A few years ago, President Obama created the Organ
Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument to protect the historic, scenic,
archaeological, paleontological, and geological treasures of the Organ Mountains,
Potrillo Mountains, Doña Ana Mountains, Robledo Mountains, and Sierra de las
Uvas. The Potrillo Mountains unit
contains volcanic cinder cones, lava flows, and craters. The creation of the monument was the result
of many years of effort by a broad-based coalition of people and is certainly
one of the finest achievements of the Obama Administration. Overall, the four sections that make up the
monument encompass a total of 496,330 acres. Adjoining it is Prehistoric Trackways National
Monument, which contains footprints of numerous amphibians, reptiles, and
insects, as wells as plants and petrified wood dating back 280 million years
to the early Permian period.
My wife, Libby, and I recently visited Aguirre Springs
Recreational Area, which is located in the Organ Mountains unit of the monument.
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| Eastern face of the Organ Mountains |
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Tularosa Basin from the Organ Mountains
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Sugarloaf Peak
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Pine Tree Trail
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Rabbit Ears
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