Sonoran Desert National Monument

Sonoran Desert National Monument is a protected area by the type of National Monuments in the south of the U.S. state of Arizona. It protects parts of the Sonoran Desert with several mountain ranges. It was established in 2001 by President Bill Clinton in his last days in office without consultation with the U.S. Congress or the state of Arizona. The land in federal ownership was even before the protected status by the Bureau of Land Management, an agency under the auspices of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages, which also bears the reserve today.

Already in 1990, about 31 % of the area of the later National Monuments as Wilderness Area had been expelled, the three areas North Maricopa Mountains Wilderness, South Maricopa Mountains Wilderness and Table Top Wilderness today are particularly strictly protected core areas within the reserve.

Description

The National Monument is located in Maricopa County in southern Arizona, just 35 km south-west of Phoenix and is intersected by Interstate Highway I-8 as well as the Arizona State Route 238. An unpaved section of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, the historic route of a train of Spanish soldiers under Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza 1775/76 also runs through the area.

From northwest to southeast, the Maricopa Mountains pass through the protected area, a range of hills with a maximum altitude of 850 meters, located in the southeast of the 1333 m high Table Top Mountain, which is visible even from Phoenix so.

The most striking plant of the desert vegetation is the candelabra or saguaro cactus, typical of the highlands of several Opuntia cacti, especially the subgenus Cylindropuntia, even Cholla are called, as well as the native to the Sonoran Desert Ocotillo ( Fouquieria splendens). In flatter areas, mesquite and creosote bushes grow.

The wildlife includes bighorn sheep, California tortoise, coyote, bobcat, gray fox, mule deer, collared peccary, several types of quail and birds of prey. In addition, a variety of reptiles.

The protected area

Like almost all in the last few years the newly established National Monuments and Sonoran Desert is still under construction. There is no visitor center, no campsites, built roads, or even drinking water sources. Visitors can access the area to hike, use for nature excursions and nature photography. Also, hunting is permitted under the statutory provisions. Anyone may freely camp in the area, but only the existing sand tracks may be driven on. Away from the traffic is trekking the only permissible locomotion.

For the proportion of sand Tank Mountains in the southwest of the reserve a special access permit is required, as the National Monument overlaps there with the military training area of ​​Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. The U.S. Air Force uses adjacent areas as training grounds for the dropping of bombs, visitors are instructed specifically on the avoidance of dealing with unexploded ordnance.