Ideally, national parks and monuments should be “vignettes of primitive America”—naturally evolved landscapes in much the same condition as when first seen by Europeans. In reality they are compromises—beautiful, wild, but still bearing the marks of human occupation. In Saguaro, as we have seen, fire control has produced a forest different from that known to the Indians who once lived here; grazing has depleted the ground cover; and hunting has removed the desert bighorn from its rocky haunts. In these days of burgeoning population, when human influence is affecting every natural landscape, environmental management becomes necessary to approach the ideal of naturalness. This may mean “prescribed burns” to return forests to their earlier state; elimination of grazing; or reintroduction of animals once native to a park. In the summer of 1971, after 2 inches of rainfall, natural burns (caused by lightning strikes) were allowed to run their courses. Some or all of these measures may be taken in Saguaro, in order that future generations will know a piece of the Sonoran Desert as it was in Coronado’s time. The realization of this goal, however diligently we work toward it, seems almost each day to become more difficult of attainment. These desert and mountain environments—which once seemed secure, needing only the continued protection afforded by their status as a national monument—are increasingly imperiled by the works of man. As the city of Tucson sprawls in all directions, the monument’s two divisions, islands in an encroaching sea of civilization, must withstand ever-accelerating hazards. Vandalism takes an increasing toll of the saguaros; housing developments creep toward the monument borders. Smog drifts over the fragile plant communities, threatening to choke them—as the polluted air from Los Angeles is already strangling forests in the distant San Bernardino Mountains. A new awareness that the best-managed preserve cannot thrive independently of what is happening in the surrounding region only emphasizes the difficulty of the task. Saving the saguaros is inevitably tied to the problem of enhancing the quality of life and reversing the degradation of the environment—not only in Tucson but throughout the Southwest. There is no time to waste. Only concerted effort by scientists, resource managers, and the community can assure that our grandchildren will be able to visit a Saguaro National Monument where coyotes howl under the moon, peccaries snort through the washes, and giant cactuses lift bristly green arms into a blue sky. appendix Suggested Reading Arnberger, Leslie P. _Flowers of the Southwest Mountains._ Southwestern Monuments Association, Popular Series No. 7. Globe, Ariz. 1962. Benson, Lyman D. _The Cacti of Arizona._ University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 1969.