Local opinion: Celebrate the 25th for the Ironwood Forest

Local elected officials have formally honored the now 25-year-old Ironwood Forest National Monument even as the administration may be considering gutting its protections.

To commemorate the occasion, our elected officials in Pima County, the City of Tucson and the Town of Marana all passed proclamations declaring Monday June 9th as Ironwood Forest Day. The Friends of Ironwood Forest came together this past weekend to celebrate the anniversary — as well as push back against threats from the Trump administration to this spectacular place.

Ironwood Forest, just northwest of Tucson, is a local natural treasure that is a prime example of largely undisturbed Sonoran Desert. The monument is a keystone piece of the County’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Yet Washington politicians have our prized refuge in their crosshairs. In April, The Washington Post reported that administration officials put Ironwood Forest on a short list of six monuments they’re considering shrinking, eliminating or otherwise weakening. Officials have not denied the report. The result of such an action would be to hand over our shared national public land to mining companies and other developers. It would prioritize mining over outdoor recreation, extraction over wildlife, the short-term profits of a few over the public good.

A large copper mine exists next to the Ironwood Forest. Industrial mines like this one can permanently destroy a region’s groundwater and wildlife habitat. Even exploratory mining does irreparable harm to these landscapes by fracturing habitat with roads and the use of heavy machinery.

Ironwood Forest is set aside for the benefit of the public in perpetuity. The objects of special scientific interest within the monument include endangered and threatened animals and plants, unique geology and significant cultural history. There are seven mountain ranges and their intervening basins, containing almost 600 plant species along with 121 vertebrate animal species. This diversity of plants and animals are representative of the larger Sonoran Desert. It takes an ecosystem.

For all these reasons and more, the people of this area have reaffirmed our commitment to its protection many times over the years – mostly recently just last week with the proclamations passed by Pima County, Tucson and Marana. Thanks go to them for their recognition and support.

So I would ask the Trump administration: Has anyone given you the authority to trade Ironwood’s wildlife, such as its spectacular and indigenous herd of desert bighorn sheep, for an expanded copper pit? Would you allow major mining companies to strip Ironwood Forest’s largest mountains, which rise to 4,200 feet, and include the Silver Bells, the Waterman and the iconic Ragged Top? What would become of the keystone plant species, such as the largest remaining stand of ironwood trees, along with two species of palo verdes, velvet mesquite and, of course, the saguaro cactus? Do you think the citizens of this region want to see mine tailings instead of their mountain view scape?

The Ironwood Forest has been inhabited by ancient communities dating back at least 5,000 years. There are three places in the monument that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. There are still ongoing archaeological studies, with over 200 historical Hohokam sites already documented. Should these treasures, this heritage, be bulldozed for the profit of a few?

Drive less than an hour from Tucson, or thirty minutes from Marana, and you’re in the monument. That makes it a vital living outdoor classroom for our local schoolchildren. Over 100,000 visitors annually enjoy many recreational uses of the monument, including camping, hiking, hunting, photography, bird watching, mountain biking and horseback riding. Gutting the monument’s protections would eliminate this, for us and for future generations.

Please join us in telling your Congressional representatives to let the administration know that this special place is not for sale or elimination. It’s time for Congress to take a stand for us.

You can learn more about the monument at the Friends of Ironwood Forest website. We organize a variety of hikes, school field trips, community presentations and volunteer workdays during the cooler months. We also offer a free map for visitors wanting to know where they can go to visit or camp.

Happy Anniversary, Ironwood Forest.