Just east of the Four Hills Bridge sits about 60 acres of land that most people don't know about. It’s a quiet and peaceful haven for creatures, big and small, nestled along the Tijeras Arroyo.

But now, a crushed car has been pushed off a cliff, beer cans, and bottles consume the land. There’s even more junk along the hills, and even what the city calls a "hobo jungle" up the stream

"We've seen abandoned vehicles, we've seen people pitching tents and living here, fires, people dumping trash," said realtor Michael Contreras.

City Councilor Don Harris is trying to get the city to go in on buying the 60 acres so it can be preserved and used as open space.

The land is selling for more than $1 million.

Harris wants the city to put in $400,000 to buy it from the out of state owners. The rest would be picked up by the trust for public lands, a group aimed at preserving natural habitats.

Since December of 2007, the city has purchased more than 100,000 acres of open space.

“If the city were to own it, then we could limit access to only foot traffic, have walking trails, and clean it up," Harris said.

Officials with the city's open space division say the mayor is highly interested in purchasing the land, and so are they.

Councilor Harris says the city has close to $5 million of funding available for buying open space.