The Ironwood Forest National Monument in Arizona is home to rich, drought-adapted vegetation and areas of scientific interest significant enough to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The varied landscape of the Monument contributes to the area's high level of biological diversity. Ironwoods, known to live in excess of 800 years, greatly influence an understory of plants which form critical habitat for many threatened and endangered species. For example, the Monument's resident population of desert bighorn sheep is considered to be the last viable population indigenous to the Tucson region.

Impacts of Off-road Vehicles: Off-road vehicle routes criss-cross the 129,000 acre Monument. According to Bureau of Land Management (BLM), off-road vehicle use is restricted in less than 3,000 acres, including 800 acres that are closed in order to protect critical habitat for desert big horn sheep. The agency states that "the existing 800 acres of closed area is woefully inadequate for conservation of a wide-ranging species such as the desert big horn sheep."

The most serious impact on the Monument could be associated with off-road vehicle travel through desert washes. A wash is a water channel that fills only during periods of rain or snowmelt. In general, washes are surrounded by dense vegetation which helps to keep the air temperature cooler than in more open areas. BLM's analysis has determined that recreational off-road vehicle use in washes "degrades habitat for desert tortoise, pygmy owls as well as a host of other species�.. The effects, [of wash running] (soil compaction, erosion, vegetation destruction, disturbance, accidental death, deliberate poaching), are immediate and long-lasting." Cross-country off-road vehicle use also cuts through other travel corridors important to big horns.

Requirements of Presidential Proclamation:
"For the purposes of protecting the objects [identified above], the Secretary of the Interior shall prohibit all motorized and mechanized vehicle use off road, except for emergency or authorized administrative purposes."

This provision requires the BLM to end cross-country travel and limit motorized use to designated roads.

Back to BLM National Monuments