New National Cemetery to Appear in Albuquerque’s Petroglyph District

ALBUQUERK, New Mexico (KRQE) – A new national cemetery is being planned west of Albuquerque. The new cemetery will allow veterans to receive official burial sites as Santa Fe National Cemetery runs out of land.

United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced this month they purchased 230 acres of land near the Petroglyph National Monument. They paid over $2.8 million for the land.

There are currently two national cemeteries in New Mexico, one in Santa Fe and one in Fort Bayard. There are also three state veterans’ cemeteries.

The VA expects Santa Fe National Cemetery to run out of land in the next decade or so. Nearly 70,000 veterans and their families are now buried here, according to the VA, and there are currently about 81,000 veterans living in the Albuquerque area.