Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Take Back Our Monument - Sonoran Desert National Monument

Below is an email received from Friends Of The Sonoran Desert National Monument.

This is exactly what the enviros are trying to bring to Dona Ana County: Wilderness and a National Monument.

See more info after the email.

Friends of the Sonoran Desert National Monument Logo Having trouble viewing this e-mail?
Americans will not be intimidated from using their public land!
When: Saturday December 1, 2012

Time: 9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Where: Table Top Wilderness Area, Sonoran Desert National Monument

Details: Join the Friends of the Sonoran Desert National Monument and the Bureau of Land Management to demonstrate that Americans will not be intimated from using their public land by removing trash and restoring a portion of the Table Top Wilderness Area damaged by illegal smugglers and undocumented aliens.

This event will involve hiking around 4-miles roundtrip in the Table Top Wilderness Area. Some hiking will be off trail over rough terrain.

Participants will meet on the Vekol Valley Road south of Exit 144 on Interstate 8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend (Directions are below.) From this point we will caravan to the South Lava Flow Trailhead approximately 14-miles on a graded dirt road.

Participants should wear clothing and shoes appropriate for working outdoors, bring lunch, a water bottle, gloves and a pack. Water, snacks and tools will be provided.

Directions:

East Valley: Drive on Interstate 10 south to the exit 164 for Maricopa and continue south through Maricopa on State Route 347 to State Route 84. Turn right (west) to Interstate 8 and drive to the Vekol Valley Road. Take exit 144 south to the Vekol Valley Road. Participants will meet at rendezvous point south of Interstate 8. This route is approximately 58-miles from the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

West Valley: Take Interstate 10 west to Buckeye and take exit 112 for State Route 85 south to Gila Bend. From Gila Bend take Interstate 8 east to the Vekol Valley Road. Take exit 144 and travel south to the rendezvous point just south of Interstate 8. This route is approximately 115-miles from the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

Registration required: Go to info@sonorandesertfriends.org or call 480.648.9864 for more information and to register.
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In May of this year I posted about the BLM bringing in Rangers from across the west to run several sweeps through the Sonoran Desert and Ironwood National Monuments in southern Arizona. Here's what they found:

160 abandoned vehicles

110 bicycles

miles of illegal roads

27,000 lbs. of marijuana

1,200 illegal immigrants

24 tons of trash and "acres of plastic water bottles, coats, backpacks and other items cast off after trekking for days from the U.S.-Mexican border to rendezvous points 75 miles to the north."

And in June of 2010 I posted on how the problems at the Monument caused the BLM to erect the following sign:



That is our future in southern NM unless Wilderness and Monuments are stopped and more reasonable methods are used to protect these federal lands.

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