Nearby the brick, concrete, rock and steel smelter are mine tailings as well as the trash left behind by the miners.

The mine and smelter was operated by Tom Childs, Jr. in the early 1900s and it is believed to have been abandoned sometime before the 1920s. Most mines in Arizona, particularly small mines such as this one, did not have its own smelter. All the ore was packed and hauled to a nearby smelter for processing. The Papago Chief’s copper ore was processed in place. Presently the smelter is in great shape and should be appreciated for its contribution to Arizona’s local history and a legally protected archaeological site.

Tom Childs was local miner and cattleman who worked the local deserts from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. He was born in Yuma, AZ in 1870. Together with his father Tom Childs, Sr. they prospected and ranched in southern Arizona.

In 1912 Tom Child Sr. and Jr. sold their interest in a copper claim in Ajo to Calumet and Arizona Company. After some years of operation this company became part of the Phelps Dodge Corporation. The Childs would certainly be astonished to see Ajo today and what became of their claim.

Tom married a local Tohono O’dham[1] woman, and had twelve children. The most famous of his children, Fillman Childs Bell became an author and historian.

Tom Childs served Arizona as a territorial and state legislator.

Unfortunately I could not determine when Tom Childs passed away, but his contribution to the area continues to remind us of the people who also loved the Sonoran desert as we do today.

For more information about Tom Childs or the history of the area from Organ Pipe National Monument to Gila Bend go to Ajo Copper News www.cunews.info  or read Dry Borders Great Natural Reserves of the Sonoran Desert, edited by Richard Stephen Felger and Bill Broyles, University of Utah Press, 2007

This important conservation law was passed at a time that much of our nation’s natural and cultural heritage was being exploited for the short term profits of a few people. Today nearly two dozen sites have been designated national monuments in Arizona alone, most of which are national parks.

Presently our natural and cultural resources on public land are experiencing some of the same threats that were faced earlier in our history. Some mining, energy development, logging interests are hoping to develop more of our public land for their operations and they are using some members of congress to make it easier to use these lands and harder for the rest of us to protect our public land from destruction. These congressmen want to limit the president’s ability to declare national monuments by requiring approval by the legislatures of states where the national monuments are to be located. Needless to say these lands are federal lands, owned by all Americans, and are not state lands. Can you image the Arizona state legislature making additional decisions about land management? They cannot even manage the state’s land and property. They had to sell parts of the state capital to balance the state’s budget and now they lease the property back. Wow!

When the Grand Canyon was declared a national monument in 1908 there were considerable efforts to privatize the Grand Canyon. There was even a suggestion to sell drinking water to thirsty Grand Canyon visitors. Fortunately, Theodore Roosevelt with the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906, which by the way was passed with bipartisan support, declared the Grand Canyon a national monument in 1908.

Our current 112^th Congress recently passed HR4089, the Sportsmen’s Heritage Act. The bill is sitting in the Senate waiting to be scheduled for debate. One of the bad parts of this bill is to reduce the president’s ability to designate national monuments by requiring approval of the states where the national monument will be located.

Let’s let our Senators know that we appreciate our national monuments and we support the president’s authority to designate national monuments so that we do not lose our natural and cultural heritage for the short term profits of a few people. If HR4089 was the law in 2011 we would not have the Sonoran Desert or Ironwood Forest National Monuments. If HR4089 was the law in 1908 we might not have the Grand Canyon National Park and what a shame that would be for all Americans, including the millions of foreign visitors who will never forgets its grandeur and the American idea of public land.

Turtles have been on the earth for more than 200 million years! They evolved before mammals, birds, snakes, and lizards. Many zoologists believe that turtles survived so long because of their unique shells. The upper shell is called a carapace and the lower shell a plastron.

Despite their protective shell, they are vulnerable and need our protection. Over collection, habitat destruction and fragmentation, disease and climate change are serious threats to turtle survival. This World Turtle Day, and every day be kind to turtles.

The Sonoran Desert National Monument is home to two species of turtle, the Sonoran Desert Tortoise Gopherus morafkai and the Arizona Mud Turtle Kinosternon arizonense.

Sonoran desert tortoises are masters of their environment. They survive the hot dry summers by spending most of their lives in burrows where temperature and humidity are amenable to them. They surface when conditions are favorable to eat and breed. Their most active time is in the spring where they forage and build up fat reserves and water which is stored in their bladder. Most of their water comes from the plants they eat.

Desert Tortoise

Height: 4-6 inches

Length: 9 – 15 inches

Weight:  8 – 15 lbs.

Lifespan: 50 – 80+ years; Females do not breed until they are 15 – 20 years old.

Diet: grasses, forbs (Non-grass annuals i.e. wildflowers), some shrubs, new cactus growth and flowers

Reproduction

Mating Season: Late summer to early fall

Gestation: 10 – 12 months

Clutch size: 4 -6 eggs

Habitat

Rocky foothills, desert washes throughout the Sonoran Desert National Monument where suitable burrows are available or easily constructed. Desert tortoises may use the same burrow for many years.

Conservation

Collecting or harassing wild desert tortoises is illegal in Arizona. If you encounter a desert tortoise in the wild please do not handle it. Desert tortoises may release the contents of their bladders as a defense mechanism against predators. A tortoise with an empty bladder may succumb to dehydration.

Important Note: The FSDNM has been conducting tortoise surveys for the last two months. No tortoises have been observed in the northern part of the SDNM. It is very dry and there is very little forage available. The tortoises in this area will undoubtedly remain in their burrows until conditions improve.

For more information about Sonoran desert tortoises and how you can have one as a pet go to www.azgfd.gov or www.reptilesofaz.org

Arizona Mud Turtle

The Arizona mud turtle is perhaps the rarest inhabitant of the Sonoran Desert Nation Monument. Like the desert tortoise they have adapted to conditions that make them a remarkable animal.

Natural History

The Arizona mud turtle has a yellowish-brown carapace and a yellow plastron. It reaches about 6 inches in length. The neck and throat are yellow or cream, and the neck has small tubercles for sensing prey in their sometimes muddy habitat.

Distribution

The Arizona mud turtle is limited in Arizona to the south-central part of the state, mostly on the Tohono O’odham Nation. Only one specimen has been identified in the SDNM. It is also found in north central Mexico.

Habitat

This species is usually encountered in rain filled temporary bodies of water, such as charcos or stock tanks, pools, or roadside ditches within various p Sonoran desert communities.

Reproduction

Mating occurs in the summer and eggs are laid in underground nests. Incubation is about 11 months. Young turtles will hatch when the monsoon returns.

Special thanks to Randy Babb for providing the image of the Arizona Mud Turtle and to Tom Brennan for providing the natural history information on this special turtle.

For more information about the Arizona Mud Turtle go to: www.azgfd.gov or www.reptilesofaz.org

photo taken by Greg Joder, AZGFD

5:00 am – 3:00 pm

Join the FSDNM and the Sierra Club for a hike in the SDNM to monitor an endangered species. Registration required and limited.

Four mile roundtrip hike in rugged desert mountains. Experienced hikers only.

We will carpool from the Phoenix area. High clearance vehicles required.

To register, please contact:

Tiffany Sprague
602.253.9140
tiffany.sprague@sierraclub.org

The BLM’s original proposal incorporated several management strategies that the FSDNM and others found encouraging. The establishment of dedicated wildlife travel corridors between the SDNM and other protected areas, the elimination of redundant roads, setting aside lands for their wildland characteristics and the elimination of livestock grazing in one allotment are seen as promising proposals.

Some people were disappointed that restoration of degraded lands and special areas as the Vekol Valley received little attention. Hopefully the plan released on May 4 will cover these topics.

Friends of the Sonoran Desert National Monument members and others can be assured that the FSDNM is dedicated to seeing that these SDNM is managed in the spirit of National Conservation Lands as reflected in the BLM’s Strategic Plan. We’ve recently included a portion of the about section dedicated to the Principles of the National Conservation Lands.

To receive a copy of the Proposed Resource Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement contact the BLM:

Blm_az_ls_sdnm_plan@blm.gov or call 623.580.5500 or 623.580.5526

The BLM website: http://www.blm.gov/az/

The Conservation Lands Foundation, the Wilderness Society and the National Trust for Historical Preservation published the National Conservation Lands 2012 Policy Handbook to make these principles widely available to the public.

After reading the Principles of National Conservation Lands I am sure you will agree with me that this plan takes serious our knowledge of conservation and how we should use science to guide our decisions on how our public land should be managed. The Sonoran Desert National Monument is a small fraction of the Sonoran desert which is several million acres is size and lies within three nations. As nature would have it, what occurs on one part of the Sonoran desert will affect other parts. Take for example issues such as development, highways, border security and climate change.

The FSDNM is dedicated to see that the National Conservation Lands are successful and that we can all be proud to leave futures generations a priceless inheritance, ecologically healthy and intact public land within even larger landscape.

Principles of the National Conservation Lands

In creating the National Landscape Conservation System in 2001 (referred to here as the National Conservation Lands), Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt outlined a clear vision for how the Conservation Lands should be managed. Additionally he articulated how they are different from other protected lands systems and how the Bureau of Land Management could evolve into an agency recognized for its conservation management.  The following defining principles of the National Conservation Lands are drawn from Secretary Babbitt’s overall vision, as well as from the collective input of many organizations that foster that vision.

Vision Statement

Conservation, protection and restoration of ecological resources and the protection of cultural resources is of paramount importance. Inclusion of lands within the National Conservation Lands will guarantee these protections.

Principles

The National Conservation Lands are a permanent, innovative and distinctive system of protected public lands and waters that stands proudly alongside the National Park System and the National Wildlife Refuge System as part of our national heritage.

The National Conservation Lands protect the largest tracts of natural landscapes practicable and includes entire ecosystems and archeological districts rather than small, isolated artifacts or parcels.

Lands within the National Conservation Lands remain undeveloped. Visitor services, including visitor center facilities, lodging and other accommodations are located in the communities adjacent to Conservation Lands.

The conservation and protection of the National Conservation Lands is a top priority within the Bureau of Land Management.

The National Conservation Lands are managed to ensure ecological connectivity in context with surrounding landscapes to maintain biodiversity. The BLM integrates habitat connectivity, the migratory needs of wildlife, and the anticipated impacts of climate change in its management plans and decisions.

The National Conservation Lands include natural landscapes, native biodiversity, and nationally significant historic and cultural resources.

Visitors to the National Conservation Lands enjoy a unique, self-directed experience with minimal on-site developed interpretation.

 The National Conservation Lands are an outdoor laboratory, where scientific research and the application of science to land stewardship and restoration is emphasized, encouraged and supported.

National Monuments and National Conservation Areas are the most well-known and recognized of the National Conservation Lands. Although different in name, the management of these two designated areas is typically very similar– both are managed with a focus on conservation of the resources they were designated to protect.

In fact, the language creating each National Monument and National Conservation Area is unique to that area, in order to address the specific values and issues relating to the individual place. In general, both designations allow for broad access while protecting the natural and cultural resources.

Bring water bottles and wear shoes and clothes suitable for sunny weather. Snacks and tools will be provided.

Buffelgrass has been seen on the SDNM and the FSDNM is going to nip this problem in the bud before it spreads further and threatens the natural values of the monument.

Buffelgrass was introduced into the U.S. and northern Mexico from Africa has livestock forage. Like many non-native species it thrived here because it has few pests and could easily out-compete native plants for moisture, nutrients, sunlight and space. An additional advantage is that buffelgrass responds favorably to wildfire whereas native Sonoran desert plants did not evolve with wildfire as a factor. When wildfires occur native plants easily succumb to the flames whereas buffelgrass roots will re-sprout as soon as conditions permit.

5:00 am – 12:00 pm

FSDNM volunteers will survey several areas in the SDNM and record the locations of desert tortoises. This information will be used to document the status of the desert tortoise in the SDNM.

Bring water bottles and wear shoes and cloths suitable for sunny weather.

Snacks and tools will be provided.

Email to register and receive directions: info@sonorandesertfriends.org

8:00 am – 1:00 pm

Join the FSDNM and Sierra Club for a morning cleaning up trash in the SDNM.

Bring water bottles and wear shoes and cloths suitable for sunny weather.

Snacks and tools will be provided.

Email to register and receive directions: info@sonorandesertfriends.org

Time: 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Where: Starpointe Residents’ Club, 17665 W. Elliot Rd., Goodyear, AZ

Learn about the intriguing reptilian and amphibian animals living in the Sonoran Desert National Monument. Randy Babb from the Arizona Game and Fish Department will introduce you to these fascinating animals at this free presentation. The monument and the nearest wilderness area in the Southwest Valley are less than 12 miles from Estrella Mountain Ranch.