The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (San Pedro Riparian NCA; SPRNCA) contains nearly 57,000 acres (23,000 ha) of public land in Cochise County, Arizona, between the international border with Mexico and St. David, Arizona.

The riparian area, where some 40 miles (64 km) of the upper San Pedro River meanders, was, through the efforts of congressman Jim Kolbe,[1] designated by Congress as a Riparian National Conservation Area on November 18, 1988, and assigned to the protection of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

[2] One of the most important riparian areas in the United States,[3] the San Pedro River runs through the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Desert transition zone in southeastern Arizona.

It also provides invaluable habitat for 250 species of migrant and wintering birds and contains archaeological sites representing the remains of human occupation from 13,000 years ago.

[3] Later in 2022, environmental protection groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Watersheds project and the Sierra Club challenged the BLM’s proposal to expand livestock grazing in the protected area.