The Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range A Unique Management Partnership

You are surrounded by the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range, 2.7 million acres of uninhabited Sonoran Desert. Roughly 1.8 million acres of the Goldwater Range are managed in a unique partnership between the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Goldwater Range is highly valued by the military for its diverse terrain, year-round flying weather and unencumbered public land and airspace. The Range also contains other valuable resources, such as nationally significant landscapes, wildlife, and historic and archaeological resources, that warrent special management. The USAF and the BLM, two federal agencies with widely different missions, have worked together toward the common goal of combining military operations and the conservation of the natural and cultural resources on the Range. Today, the Goldwater Range remains one of the largest and best preserved native desert regions in the United States while supporting our second largest air combat training center. Truly a success story, the Goldwater Range proves that two agencies can work together to balance protection of the environment with important military training needs.