Friends of the Organ Mountains

Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks (FOMDP) was founded as a grassroots organization to garner support for the establishment of a national monument. This goal was achieved in 2014 with the Obama administration using the Antiquities Act to create the OMDP National Monument. Although we continue to celebrate this designation to this day, we believe that there is still a lot of work to be done regarding the continued protection of the Organ Mountains Desert-Peaks. The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks is located in a border community. Prior to establishment, many concerns were raised about border security with one part of the monument being close to the border. This means that the national monument is uniquely placed in a community that has historically been excluded from the outdoors and currently experiences the struggles of living within the 100-mile jurisdiction of the Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP). Being a border community, the idea of designating these lands as a national monument brought up contentions about border security. After the monument establishment, and shortly after threats to dissolve/shrink the monument, the organization has shifted its focus to ensuring that our community, made up of people who have recently arrived in the United States and people who have been here for generations, understand that the surrounding public lands were protected for them. The landscape is for them to use, to recreate, and to learn. Our organization hopes to establish a sense of belonging and ownership to these lands so that our community has a sense of responsibility for maintaining and protecting these lands for generations to come. The shift to programming began in 2019 and has grown to a popular program today. Friends of OMDP has been approached by various community groups to bring outdoor programming to their youth groups. We hope to grow the Moving Montañas presence throughout Doña Ana County as we continue to cultivate an appreciation for our public lands. This growth will be defined by the establishment of our own unique programming that directly recruits from community members. Currently we utilize our partnership network, and will continue to do so, but want to evolve and grow the programming to also include our own stand alone programming. We are seeing this strategy be effective on our outdoor clubs. We are looking to expand on that to include more after school clubs, summer programming as well as programming to be offered during long school year break (Fall and Spring Breaks).