk.
File:Bear on MtTaylor USFS.jpg|A black bear in the [[Cibola National Forest]].
File:mule_deer_fawn_in_snow.jpg|A mule deer fawn in the snow.
File:Pronghorn - Magdelena Background.JPG|A pronghorn herd standing in front of the Magdalena Mountains.
</gallery>

The natural amenities in Socorro contribute to a strong tourism industry for the county. Visitors spent $47.4 million in Socorro County in 2011. Recreation alone accounted for more than $4 million in visitor spending in both 2010 and 2011.<ref>{{cite book|title=Socorro County Visitor Spending by Industry.|publisher=Tourism Economics}}</ref> Tourism accounts for 8.8% of employment and 4.5% of labor income for the county. Additionally, tourism resulted in $7.7 million of total tax revenue, including $1.1 million in local tax revenue.<ref>{{cite book|title=Socorro County, Tourism Impact.|publisher=Tourism Economics}}</ref>