Youth Crews Close 25 Abandoned Mines at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Using mostly hand tools, and without disturbing the wilderness around them, three crews of young people from the Arizona Conservation Corps filled 25 abandoned mines at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, shoveling back in the waste rock that had once been dug out of them. Along the way they pulled about 106 fence posts and about 8,900 feet of barbed wire out of the wilderness backcountry.

A crew closes an abandoned mine site at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Credit: National Park Service.

Old hazards, new stewards

Organ Pipe Cactus is not alone: parks across the country, such as Joshua Tree and Kenai Fjords, are using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to close mines and remove safety hazards that have lingered for decades or more. Park geographer Ami Pate led the project at Organ Pipe Cactus, drawing on guidance from staff at Saguaro National Park, a fellow Arizona park, on restoring the mines.

The work ran through the winter and spring of 2023. Besides the digging, the crews learned about the park's designated wilderness and its mining history, and used geospatial technology to map the closures — which is how Pate could estimate the posts and wire they removed.

Crews restore the Senita Basin Mine. Credit: National Park Service.

Filling in, but not erasing

Depending on the site, an abandoned mine may be reclaimed or restored; some need vegetation or water features around them restored, while for others, like these, filling them by hand is all that's needed. The Organ Pipe Cactus mines were six to 10 feet deep. Little of them can be seen now, but the crews left rock cairns and other historic mine markers in place.

"We didn't want to erase these features completely off the landscape because it is part of the history of the park and its mining era," Pate said.

Sharing the park she has worked in for many years was, for her, the most rewarding part. "I most enjoyed working with the Arizona youth crews," she said. "The work was challenging, but you could see the satisfaction they got out of reclaiming wilderness areas and learning about the area's mining history. They were great kids to work with."

Room for bats

At another 22 mines, Bat Conservation International surveyed mine openings and abandoned structures for use by bats and other wildlife. It recorded Townsend's big-eared bats and California leaf-nosed bats, and evidence of the federally vulnerable lesser long-nosed bat.

"We gathered a lot of good information about winter hibernation and summer seasonal sites for bats. For instance, the lesser long-nosed bat comes to the park in the summer to feed on the cactus fruit," Pate said.

Each mine was rated for how bat-friendly it was, and closure recommendations followed from that. Several rated moderate to good, and at least two were excellent habitat, able to host large roosts. Those will be protected: in future restoration projects the Park Service will fit them with bat-friendly closures that keep visitors from accidentally disturbing the animals.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds the resilience and restoration of America's lands, skies and waters and improves conservation and recreation — from repaired trails and campgrounds to invasive species removal and healthy wetlands, grasslands and forests.

Sources

Based on "Youth Crews Close Mines at Organ Pipe National Monument," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.