Tag: Arizona

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Ironwood Forest

Strange and inscrutable
The desert lies
Austere its every mood;
Yet peace and beauty
Here abound
In solemn quietude.
-F.J. Worrall, Desert, March 1973

The monument presents a quintessential view of the Sonoran Desert with ancient legume and cactus forests. The geologic and topographic variability of the monument contributes to the area’s high biological diversity. Ironwoods, which can live in excess of 800 years, generate a chain of influences on associated understory plants, affecting their dispersal, germination, establishment, and rates of growth. – Presidential Proclamation (June 9, 2000).… Read the rest

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Sonoran Desert National Monument

 

The Sonoran Desert National Monument is a magnificent example of untrammeled Sonoran desert landscape. The area encompasses a functioning desert ecosystem with an extraordinary array of biological, scientific, and historic resources. The most biologically diverse of the North American deserts, the monument consists of distinct mountain ranges separated by wide valleys, and includes large saguaro cactus forest communities that provide excellent habitat for a wide range of wildlife species.  – Presidential Proclamation (January 17, 2001)

The Sonoran Desert National Monument protects 487,000 acres of the unique Sonoran … Read the rest

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Vermilion Cliffs

Protected in 2000, the monument houses a geologic wonderland of erosional formations—
sheer cliffs, slot canyons, vibrantly colored yellow-red-orange-purple sandstone dunes, rock outcroppings, mesas and tablelands. It’s a remote and seemingly unspoiled area, and home to many sensitive species of plants and animals. The monument is also home to over twenty species of raptors, and, after being reintroduced in 1996 by the Peregrine Fund, California Condors!

(As an aside, we learned that the condors (and other birds of prey) in the area still face challenges, including lead poisoning … Read the rest

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Grand Canyon-Parashant

This monument is vast and magnificently diverse. It includes deep canyons, 30 degrees hotter than the forest, to 8,000’ Mount Trumball with beautiful ponderous pine. It’s also remote and undeveloped. There are no paved roads into the Monument and it would be simple to find singing solitude. The remoteness, vastness and huge landscape-level-protection is what makes this Monument so, well, monumental.

Our exploration Grand Canyon-Parashant began in Nevada, where we contemplated a western entrance to explore Pakoon Springs. A couple we meet in Gold Butte told us a … Read the rest

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