Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument

(Redirected from Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument)

Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument

Location	Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States
Nearest city	Las Cruces, NM
Coordinates	32°19′34″N 106°33′18″W / 32.326°N 106.555°W / 32.326; -106.555
Area	496,330 acres (200,860 ha)
Established	May 21, 2014
Governing body	Bureau of Land Management
Website	Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument

U.S. National Monument

The Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument is a United States national monument in the state of New Mexico, managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation System.

Description

The 496,330-acre (200,860 ha) monument is located in the Mesilla Valley in southern New Mexico, surrounding the city of Las Cruces in Doña Ana County. The protected area includes several mountain ranges of the Chihuahuan Desert. The five identified as being within the national monument are the Robledo Mountains, Sierra de las Uvas, Doña Ana Mountains, Organ Mountains and Potrillo Mountains. The Prehistoric Trackways National Monument is nearby. The monument protects a large variety of geological, paleontological and archaeological resources.

President Barack Obama designated the monument on May 21, 2014. Half of the monument is designated wilderness and closed to development or motorized use.

Protected areas

Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks protects many archaeological and cultural sites of interest. Before the Gadsden Purchase of 1853, this land included the border between Mexico and the United States. The Aden Lava Flow Wilderness is here and there are 243 known archaeological sites within the monument, including some of the earliest Native American settlements and petroglyphs known from three different tribes. The land also includes Shelter Cave and Conkling Cavern. Fossils of ground sloths have been found in the area.

More recently the land was used by William H. Bonney, better known as the outlaw Billy the Kid, and Geronimo, a leader during the Apache Wars, both of whom lived in various parts of New Mexico in the 19th century. It is said that Billy the Kid visited "Outlaw Rock", and there is a cave known as "Geronimo's Rock". The monument also includes 22 miles (35 km) of the historic Butterfield Stagecoach Trail.

The monument includes sites where World War II bombers practiced their targeting, as well as Kilbourne Hole in the Potrillo volcanic field, where American astronauts trained for lunar missions in the 1960s.

Campaign for establishment

The area was given national monument status following a campaign by conservation advocates that lasted several years. Several bills were introduced in Congress to protect the area through legislation, but they were blocked by House Republicans. In contrast with some previous monument designations, communities and governments of Doña Ana County were supportive of the application for designation. A poll found that 60 percent of the local voters favored establishing this land as a 500,000-acre national monument.

References

"Organ Mountains". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
^ Presidential Proclamation – Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument, Barack Obama, The White House, 21 May 2014
"Obama declares the Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks region of N.M. a national monument". Published May 21, 2014. Washington Post. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
^ New National Monument Created in New Mexico, National Geographic, retrieved 9 June 2014
"Organ Mountains – Desert Peaks". New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
^ Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument Fact Sheet, organmountains.org, retrieved 9 June 2014
^ Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument to be Protected, nwwild.org, retrieved 9 June 2014
Poll finds strong support for larger Organ Mountains proposal, Phil Taylor, Environment and Energy Publishing, 23 January 2014

External links

BLM.gov: official Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument website

BLM.gov: Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument photos album

Friends of Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks National Monument – public group.

v t e Protected areas of New Mexico
National Parks	Carlsbad Caverns White Sands
National Historical Parks	Chaco Culture Manhattan Project Pecos
National monuments	Aztec Ruins Bandelier Capulin Volcano El Malpais El Morro Fort Union Gila Cliff Dwellings Petroglyph Salinas Pueblo Missions
National Recreation Areas	Jemez (USFS)
National Trails	Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Old Spanish Trail Santa Fe Trail
National Forests	Apache–Sitgreaves Carson Cibola Coronado Gila Lincoln Santa Fe
National Grasslands	Kiowa
National Wildlife Refuges	Bitter Lake Bosque del Apache Grulla Las Vegas Maxwell San Andres Sevilleta Valle de Oro
National Conservation Areas	El Malpais Fort Stanton–Snowy River Cave
BLM National Monuments	Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks Prehistoric Trackways Rio Grande del Norte
National Natural Landmarks	List of National Natural Landmarks in New Mexico
National Preserves	Valles Caldera
Wilderness	Aldo Leopold Apache Kid Bandelier Bisti/De-Na-Zin Blue Range Bosque del Apache Capitan Mountains Carlsbad Caverns Cebolla Chama River Canyon Columbine–Hondo Cruces Basin Dome Gila Latir Peak Manzano Mountain Ojito Pecos Sabinoso Salt Creek San Pedro Parks Sandia Mountain West Malpais Wheeler Peak White Mountain Withington
Wild and Scenic Rivers	East Fork Jemez River Pecos River Red River Rio Chama Rio Grande
State Parks	Bluewater Lake Bottomless Lakes Brantley Lake Caballo Lake Cerrillos Hills Cimarron Canyon City of Rocks Clayton Lake Conchas Lake Coyote Creek Eagle Nest Lake El Vado Lake Elephant Butte Lake Fenton Lake Heron Lake Hyde Memorial Leasburg Dam Living Desert Zoo and Gardens Manzano Mountains Mesilla Valley Bosque Morphy Lake Navajo Lake Oasis Oliver Lee Memorial Pancho Villa Percha Dam Rio Grande Nature Center Rockhound Santa Rosa Lake Storrie Lake Sugarite Canyon Sumner Lake Ute Lake Villanueva
New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources

v t e National monuments of the United States
National Park Service	African Burial Ground Agate Fossil Beds Alibates Flint Quarries Aniakchak Aztec Ruins Bandelier Belmont-Paul Women's Equality Birmingham Civil Rights Booker T. Washington Buck Island Reef Cabrillo Camp Nelson Canyon de Chelly Cape Krusenstern Capulin Volcano Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School Casa Grande Ruins Castillo de San Marcos Castle Clinton Castle Mountains Cedar Breaks César E. Chávez Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers Chiricahua Colorado Craters of the Moon Devils Postpile Devils Tower Dinosaur Effigy Mounds El Malpais El Morro Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Florissant Fossil Beds Fort Frederica Fort Matanzas Fort McHenry Fort Monroe Fort Pulaski Fort Stanwix Fort Union Fossil Butte Frances Perkins Freedom Riders George Washington Birthplace George Washington Carver Gila Cliff Dwellings Governors Island Grand Portage Hagerman Fossil Beds Hohokam Pima Hovenweep Jewel Cave John Day Fossil Beds Katahdin Woods and Waters Lava Beds Little Bighorn Battlefield Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home Mill Springs Battlefield Montezuma Castle Muir Woods Natural Bridges Navajo Oregon Caves Organ Pipe Cactus Petroglyph Pipe Spring Pipestone Poverty Point Rainbow Bridge Russell Cave Salinas Pueblo Missions Scotts Bluff Springfield 1908 Race Riot Statue of Liberty Stonewall Sunset Crater Volcano Timpanogos Cave Tonto Tule Lake Tule Springs Fossil Beds Tuzigoot Virgin Islands Coral Reef Waco Mammoth Walnut Canyon Wupatki Yucca House
US Forest Service	Admiralty Island Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon Bears Ears Berryessa Snow Mountain Browns Canyon Camp Hale – Continental Divide Chimney Rock Giant Sequoia Gila Cliff Dwellings Misty Fjords Mount St. Helens Newberry Saint Francis Dam Disaster San Gabriel Mountains Sand to Snow Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains
Bureau of Land Management	Agua Fria Avi Kwa Ame Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon Basin and Range Bears Ears Berryessa Snow Mountain Browns Canyon California Coastal Canyons of the Ancients Carrizo Plain Cascade–Siskiyou Craters of the Moon Fort Ord Gold Butte Grand Canyon–Parashant Grand Staircase–Escalante Ironwood Forest Jurassic Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks Mojave Trails Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks Pompeys Pillar Prehistoric Trackways Río Grande del Norte San Juan Islands Sand to Snow Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains Sonoran Desert Upper Missouri River Breaks Vermilion Cliffs
Other (FWS, DOE, AFRH, NOAA, USAF, Army)	Aleutian Islands World War II Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School Castner Range Hanford Reach Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Marianas Trench Marine Military Working Dog Teams Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Pacific Remote Islands Marine Papahānaumokuākea Marine President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home Rose Atoll Marine Tule Lake
Full Detailed List

Categories:

Misplaced Pages