
A happy end of the day after Meet The Monument. Volunteers, Board of Directors and planning team with our new banner.

Desert Bighorn Sheep at Ironwood Forest National Monument. Photo courtesy Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Lahsha Brown, Executive Director of the Friends, providing information about the Ironwood Forest at the 10th Anniversary of the Sonoran Desert National Monument.

A baby Desert Tortoise at Ironwood Forest National Monument. Some of the best habitat for Desert Tortoises to survive is found within the 129,000 acre Monument. Photo Drew Milsom.

U of A student helps remove buffelgrass from the steep, rocky slopes of El Cerrito Represso on National Public Lands Day 2011.

A lone Organ Pipe cactus grows on the Ironwood Forest. It is one of three northern most individuals of this species, outside of their “normal” range. Photo BLM.

A sea of California poppies blanket the hill side in spring at Ironwood Forest National Monument. Photo BLM.

Gary Borax and other volunteers from the Dove Mountain and Heritage Highlands communities in Marana regularly help with restoration projects, like pulling buffelgrass, on Ironwood Forest National Monument.

Non-native, invasive buffelgrass greens up and grows quickly during our two rainy seasons – monsoon and winter. It then dries out very quickly, creating a huge fire potential in a landscape that did not evolve with frequent fire.

You will not find paved roads, visitor centers, or manicured trails, but you may discover a sense of wonder, exploration, and adventure in a landscape of humbling beauty.

Bow hunting is very popular in the Ironwood Forest National Monument, especially for deer and javalina. Photo BLM.

An Old Saguaro near Walcott and Ragged Top Mountains stands watch over the valley below, as it has done for centuries.

A close look at the endangered Nichols Turk’s Head Cactus. One of only three known populations grows in the Waterman Mountains in the Ironwood Forest National Monument. They get their name from a spiral they develop as they grow taller, resemlbing a Turk’s turbine.Photo Carianne Campbell – Arizona Native Plant Society

Ragged Top Mountain, centrally located within the Ironwood Forest is a popular tourist destination. photo BLM

Ironwood Forest National Monument Recreational Shooting Site Before Clean-up by the Friends of Ironwood Forest