National Monuments in den Vereinigten Staaten

The Fort Ord National Monument holds some of the last undeveloped natural wildlands on the Monterey Peninsula. Located on the former Fort Ord military base, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) protects and manages 35 species of rare plants and animals along with their native coastal habitats. Habitat preservation and conservation are primary missions for the Fort Ord Public Lands but there are also more than 86 miles of trails for the public to explore on foot, bike or horseback.

For more information please visit: www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/hollister/fort_ord/index.html

Located at the crossroads of the Cascade, Klamath, and Siskiyou mountain ranges, scientists have long recognized the outstanding ecological values of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. The convergence of three geologically distinct mountain ranges resulted in an area with remarkable biological diversity. The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail meanders 19 miles through the monument, offering challenging hikes with stunning views.

• Currently closed to the public.

Image title: World war 2 plane wreckage

Image from Public domain images website, http://www.public-domain-image.com/full-image/miscellaneous-public-domain-images-pictures/world-war-2-plane-wreckage.jpg.html

San Juan Islands National Monument

The amazing San Juan Islands of Washington state offer a plethora of incredible sights, exciting recreation opportunities, and memories for a lifetime.

To learn more about your public lands on the San Juans and to plan a warm weather visit to this uniquely beautiful locale, visit <a href="http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/sanjuans/" rel="nofollow">www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/sanjuans/</a>

February's #nationalconservationlands, BLM Winter Bucket List, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument in Arizona for Its Dark Sky Park Status

The Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument is a vast remote landscape where the only nighttime light comes from the stars. The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) recognized the unspoiled quality of its pristine and breathtaking night skies with an official IDA designation as “Parashant International Night Sky Province,” joining an elite group of other international Night Sky Places around the globe.

Twenty-two organizations throughout the southwestern United States supported the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument’s nomination for IDA’s “Dark Sky Park” status, including the scientific community. Its pristine “Gold Tier” night sky view creates prime research and discovery opportunities.

The scenery continues to impress during the day at this rugged corner of northern Arizona, with views stretching from the lower portion of the Grand Canyon to the pine clad peaks of Mount Trumbull and Mount Logan Wilderness Areas. Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument is jointly managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service.

Managed jointly by the BLM and National Park Service, Craters of the Moon National Monument is a uniquely preserved volcanic landscape whose central focus is the Great Rift, a 62-mile long crack in the Earth’s crust. Craters, cinder coves, lava tubes, deep cracks and vast lava fields form a strangely beautiful volcanic sea on central Idaho’s Snake River Plain.

Local legends made references to the landscape resembling the surface of the moon. In fact, the second group of astronauts to walk on the moon visited Craters of the Moon in 1969 to study the volcanic geology and to explore an unusual and harsh environment in preparation for their trip to space.

Rising abruptly from the desert floor, the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument reaches an elevation of 10,834 feet at the summit of Mount San Jacinto. Providing a picturesque backdrop to local communities, the national monument significantly contributes to the Coachella Valley’s lure as a popular resort and retirement community.

The 280,000 acre monument is known as a great backcountry destination, with beautiful views and solitude from its readily-accessible trails. The monument also provides unique desert experiences for visitors, like nighttime “scorpion hunts” and dune discovery.

The BLM California manages four of the 21 national monuments within the BLM’s National Conservation Lands. These national monuments encompass landscapes of tremendous beauty and diversity, from rugged California coastline to vividly-hued desert canyons.

During his return trip to St. Louis, William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition climbed the Pillar and carved his signature and the date in the sandstone. Clark wrote, “This rock I ascended and from it’s top had a most extensive view in every direction on the Northerly Side of the river high romantic Clifts approach & jut over the water for Some distance both above and below...I marked my name and the day of the month and year."

This historic carving on the sandstone butte that Clark called a “remarkable rock” has inspired generations of visitors for more than 100 years.

Pompeys Pillar in Montana was proclaimed a national monument in January 2001. Prior to its monument status, it was a designated national historic landmark in 1965. It is located along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

Learn more: www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/billings_field_office/pompeyspill...

Taking its name from one of the longest living trees in the Arizona desert, the 129,000-acre Ironwood Forest National Monument is a true Sonoran Desert showcase. Keeping company with the ironwood trees are mesquite, palo verde, creosote, and saguaro, blanketing the monument floor beneath rugged mountain ranges named Silver Bell, Waterman and Sawtooth. In between, desert valleys lay quietly to complete the setting.Elevations here range from 1,800 to more than 4,200 feet. Three areas within the monument, the Los Robles Archeological District, the Mission of Santa Ana del Chiquiburitac and the Cocoraque Butte Archeological District, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Learn more about Ironwood Forest NM: www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/blm_special_areas/natmon/ironwo...

Physical description: 1 photograph : digital, TIFF file, color.

February #conservationlands15 Social Media Takeover: What is a National Monument?

The Antiquities Act of 1906 was signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt, for “… the protection of objects of historic and scientific interest” through the designation of national monuments by the President and Congress. National monuments are one of the types of specially-designated areas that make up the BLM’s National Conservation Lands.

Some of the earliest national monuments included Devils Tower, the Grand Canyon, and Death Valley. They were initially protected by the War Department, then later by the National Park Service. More recently, the BLM and other Federal agencies have retained stewardship responsibilities for national monuments on public lands. In fact, the BLM manages more acres of national monuments in the continental U. S. than any other agency. This includes the largest land-based national monument, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah featured here.

National monuments under the BLM’s stewardship have yielded numerous scientific discoveries, ranging from fossils of previously unknown dinosaurs to new theories about prehistoric cultures. They provide places to view some of America’s darkest night skies, most unique wildlife, and treasured archaeological resources. In total, twenty BLM-managed national monuments, covering over five million acres, are found throughout the western U. S. and offer endless opportunities for discovery.

Today’s #conservationlands15 Top 15: Places on National Conservation Lands for Night Sky Viewing

The stars really do come out at night on BLM’s National Conservation Lands – and lots of them! Far from city lights, these landscapes offer some of the most outstanding viewing opportunities anywhere. Viewing night skies in some of these remote locations takes some planning. It’s important to contact the local BLM office (linked for each location) to obtain information on camping rules and current road conditions. Here are 15 of the best areas:

Alaska

1. 1 Steese National Conservation Area: Drive out the Steese Highway for some of the best northern lights viewing anywhere. Don’t expect to see this amazing light show in summer – the midnight sun makes the sky too bright!

Arizona

1. 2 Just beyond the glow of the City lights of Phoenix, the Sonoran Desert National Monument offers great dark skies to the south, where the milky arcs across the sky.

1. 3 The high elevations near Mount Trumbell and Mount Logan offer expansive vistas in the Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument whose outstanding night sky viewing opportunities have resulted in its “International Night Sky Province” designation.

California

1. 4 Several Wilderness Study Areas in the Eastern Sierra, including Slinkard (on Monitor Pass) and the Bodie Hills (near Bridgeport), are a world apart from California’s urban coastal areas and contain some of the darkest skies in the golden state.

1. 5 California Coastal National Monument: Although clear skies are difficult to predict along the fogbound coast, the Big Sur, Mendocino Coast and King Range Coast are all far from city lights so you can see stars over the ocean.

Colorado

1. 6 Canyons of the Ancients National Monument: Its easy to contemplate how “the ancient ones” studied the stars in this vast desert landscape near the four corners. Contact the Anasazi Heritage Center for ideas on camping/viewing locations.

1. 7 Alpine Loop: This BLM backcountry byway runs near the Uncompagre Wilderness and both Handies Peak and Redcloud Peak Wilderness Study Areas. The thin air at 11,000 feet seems to make the stars here appear extra crisp.

Idaho

1. 8 Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area: Just a stone’s throw from Boise, this area is truly on the edge of civilization. Overlooks along the north rim of the Snake River Canyon offer great viewing of the dark skies to the south.

Montana

1. 9 Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and Wild and Scenic River: Nothing is more relaxing than floating down a river and sleeping under the stars here in Big Sky Country at night.

Nevada

1. 10 Black Rock Desert High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trail National Conservation Area: Just avoid the last week of August when Burning Man lights up the playa, and you’ll be treated to some of the darkest skies in the U.S.

New Mexico

1. 11 Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument and Wild and Scenic River: Vast volcanic tablelands above the narrow gorge of the river and crisp high elevation rocky mountain skies offer excellent viewing opportunities.

Oregon

1. 12 Steens Mountain Wilderness: Southeast Oregon’s highest peak offers hiking, camping and a scenic drive to the high elevation viewing areas.

Utah

1. 13 Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument: From spectacular Grand Staircase of cliffs and terraces to the wonders of the Escalante River canyons, the monument offers nearly 1.9 million acres to starwatch and explore.

Washington

1. 14 Juniper Dunes Wilderness: Enjoy the open skies and rolling dunes here in the southeast part of the state.

Wyoming

1. 15 South Pass – California-Oregon-Pony Express and Mormon Emigrant Trails: Its easy to imagine the feeling of vastness that the emigrants found here in the mid-1800s as they rested under the stars before hitching up the oxen to continue their arduous trek.

BLM Winter Bucket List #25: Agua Fria National Monument, Arizona, for a Natural and Historic Getaway near Superbowl 49

The 70,900-acre Agua Fria National Monument, a part of the BLM’s National Conservation Lands, is approximately 40 miles north of Phoenix, just a short drive from Superbowl 49 central next week.

The area is located on a high mesa semi-desert grassland, cut by the canyon of the Agua Fria River and other ribbons of valuable riparian forest. The diversity of vegetative communities, topographic features, and a dormant volcano decorates the landscape with a big rocky, basaltic plateau. The Agua Fria River canyon cuts through this plateau exposing precambrian rock along the canyon walls, offering one of the most significant systems of prehistoric sites in the American Southwest. In addition to the rich record of human history, the monument contains outstanding wildlife and biological resources.

This habitat provides visitors with a wide variety of activities within the monument, from exploring cultural sites to viewing wildlife to hiking scenic trails. The monument is a great natural and historic getaway less than an hour from the city.

in Bandelier National Monument.

Location Agate Fossil BedsNational Monument

Description During the 1890s, scientists rediscovered what the Lakota Sioux already knew - bones preserved in one of the most complete Miocene mammal sites in the world. Agate is a landscape that reflects many players – from early animals roaming the valleys and hills, to tribal nations calling the High Plains home, to explorers and ranchers passing through or settling in the American West.

• Horse Mountain is in the background — in Modoc County, northeastern California.
• Densho Encyclopedia: "Between April and August of 1942, Lee shot nearly 600 images of Japanese Americans in California, Oregon, and Idaho. … Between June and July, he took four color photographs of Tule Lake before moving on to Oregon."

Location George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Description George Washington, America’s first and greatest hero, was crucial to the establishment of the United States as a nation founded on the principles of liberty. George Washington Birthplace preserves the heart of the Washington lands and a memorial plantation. Here, in the peace and beauty of this place untouched by time, the staunch character of our hero comes to the imagination.

The Browns Canyon National Monument in Colorado will protect a stunning section of Colorado’s upper Arkansas River Valley. Located in Chaffee County near the town of Salida, Colorado, the 21,586-acre monument features rugged granite cliffs, colorful rock outcroppings, and mountain vistas that are home to a diversity of plants and wildlife, including bighorn sheep and golden eagles. Members of Congress, local elected officials, conservation advocates, and community members have worked for more than a decade to protect the area, which hosts world-class recreational opportunities that attract visitors from around the globe for hiking, whitewater rafting, hunting and fishing. In addition to supporting this vibrant outdoor recreation economy, the designation will protect the critical watershed and honor existing water rights and uses, such as grazing and hunting. The monument will be cooperatively managed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and USDA’s National Forest Service.

Learn more: www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/rgfo/browns_canyon_national.html

Fundort: Fossil-Lake, Wyoming, USA

Zeitalter : Eozän - 55,8 Millionen Jahren und dauerte bis vor etwa 33,9 Millionen Jahren

Größe: 11.5cm

The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in New Mexico was established on May 21, 2014, by Presidential Proclamation, and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Monument includes 496,330 acres, and was established to protect significant prehistoric, historic, geologic, and biologic resources of scientific interest. The National Monument includes three distinct regions: Organ Mountains, Desert Peaks, and Potrillo Mountains.

Learn more and plan your visit: on.doi.gov/1i5rYAW

(1 in a multiple picture album) When the wagon trains encountered an impediment to their progress they called it a 'break'. Early settlers mistook the Utah junipers, found at lower elevations, for Cedar trees. Thus, the name Cedar Breaks was given. Prior to this, the Paiutes named the Cedar Breaks amphitheater 'Circle of Painted Cliffs' or 'un-cap-i-un-ump.' There was a forest fire burning to the west which accounts for the haze.

This photograph shows the remains of the base of the St. Francis Dam. After its collapse in 1928 the remaining blocks, including what had been the the large center section which had remained standing, were blasted and jack hammered. This was done in order to discourage sightseers and to avoid additional accidents after a teen fell to his death after ascending the remaining standing block of the concrete dam. Nevertheless, some of the steps that defined the face of the curved concrete gravity dam are visible in the foreground of these remains. This image differs from the original digital photograph; the contrast and color saturation have been modestly enhanced.