Incomparable Carlsbad Caverns is in the state’s only National Park. National Monuments include the glistening gypsum dunes of White Sands, the volcanic cone of Capulin Mountain, the prehistoric ruins of Chaco Canyon, Aztec Ruins, Bandelier, and Gila Cliff Dwellings, the Spanish ruins at Gran Quivira, Inscription Rock at El Morro, and the crumbling walls of old Fort Union. In the near future, Valle Grande may be added to the National Park System and will include Valle Caldera, one of the world’s largest volcanic calderas, a mountainous jumble with cool streams, thick coniferous forests, and lush high meadows. NEW MEXICO’S BIG SHARE OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM _by_ H. V. Reeves, Jr.[2] In contemplating the growth of cities and towns, the insatiable suburbs, congested streets and highways, the acres of dump yards for discarded automobiles, legions of billboards upstaging mountain ranges and seashores, and the melancholy predictions of demographers who say that within thirty years there will be twice as many of us, consider this: for New Mexico in particular, the outlook is not utterly bleak. Some ninety years ago, without anything approaching the present-day horrible example before them, some farsighted, selfless, tireless individuals began to work to set aside areas of outstanding scenic, scientific, and historical interest so that they would not be engulfed by humanity. Often against strong opposition, these benefactors succeeded in bringing about legislation that bounded many such areas and defined laws to protect them. The areas became national parks, monuments, and historic sites. And in 1916, the National Park Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, was established to administer the units of the National Park System. Today, other selfless individuals are contributing their time and effort to bring additional areas into the National Park System before they are lost forever. For example, Pecos ruins became a National Monument in late 1966 (see page 106). Not every suggested area possesses the qualities that merit preservation, qualities of national significance. Proposed areas receive careful study before they are recommended for inclusion within the system—recommended to the Congress by the Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary’s recommendations are based on those received from the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments. This board is composed of eleven private citizens, each of whom is competent in one or more of the following fields: history, natural history, archeology, architecture, conservation, and recreation. Diverse in character, New Mexico’s ten units of the National Park System are of geologic, scenic, archeological, and historical interest. A visit to each unit will disclose the qualities that have been judged to be of national significance. Carlsbad Caverns National Park