Session one of this two-session course will cover biodiversity champions. The legal mandate for National Monuments is to preserve areas of historical, cultural and/or biodiversity significance. We will explore Organ Pipe, Sonoran Desert, Basin and Range, Mojave Trails, and Grand Staircase Escalante. We’ll spend some time in Joshua Tree and Death Valley. They were National Monuments before they were National Parks. Our emphasis is on the animals and plants and the remarkable adaptations they have acquired to survive in the harsh conditions of the Mohave and Sonoran Deserts. Session two will cover monuments of Native American significance. Despite the harsh conditions, an ancient and robust indigenous culture lived in the U.S. Southwest in pre-Columbian times, going back as far as the earliest known human presence in North America. We will explore Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Aztec, Montezuma’s Castle and Well, Tonto, Casa Grande, Wupatki, Petrified Forest, Bosque Redondo, Petroglyph and Rio Grande del Norte National Monuments. Mesa Verde National Park, while not a monument, is included, because it had a strong influence on many of the surrounding cultures.