Bill deBuys and Don Usner have produced an elegant book that captures the beauty of this gem of the American West and tells you how it came to be protected. -- Stewart Udall In 2000, President Clinton signed into law the Valles Caldera Preservation Act, a visionary piece of legislation that transferred to the public domain a privately owned ranch in northern New Mexico. This book tells the natural and human history of the preserve, presents photographs of its splendour, and outlines the unique administrative experiment now underway to manage its public lands.