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Malpai Borderlands

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Coordinates: 31°31′25″N 108°52′27″W / 31.52361°N 108.87417°W / 31.52361; -108.87417
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The boundaries of the Malpai or Malpais borderlands are indefinite. This map show the region as defined by prehistoric cultures.
The Big Hatchet Mountains in New Mexico rise to 8,356 ft (2,547 m).
The community of Animas, New Mexico is on the northern edge of the Malpai Borderlands.
Skeleton Canyon and the Peloncillo Mountains in Arizona. Geronimo surrendered here in 1886.
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge features some wetlands.
A panorama of the upper Animas Valley.

Malpai Borderlands is a region, or areal feature, along the U.S.-Mexico border at the Arizona and New Mexico state line. It encompasses the extreme southeast corner of Arizona and the southwest corner of New Mexico describe the general vicinity. It includes areas inside the U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico as well as the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora.

The lowest elevations in this area are about 3,700 feet in the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge area. Highest elevation is roughly 8,500 feet above mean sea level (AMSL). Mountain ranges generally run north-south. Terrain is described as including desert shrub, Tobosa grassland, Ponderosa Pine forest, and Douglas Fir. Some cattle ranching takes place in the region. The geomorphic provinces include Madrean and Chihuahuan deserts.

The name "Malpai", relates to a type of "desert pavement", formed by wind (eolian) processes, and is called Malapai.

Etymology[edit]

Malpai is an Americanization of the Spanish word malpaís, which can be translated as bad lands. The word is sometimes spelled Malapai.[1]

Geography[edit]

Location and acreage[edit]

The boundaries of the Malpai Borderlands are indefinite. Located in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona, The Malpai borders Mexico for approximately 75 mi (121 km) and extends northward from the border for up to 50 mi (80 km), covering an area of 2,800 sq mi (7,300 km2) of which about 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km2) is in Hidalgo and Grant counties, New Mexico and 800 sq mi (2,100 km2) is in Cochise County, Arizona.[2] The Malpai Borderlands share the geography of neighboring Mexico, including the Janos Biosphere Reserve, a 2,000 sq mi (5,200 km2) conservation region bordering the New Mexican portion of the Malpai.

Within the larger area the Malpai Borderlands Group of ranchers is devoted to environmentally-sensitive ranching and preservation of the traditional uses of the land. The ranches owned or managed by members of the group total 800,000 acres (320,000 ha) (1,250 sq miles) of which 53 percent on the land is privately owned and 47 percent is publicly owned by the states of New Mexico and Arizona and the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Fewer than 100 families reside on the land.[3]

Also within the Malpai Borderlands is the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona, consisting of 117,464 acres (47,536 ha).[4]

Area under scientific study[edit]

A wide array of individuals and organizations are eyeing competing demands on these lands. The US Forest Service, Arizona Geological Survey, US Geological Survey, Natural Resource Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service), University of New Mexico, The Nature Conservancy, New Mexico Department of Fish and Game, University of Arizona, and Coronado National Forest have been active in studying the future of the area.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Gudde, Erwin Gustav (1950). California Place Names. University of California Press. p. 222.
  2. ^ Fish, Paul R.; Fish, Suzanne K.; Madsen, John H. (2006). Prehistory and Early History of the Malpai Borderlands (PDF). Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Forest Service. pp. 1–2. Area calculated from map rather than the smaller area defined in the text
  3. ^ McDonald, Bill. "The Formation and History of the Malpai Borderlands Group". Malpai Borderlands Group. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved 10 July 2024.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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