Friends of Ironwood Forest pick up trash, help in plant restoration and other activities at Ironwood Forest National Monument, which was established by President Bill Clinton in 2000.
Leaders in Marana, Tucson, and Pima County have issued official proclamations recognizing Monday June 9, 2025 as Ironwood Forest Day.
The date marks the silver anniversary of the proclamation of the national monument by then-President Bill Clinton.
Supporters are happy about the special occasion, but they are also staying vigilant, since the current administration has expressed an interest in possibly reducing the size of some national monuments and/or allowing mining or other activities in these monuments.
They say its part of President Trump's efforts to increase drilling, mining and other commercial activities on public lands across the country.
Various organizations, including Friends of Ironwood are paying attention to the developments, and members planned a National Day of Action to defend Ironwood and other public lands.
"The monument is not overly large by today's standards. It's 129,000 acres of federal land and, you know, taking part of it away would really ruin the ecology of the area," says Tom Hannagan, the Board President of Friends of Ironwood since 2016.
"And obviously, letting an extractive industry into that property would permanently damage that landscape and the soil and the plants and animals would be gone."
Hannagan says the monument is special due to hundreds of plant and animal species, cultural and historical attributes and other attractions, including a mountain that reaches nearly 4,000 feet in elevation and looks different from its surroundings.
"When I moved to Arizona, I was lucky enough to have a home that had a view to the west. And I saw mountains out there. And one of the mountains kind of stood out by itself. And it was a different color than the other mountains that had a kind of a pink hue in the morning. And I'm like, What the heck is that mountain?" Hannagan adds.
"I found out that it was in a national monument called the Ironwood Forest. And that the mountain's name was Ragged Top and it had the pink hue because it was created separately from the other mountains. It's only 20 million years old, which is young for a mountain, and it's almost entirely made of rhyolite as the result of a of a volcanic fissure."
And even though the monument is in Pima County northwest of Tucson, Hannagan says visitors and locals alike are often surprised when they see it.
"Whenever we've had someone new out there on a hike or one of our other events or even just a volunteer work party, when they go out there for the first time, they're like, 'Wow, this is amazing. We didn't know we had something like this this close to a major metropolitan area,'" Hannagan explains.
"And that's part of the part of the beauty of it is you don't have to drive for 6 hours to be in a place like this. You can drive for one hour and be right in the middle of it."
During President Trump's first term in office, Ironwood Forest National Monument was also on the chopping block but was ultimately left intact.
Friends of Ironwood Forest pick up trash, help in plant restoration and other activities at Ironwood Forest National Monument, which was established by President Bill Clinton in 2000.
Friends of Ironwood Forest pick up trash, help in plant restoration and other activities at Ironwood Forest National Monument, which was established by President Bill Clinton in 2000.
At nearly 4,000 feet above sea level, Ragged Top Mountain is a well-known landmark in Ironwood Forest National Monument, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025.
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