Organ Mountains Desert Peaks

Organ Mountains Desert Peaks NM https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/new-mexico/organ-mountains-desert-peaks-national-monument https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_Mountains-Desert_Peaks_National_Monument The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument is located in the Mesilla Valley in southern New Mexico, surrounding the city of Las Cruces in Doña Ana County. The protected area includes several mountain ranges of the Chihuahuan Desert. The five identified as being within the national monument are the Robledo Mountains, Sierra de las Uvas, Doña Ana Mountains, Organ Mountains and Potrillo Mountains.

Bureau of Land Management Junior Explorer Dripping Springs Natural Area Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument ity A iv t c B k o o BLM/NM/GI-05-8300 Junior Explorers and the BLM The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Junior Explorer Program helps introduce young explorers like you to the lands and resources that the BLM manages. This is the Junior Explorer activity book for Dripping Springs Natural Area - a special area within the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, located outside Las Cruces, New Mexico. You can work through the activities on your own or invite a sibling, parent, or an adult you know to join you. Complete five or more of the activities in this book, and show them to a BLM staff member at the Visitor Center or mail it to the BLM office in Las Cruces. Then, take the Junior Explorer pledge on the back cover and sign the certificate. You’re on your way to exploring and protecting America’s public lands. If you are mailing it, be sure to include your return address. Mail to: Bureau of Land Management ATTN: Junior Explorer Program 1800 Marquess Street Las Cruces, NM 88005 Public Lands Belong To You! The BLM is a Federal government agency that takes care of more than 245 million acres of land. Most of these lands are in the western United States. These lands are America’s public lands, and they belong to all Americans. These public lands are almost equal in area to all the land in Texas and California combined. The BLM manages public lands for many uses. The lands supply natural resources, such as coal, oil, natural gas, and other minerals. The lands provide habitats for plants and animals. People enjoy the big open spaces on the lands. The lands also contain evidence of our country’s past, ranging from fossils and Indian artifacts to ghost towns. Illustrations for this book by Lorenzo Moreno. Leaping Lizards Here are pictures of lizards you might see at Dripping Springs. Can you identify what kind of lizards these are? Check in the Visitor Center Kids’ Corner for a poster to help you identify them. Did you see any of them on your hike? If you did, make notes next to the picture about what it was doing when you saw it. *Challenge - mimic the movements of the lizards you saw. h c t Ma the Tracks Draw a line from the track-maker to the kind of track it makes. Ringtail Roadrunner Hiker Coyote Mountain Lion Lizard Take a Hike Hike up the La Cueva Trail and look for the plants shown below. Place a check mark in the box next to the plant if you find it along the Trail. Also, complete the nature notes on how you felt and what you saw, smelled, and heard on your hike. Sotol Yucca Fish Hook Cactus Nature Notes Prickly Pear Cactus In the box below, draw a plant that you see on the trail and is not pictured above. Do you know its name? Color and Draw Color in the picture and draw some of the plants you see along the trail. The Hermit A man who people called the Hermit lived and died in La Cueva. There is a panel with information about him there. Use that panel to answer the following questions: 1. Where was the Hermit born? 2. What was his real name? 3. When did he die? 4. How did his friends in Mesilla know that something was wrong? Sounds of Nature Sit in one place, close your eyes, and listen. What do you hear? Draw the different things you hear in the space below. Dripping Springs Trail What kind of wildlife did you see on the Trail? Hike Dripping Springs Trail. As you hike, circle the things you see in this picture. Take notes in the box below of what the wildlife was doing and what the historical buildings used to be. Na s e r i p s n I e r tu many rs. d e r i p s n en i aphe r e g b o s t a o h h Nature writers, and phis coyote artists,e inspired by t e or tell a Becom nd either writ oing on here. scene about what is g story a Adaptations Prickly Pear Cactus Western Diamondback Rattlesnake Animals and plants have had to adapt in order to survive. Match the adaptation listed below with the plant or animal that it best fits. Write the numbers in the circles. Ocotillo Ringtail Mule Deer Jackrabbit Roadrunner 1. This animal has adapted to run at high speed through the desert to remain camouflaged, avoid recognition from predators, and to hunt successfully. 2. This animal has excellent eyesight and hearing, which are both helpful adaptations for a nocturnal animal. 3. This plant is a large shrub with long cane-like unbranched spiny stems. It is adapted to its environment by sheding small leaves during dry spells. It has a shallow but wide root system, which it uses to gather rain-water 4. This animal’s large ears help it to lose heat, thereby cooling its body temperature. 5. This plant has an advantage in the desert because it has fixed spines instead of leaves. The green pads produce the plant’s food, and loses less water than leaves. 6. This larger animal has adapted to living in the desert by being active during night and e

Alien Run Mountain Bike Trails NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO The 7,242-acre wilderness is in a badland area of rolling, water-carved clay hills. The area, rich in fossils, has yielded numerous specimens important to science. Alien Run Mountain Bike Trails Ojito Wilderness Alien Run consists of three looped mountain bike trails that cover more than 26 miles. The original loop and the Outer Limits Trail encircle a rumored UFO crash site. The trail features swooping flow trail, rim riding, slickrock sections, and tight turns through the piñon-juniper woodland. The Alien Run Outer Limits extension features rocky climbs and plunging downhills. The trail is known for including one of the largest selections of slickrock in New Mexico. Deep, meandering arroyos offer miles of terrain in which to wander amid canyons, cliffs, and some colorful geological formations. Summer monsoon rains often provide just enough rain to make this area flourish with blooming desert plants. Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness Angel Peak Scenic Area Within this 10,000-acre area rises the scenic Angel Peak, at nearly 7,000 feet. A short nature trail leads to an overlook of blue and gray shale badlands formed from floodplains of ancient rivers. Angel Peak has three picnic areas with ADA accessible toilets. The campground has nine sites available for tent camping. There are ADA accessible restrooms. No drinking water or electrical hookups are available. Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness A favorite with photographers for its hoodoo formations, the wilderness is a remote, desolate area of steeply eroded and colorful badlands. Time and natural elements have created strange rock formations here and some of the most extraordinary scenery in New Mexico. Dunes Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area More than 800 acres are available for off-highway vehicle (OHV) enthusiasts in this sand dune area. Glade Run Recreation Area The Glade Run Recreation Area offers many miles of motorized and nonmotorized trails through piñon-juniper woodland with sandstone bluffs, sandy arroyos, and badlands. Jeeps, utility-type vehicles (UTVs), all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), dirt bikes, mountain bikes, equestrians, and hikers will all find a place to play. Ten designated campsites are available at the Brown Springs Campground, which has shelters, picnic tables, campfire rings, two vault toilets, a group shelter with large grill, and a tot lot track for kids on dirt bikes or ATVs. Designated and dispersed camping in the recreation area requires a free permit from the BLM. The recreation area is known for its national class rock crawling, having hosted the Grand Nationals Rock Crawling Championships for many years. The oldest continuously held mountain bike race in the United States, the Road Apple Rally, also takes place here. Details are available in site descriptions or on the map side charts. Bring plenty of water for you and your pet. Many BLM sites do not offer facilities or drinking water. NM Statewide Recreation Brochure BLM/NM/GI-19/006+8000 Looking for a map, book, permit, or recommendation to explore your public lands? Visit the Public Lands Information Center at the BLM’s New Mexico State Office; 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87508. Call (505) 954-2002 or (877) 276-9404 (toll free), or visit www.publiclands.org. Head Canyon Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area Follow us on: www.facebook.com/blmnewmexico www.facebook.com/blmlascruces www.youtube.com/blmnewmexico www.flickr.com/photos/blmnewmexico www.twitter.com/blmnewmexico Bureau of Land Management BLM New Mexico State Office 301 Dinosaur Trail Santa Fe, NM 87508 (505) 954-2000 www.blm.gov/new-mexico/recreation In the “Land of Enchantment,” the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees outdoor recreation and many other activities on more than 13 million acres of public land. New Mexico’s public lands are diverse, encompassing high deserts, rugged lava flows, badlands, deep canyons, wild and scenic rivers, wilderness, and other distinctive landscapes. The majority of BLM-managed public land is open for recreational use, and opportunities abound for hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, horseback riding, off-roading, and other activities. The BLM also manages National Conservation Lands (NCLs), public lands with exceptional qualities. These special areas are managed to conserve and protect nationally significant landscapes recognized for their outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values. They also contain some of New Mexico’s most spectacular landscapes. New Mexico’s NCL units include four national monuments; two national conservation areas; three national scenic and historic trails; two wild and scenic rivers; 18 wilderness areas; and 47 wilderness study areas (WSAs). Those WSAs with legal public access are listed at the end of each mapback section. WSAs are places that are characterized by “naturalness” and that Congress is considering designating and protecting as wilderness—places that offer outstanding opportuni