Lower Sonoran Field Office

The BLM Lower Sonoran Field Office manages 1.4 million acres of public land in south-central Arizona, including the half million acre Sonoran Desert National Monument, located 60 miles southwest of Phoenix. The Monument contains biologically diverse national communities, including large Saguaro cactus forests and contains many significant archaeological and historic sites. In an effort to rehabilitate damage from off-highway vehicles, access to about 20 percent of the monument has been temporarily closed to motorized use. Public lands within this field office are near developed and expanding communities and are heavily used. The lands are managed for multiple use and provide diverse recreational opportunities, mining, wildlife habitat, grazing, and wilderness, all overlaying a rich cultural past. The field office oversees six wilderness areas, four Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail and one property listed on the National Register of Historic Places.