Monumental Land

The Taos Plateau from San Antonio Mountain

North to Colorado. Mount San Antonio to the left.

When I began writing this story for the current issue of Shadow and Light Magazine it was to be about the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and the Taos Plateau which lies within it. But with recent threats to sell public lands, and the attempts to defund or close many National Monuments, a larger story emerged. The photographs in this story may be from the Monument and Plateau, but the future of our public lands is fraught and that’s the overarching theme today. Our Rio Grande del Norte and the Taos Plateau are but proxies for 137 other National Monuments whose existence is in doubt. 

San Antonio Mountain on the New Mexico-Colorado border.

Sagebrush Plain.

The Rio Grande at Orilla Verde in October.

The Rio Pueblo from the Slide Trail.

San Antonio Mountain in January.

Public lands are our common ground—vast, open, and quietly essential. They draw us in with the promise of solitude, of space, of time slowed to the pace of the river. Anglers cast into clear, cold water where trout rise at dusk. Rafters ride the rapids, swallowed by canyon walls that speak in echoes. Hunters wait in stillness among aspen groves, while families unpack lunches in the shade of cottonwoods. These places invite us to look outward and inward at once. Public lands keep rural towns alive. Outfitters, motels, cafés, and gear shops depend on the steady stream of visitors drawn to the land. The outdoor economy—nearly a trillion dollars strong—grows from the trailhead, the boat ramp, the open gate.

't. Hang in there. Thanks for your patience.