The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area protects the desert riparian ecosystem that stretches along the portion of the San Pedro River from the international border northward to the St. David area. Congress created the preserve on November 18, 1988 with the purpose of protecting a rare remnant of what was once an extensive network of similar riparian ecosystems in the American Southwest. The nearly 57,000 acres of conservation area protect habitats for more than 80 species of mammals, 2 native species and several introduced species of fishes, more than 40 species of amphibians and reptiles, many species of insects and other invertebrates, and 100 species of breeding birds. It also provides valuable habitat for 250 species of migrant and wintering birds and has archaeological sites representing the remains of human occupation from 13,000 years ago. The conservation area also has remnants of former towns and ore processing mills that were occupied during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Visitors come from around the world to view the wildlife in this nature preserve.

The enabling congressional act  states"

“ESTABLISHMENT.—In order to protect the riparian area and the aquatic, wildlife, archeological, paleontological, scientific, cultural, educational, and recreational resources of the public lands surrounding the San Pedro River in Cochise County, Arizona, there is hereby established the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (hereafter in this title referred to as the "conservation area"),. . .”


​Friends of the San Pedro River
​The nonprofit volunteer Friends of the San Pedro River assists the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in maintaining, upgrading, and interpreting to the public the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA).