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  • Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail

    The Process of a Journey: A review of Pilgrimage to Magdalena

    • Locations: Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
    The Pilgrimage to Magdalena. A Documentary by Border Community Alliance.

    Border Community Alliance (BCA) created an award-winning film, “Pilgrimage to Magdalena”. This 30-minute film documents the centuries-old, cross-border October pilgrimage of hundreds of people each year to Magdalena, Sonora, site of the Saint Maria Magdalena Church. Read the review of the film in Spanish and English.

  • Guadalupe Mountains National Park

    The Guadalupe Mountains Wilderness

    • Locations: Guadalupe Mountains National Park
    A hiker stands in the Guadalupe Mountains Wildeerness

    Guadalupe Mountains National Park is home to the largest and oldest Wilderness in the state of Texas. In 1978, 46,850 acres of the park’s high country were designated as wilderness by Congress. Designated and eligible wilderness comprise 95% of the park’s area.

    • Locations: Saguaro National Park
    • Offices: Sonoran Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network
    A pool of water in a bedrock-lined desert drainage.

    Climate and water shape ecosystems and the services they provide, particularly in arid places like the Sonoran Desert. We monitor climate, groundwater, and 16 springs at the park to help managers protect park resources. Understanding how climate and water may be changing over time can also help explain changes in plants and animals on the park.

    • Locations: Tumacácori National Historical Park
    • Offices: Sonoran Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network
    Tumacácori mission church as seen from above, set in trees with mountains in the background.

    Sonoran Desert Network scientists monitor key resources and weather at Tumacácori National Historical Park by taking measurements throughout the year, which helps us notice changes over time. This report summarizes weather, groundwater, and springs data from Water Year 2022. The data indicate the park's groundwater is rising slightly. WY2022 was warm and wet overall, though most precipitation was due to three extreme months of rainfall making up for otherwise dry conditions.

    • Locations: Tuzigoot National Monument
    • Offices: Sonoran Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network
    A pond among tan, dry reeds and grasses contrasts the deep blue sky. Mountains loom in the ground.

    Sonoran Desert Network scientists monitor climate and water at Tuzigoot National Monument by taking measurements throughout the year. This report summarizes climate and springs data from Water Year 2022. Monitoring these key natural resources at the park helps us detect changes over time. The data indicate the park had a relatively dry year, though the spring was wet for all 173 days monitored. Maximum temperatures were warmer than previous averages.

  • Wesley crouching by a desert plant

    Meet Wesley Reverdy from France who spent summer 2022 volunteering with the Sonoran Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network and Chihuahuan Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network. He used his background in natural resource management to participate in studies to determine the current state of wildlife, plant species, water, air, and climate and monitor long-term trends.

  • Guadalupe Mountains National Park

    Frijole Ranch During the Smith Years

    • Locations: Guadalupe Mountains National Park
    A black and white photograph of a ranch compound in a desert mountain landscape

    For thirty-six years John Thomas Smith raised ten children and carved out a life on the foothills of the Guadalupe Mountains. The historic ranch that visitors see today changed over time, but still bears the indelible mark of the Smith family's time here.

  • Guadalupe Mountains National Park

    The Pioneer Legacy of Frijole Ranch

    • Locations: Guadalupe Mountains National Park
    Members if the Smith family stand near the Frijole Ranch with a deer in the 1930s.

    The Frijole Ranch area has been a focal point of human use in the Guadalupe Mountains for many centuries. This is not surprising when one considers that Pine, Juniper, Smith, Manzanita, and Frijole springs are all within a two-mile radius of the Frijole Ranch site. The ranch is a legacy of westward settlement.

    • Locations: Arches National Park, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Colorado National Monument,
    • Offices: Geologic Resources Division
    streaks of black desert varnish on a red rock wall

    Ever wondered what those dark lines were on the rock walls of canyon country? These black, brown, and red streaks are called desert varnish.

    • Locations: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
    • Offices: Sonoran Desert Inventory & Monitoring Network
    The blue and orange sunset behind the silhouette of unique ruins.

    Sonoran Desert Network scientists take measurements of key resources at Casa Grande Ruins to understand how natural resources in the park may be changing over time. This report summarizes analyses of weather and groundwater data from water year 2022. The data indicate the park is in mild drought though groundwater levels remain stable. Temperatures were warmer than average. Ten months had below average rainfall, but two months experiencing extreme precipitation.

Last updated: July 26, 2023

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