First Article!

Saguaro National Park houses a plethora of different flora and fauna unique to the Sonoran Desert; both districts of the Park aim to both preserve this wildlife and its culture; and to provide visitors with a special understanding of those who lived here before us, as well as the significance of the desert. In early 1993, the Rincon Mountain District (East District) was established as the Saguaro National Monument, as an attempt to protect Saguaros and other young cacti from popular cattle grazing. In 1961, Kennedy added 15,360 acres of what is now the Tucson Mountain District to the Monument to further protection from cattle grazing as well as from mining. Eventually, in 1994, President Bill Clinton added 21,000 more acres to the Tucson Mountain District, and declared both districts as the 52nd National Park.
But why, almost fifteen years later, is it still important for us to dedicate massive portions of our tax dollars to this organization? Why is it essential to spend extra money on facilities that enable visitors to actually come and visit the Park, while they could just as easily learn everything about it through technology and other available resources? Why not just dedicate our tax dollars to the preservation aspect, and then use the surplus for something else?
Yes, individuals could easily learn about the biological concepts of the Sonoran Desert and the history of the Hohokam and Tohono O’adham peoples through documentaries, books, the internet, and so forth. But most visitors do not come to the park simply to sit in on our naturalist programs or to learn the cultural history of the area. They come to experience, and interpret the Sonoran Desert. True, not every visitor will care about the same saguaro or the same animal. And true, not every visitor will walk away with the same take-home message about why Saguaro National Park is a significant entity. But it is infallible that every single visitor will depart with their own, personal, unique interpretation of various outlets of the park.
Perhaps, one of the saguaros will resemble something noteworthy to Visitor Sue, while that same saguaro means something entirely dissimilar to Visitor Bob—or maybe it will mean nothing at all to Visitor Joe. Perhaps Sue will think that the serene beauty of the Sonoran Desert enables her to understand life on an entirely different scale than she is used to, while Bob will see it as a conduit to escape the materialism and day-to-day drear of his full-time job. Yet, that is not for any of those of us who work here, or anyone else for that matter, to decide. That is the exquisite asset of this park: it means something entirely different to each individual who visits. Every single person who chooses, by their own volition, to pack up their bags and travel from their home to here, comes for a similar, uniting reason. Each visitor wants to experience the park, and know Saguaro National Park for more than its Ironwood Trees or Native American history. To the visitors, the park is more than a historical mining site or home to the unique saguaro cactus. It is an arena through which they will fully be able to capture another, distinct aspect of life as what it means to them and their day-to-day lives.