Managing cultural resources in Sonoran Desert biosphere reserves

The O'Odham (formerly Papago) are Piman-speaking Native Americans who live in the Sonoran Desert region now transected by the US/Mexico boundary. They have recently become involved in cultural and natural resource management issues relating to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona, decreed a biosphere reserve in 1978, and to the Sierra El Pinacate Protected Zone, established in Sonora, Mexico, in 1979. The issue at hand is how much the members of the binational O'Odham community will be allowed to function as full participants in the planning and implementation of protection for the Pinacate - for its cultural as well as its natural resources. If the last two years' events are any indication, conservation, eco-tourism, and resource management may take a new twist in the North American deserts as a result of the keen interest that O'Odham elders and young activists are taking in cultural preservation, arid-adapted land uses, and cross-cultural education. -from Authors