Dripping Springs Natural Area

Here are some pictures from Dripping Springs Natural Area, part of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.  This is one of the places threatened by the Trump Administration’s “review” of recently-created national monuments.  Although the comment period on the Interior Department’s “review” is over (and millions commented in favor of keeping our national monuments intact), it is still essential to keep the pressure on.  It is also important to support organizations like Earthjustice, who will be involved in opposing any attack on national monuments in court, if necessary (in addition to all the other crucial environmental justice work that they do).  There are a number of other organizations actively working to defend our public lands, from the local to the national level, and all deserve our support.

a very camouflaged horned lizard

collared lizard

west face of the organ mountains on a hazy morning

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

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. 

Eastern face of the Organ Mountains

Tularosa Basin from the Organ Mountains

Sugarloaf Peak

Pine Tree Trail

Rabbit Ears