Law enforcement rangers and resource specialists from the Bureau of Land Management are in the midst of a focused campaign to enhance public safety and protect natural resources on the Ironwood Forest National Monument and the Sonoran Desert National Monument through cleanup/restoration projects and disruption/deterrence of smuggling operations. 

BLM rangers from throughout the western United States have been assigned to work with BLM Arizona Rangers and other law enforcement officers for two-week periods as part of a law enforcement surge. The rangers have completed the second of those two-week surges. More surge operations are planned for winter and spring, which are the prime times for human and drug smuggling in southern and central Arizona.

“Our efforts are focused on improving safety and security while working to protect resources on public lands. This operation and our continued work with our law enforcement partners help us achieve those goals,” said Ray Suazo, BLM Arizona Acting State Director.

Both the Ironwood Forest National Monument and the Sonoran Desert National Monument are heavily impacted by smuggling operations. Both monuments are miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, but are used by smugglers to get to regional transportation corridors.

The law enforcement surge in these monuments is part of Operation Reclaim Our Arizona Monuments (ROAM), which is a combined law enforcement and resource restoration/protection effort. As part of the operation, law enforcement rangers provide security and support to crews cleaning up trash and restoring landscapes damaged by smugglers. Here are some results of the Operation ROAM work since Oct. 1, 2011.Here are numbers related to that work:

By the numbers:

• 15,825 pounds (almost 8 tons) of trash cleaned up
• 1,056 feet of illegal roads blocked and returned to a natural state
• 11 places where fence damage by smugglers have been identified
• 1.3 miles of fence line patrolled and all smuggling breaks repaired in the Table Top Wilderness
• 10 trash sites needing cleanup identified
• 9,762 pounds of narcotics seized
• 33 incidences of assisting other agencies in dealing with smuggling of humans and drugs
• 13 abandoned vehicles removed from Federal land
• 28 layup camps used by smugglers identified
• 14 listening or observation posts used by smugglers identified

This is the second year of Operation ROAM. In the first year, the BLM gathered more than 17 tons of trash, assisted in the major joint law-enforcement agencies’ Operation Trident and installed a 1.3-mile barrier that blocks an illegal road.

Operation ROAM supports the BLM Arizona strategy for combating border-related criminal activities on public lands managed by the BLM. The key points of the strategy are:

• Making BLM-managed lands safer for the public and employees
• Protecting the natural resources on public lands managed by the BLM
• Continuing to cooperate with other Federal, State, county and tribal entities to accomplish mutual goals in the areas affected by border-related activity.

A key element of Operation ROAM is cooperation and coordination with the Border Patrol, Maricopa and Pinal Counties Sheriff’s Offices, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and other State, Federal, and local law enforcement agencies.

“We are using all available resources to make our lands safer for the public and to protect our natural resources. In addition, we have excellent working relationships with other Federal agencies, tribal law enforcement officers and local governments. It is a team effort and it’s working,” – said Jon Young, chief law enforcement ranger for BLM Arizona.

The Sonoran Desert National Monument is 487,000 acres of public land southwest of Phoenix on both sides of Interstate 8, roughly between Casa Grande and Gila Bend. It is about 60 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, but is used by smugglers as a conduit to I-8 and elsewhere.

The Ironwood Forest National Monument comprises 129,000 acres 18 miles west-northwest of Tucson. It is about 50 miles from the border, but also is used as a smuggling corridor.

Click here for updated Operation ROAM statistics.