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Our Mission

Amigos Bravos’ mission is to return New Mexico’s rivers and the Río Grande watershed to drinkable quality wherever possible and to contact quality everywhere else; to see that natural flows are maintained and where those flows have been disrupted by human intervention to see that they are regulated to protect and reclaim the river ecosystem by approximating natural flows; to preserve and restore the native riparian and riverine biodiversity; to support the environmentally sound and sustainable traditional ways of life of indigenous cultures; and to ensure that environmental justice and social justice go hand-in-hand.

Amigos Bravos was formed in 1988 in response to a proposed mineral waste disposal facility for the Molycorp molybdenum mine near Questa, New Mexico. Since successfully stopping this controversial plan, Amigos Bravos has grown into a well respected environmental and social justice organization with two offices, a staff of six, and a membership of over 2,000.

Since 2009, non-profit organizations across the nation have had to shut their doors or to cut their scope of work substantially.  However, Amigos Bravos has not faltered in our commitment to protect New Mexico's precious waters and the communities that depend on them.  Though we have had to reduce our staff and our projected budgets for the next couple of years are considerably less than what we've had to work with in recent years, we are still the feisty friends of New Mexico's rivers and the Río Grande watershed.  In fact, we've led or partnered in substantial victories in 2009 & 2010, including: an historic decision in federal court to require financial assurance bonds for industries dealing with hazardous waste so that citizens and state and local governments don't have to pay to clean up industry's mess; the announcement by the largest Water Utility Authority in New Mexico (Albuqueque-Bernalillo) that it will begin monitoring drinking and waste water systems for pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds as a direct result of our school-based water quality monitoring program that found pharmaceuticals in drains and ditches; and, the reintroduction of thirty-one river otters along the upper Río Grande and progress towards additional releases into the Upper Gila watershed.  Moreover, and in clear recognition of the importance of our work, this past year has seen a substantial increase in our membership.

Our areas of expertise and accomplishment include: on-the-ground community organizing; the building of effective
socio-economically and culturally diverse coalitions; legal victories at the local, state, and federal level; exemplary scientific research and expertise; and legislative milestones.

We hope you'll enjoy perusing the rest of the Amigos Bravos website.  If you are not a member, we hope you'll join
Amigos Bravos -- an organization with influence, credibility, and staying-power -- now!

About Us | Employment | Annual Report | Strategic Plan | Staff | Board of Directors