There is an important time in any young person’s life when they feel anything is possible. They are open to new things and new ideas and they truly come into their own as individuals.
As a leader for Groundwork Doña Ana County (GWDA), a non-profit youth conservation and education group based in Las Cruces, I have had the pleasure of getting to know some remarkable young people as they have expanded their own horizons by exploring and working to preserve the world around them.
Our group has been surveying and learning about the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks (OMDP) region near Las Cruces. This is a majestic area filled with biological, archeological and geologic wonders has been our classroom – and it is a classroom that all New Mexicans should be able to enjoy for all time if it can gain status as a National Monument.
This summer and fall, a GWDA crew of 15 local young people, known as the “Green Team,” worked beside archaeologists and anthropologists to survey and map hundreds of significant artifacts at dozens of locations within the proposed OMDP National Monument.
The Green Team documented and left in place diverse artifacts including projectile points, petroglyphs and pictographs, ground stone tools, as well as other evidence that is highly suggestive of habitation practices. Some of these unique artifacts date between CE 400 to the mid 16th century, the time of Spanish occupation in our area; while others date back thousands of years to the Archaic Period.
The experience provided Green Team members with valuable work skills, a broadened understanding of career paths in cultural and natural resource stewardship, and a greater appreciation of the rich, cultural history waiting to be discovered on public lands within the proposed Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.
According to Angel Peña, an archaeologist from the region, there are thousands of archaeological sites filled with similar artifacts that have yet to be studied. Less than five percent of these wildlands have been surveyed professionally by archaeologists.
This is all the more reason why our students came away with a strong sense that these lands deserve national monument protection and that efforts to protect such places are starting to gain momentum. Our very own Senators Udall and Heinrich are strong advocates for Organ Mountains protection.
And just last week, U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell reiterated the President’s commitment to public lands, saying he is “is ready and willing to step up” when Congress fails to act to protect special places. Earlier this year he created the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument near Taos in northern New Mexico, which was a huge statement.
Now, President Obama has the opportunity to finish the job and book-end our state with another monument designation for the people of southern New Mexico.
I hope Interior Secretary Jewel will watch our video and come out for a tour to see what Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks means to our community – especially the young people who will grow here, raise their families here and someday teach their children about values of protecting special places.
November 07, 2013