Rio Grande del Norte National Monument preserves a vast area of northern New Mexico centered on the Rio Grande Gorge, where the Rio Grande and Rio San Antonio have cut deep canyons through a volcanic plateau shaped by the Rio Grande rift. Proclaimed in 2013 and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, it protects varied habitats that support birds, elk, deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, and predators from cougar to river otter. The area also holds long human history, from Archaic-period evidence and toolstone sources to later use by Jicarilla Apache, Utes, and nearby Pueblo peoples. Today it is valued for recreation, scenic rivers, and expanded wilderness protections.