By Patrick Nolan
Friends of OMDP
You are cordially invited to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.
On May 21, 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument. This was the culmination of the tireless work of our community and officials to protect our lands for generations to come. We raised our voices loud enough for the president of the United States to hear us, and that is a remarkable thing.
To mark the five-year anniversary, the Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks will be hosting a celebration on May 18 at the Las Cruces Convention Center to commemorate the transformative impact the monument has had, and will continue to have, on our community. We are pleased to announce that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will be our keynote speaker.
In the past five years, we have seen visitation to the monument nearly double, bringing with it an increase in tourism to the Mesilla Valley.
The business community has benefitted from this new spotlight on our area, with everything from wine, food, and clothing being branded in relation to the monument. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the monument’s designation has been one of the most consequential events to occur in our region both for our economy and community at large.
We hope you will be able to attend this celebration of a place we all cherish and love.
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