Gated Community

This was my desert.  I used to walk through here and take photos all of the time.  It was called the West Desert Preserve and was state trust land (held for education).


Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold paid the state $29,640,000 for the 2,100-acre West Desert Preserve and 6,200 acres of existing mine tailings. They renamed the land the West Desert Trails and kept it open for recreational use but with a (free) permit.

Freeport needed the preserve land because there had been some whispers that local wells had been contaminated by the chemicals used in ore extraction.  They needed some mitigation wells.

Ten new wells were dug to help monitor the area’s sulfate plume and track its proximity to drinking water wells. Work took about a year.  Trucks periodically park at the end of my road and/or drive through the gate so we are constantly reminded that it isn't our  desert land anymore.

I thought I was locked out of this entrance for at least the past 3 (blip) years, at which time I stopped taking photos of the desert. I was very bitter about it. However, as I was taking shots from this side of the fence, a man and woman greeted me then lifted a latch on the gate and walked right through! Boy, did I feel stupid.

I had jumping cholla cactus chunks stuck to my shoes when I got home just from being on the outside of the fence. If I'm going to suffer the consequences of being in the desert I might as well enjoy the benefits!

It looks like once I can walk again it will be occasionally in the desert!