Arizona’s Saguaro. Photo by David Olsen. Tweeted by the US Department of the Interior, 12/16/16.
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge is the second largest wilderness area in Arizona. A campaign by the Arizona Boy Scouts helped establish the refuge in 1939 to protect desert bighorn sheep and other wildlife. The refuge’s name – Kofa – comes from an acronym for one of the area’s most notable mines, the King of Arizona gold mine. Photo of mountains, palo verde & brittlebush by Brian Powell. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 8/18/16.
Taking its name from one of the longest living trees in the Arizona desert, the 129,000-acre Ironwood Forest National Monument is a true Sonoran Desert showcase. Keeping company with the ironwood trees are mesquite, palo verde, creosote, and saguaro – blanketing the monument floor beneath rugged mountain ranges named Silver Bell, Waterman and Sawtooth. The national monument also contains habitat for the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl and desert bighorn sheep. Photo by Bob Wick. Posted on Tumblr by the US Department of the Interior, 3/24/17.