View source for White Sands National Park

{{Short description|National park in New Mexico, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name = White Sands National Park
| alt_name = 
| photo = Aerial view of dunefield, White Sands National Park, New Mexico, United States.png
| photo_width = 300
| photo_caption = Aerial view of dunefield
| iucn_category = V
| iucn_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://protectedplanet.net/white-sands-national-monument |title=White Sands in United States of America |website=protectedplanet.net |publisher=[[International Union for Conservation of Nature|IUCN]] |access-date=December 22, 2019 |archive-date=December 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222152006/https://www.protectedplanet.net/white-sands-national-monument |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| map = New Mexico#USA
| relief = 1
| map_caption = Location in state of New Mexico##Location in the United States
| location = [[Otero County, New Mexico|Otero County]] and [[Doña Ana County, New Mexico|Doña Ana County]], [[New Mexico]], United States
| nearest_city = [[Alamogordo, New Mexico]]<ref name="NPS directions"/>
| coordinates = {{coord|32|46|45|N|106|10|19|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name="NPS directions"/>
| area = {{convert|145,762|acre|sqmi km2}}
| area_ref = <ref name="NPS stats"/><sup>+</sup><ref name=NDAA/>
| established = January 18, 1933<br/>(as a [[National monument (United States)|national monument]])<ref name="NPS stats"/><br/>December 20, 2019<br/>(as a [[national park]])<ref name=NDAA/>
| visitation_num = 729,096
| visitation_year = 2023
| governing_body = [[National Park Service]]
| website = {{Official website}}
| visitation_ref = <ref>{{NPS Visitation|access-date=October 16, 2023}}</ref>
}}
{{Infobox NRHP
  | name = White Sands National Monument Historic District
  | nrhp_type = hd | nocat = yes
  | nrhp_type2 = formernmon
  | designated_other1 = N.M. State Register of Cultural Properties
  | designated_other1_date = September 9, 1988
  | designated_other1_number = [https://web.archive.org/web/20141110122215/http://www.nmhistoricpreservation.org/assets/files/registers/2012%20Report_%20Section%203_%20Arranged%20by%20Number.pdf 1491]
  | designated_other1_num_position = bottom
  | image = White Sands National Park visitor center and native plant garden, New Mexico, United States.jpg
  | caption = Visitor center
  | built = 1936–38 (original [[National Register of Historic Places|NRHP]] buildings)
  | architect = [[Lyle E. Bennett]], et al.
  | architecture = [[Pueblo Revival architecture|Pueblo Revival]]
  | added = June 23, 1988
  | refnum = 88000751<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>
}}

'''White Sands National Park''' is a [[List of national parks of the United States|national park of the United States]] located in [[New Mexico]] and completely surrounded by the [[White Sands Missile Range]]. The park covers {{convert|145,762|acres|sqmi km2|1|abbr=}} in the [[Tularosa Basin]], including the southern 41% of a {{convert|275|mi2|km2|abbr=on}} field of white [[sand]] [[dune]]s composed of [[gypsum]] crystals. This gypsum dunefield is the largest of its kind on Earth,<ref name="NPS nature">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/index.htm |title=Nature – White Sands National Park |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=January 14, 2017 |access-date=March 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704200443/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/index.htm |archive-date=July 4, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> with a depth of about {{convert|30|ft}}, dunes as tall as {{convert|60|ft}}, and about 4.5 billion short tons (4.1 billion metric tons) of gypsum sand.

Approximately 12,000 years ago, the land within the Tularosa Basin featured large lakes, streams, grasslands, and [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]] mammals. As the climate warmed, rain and snowmelt dissolved gypsum from the surrounding mountains and carried it into the basin. Further warming and drying caused the lakes to evaporate and form [[Selenite (mineral)|selenite]] crystals. Strong winds then broke up crystals and transported them eastward. A similar process continues to produce gypsum sand today.<ref name="NPS Geology" />

Thousands of species of animal inhabit the park, a large portion of which are invertebrates. Several animal species feature a white or off-white coloration. At least 45 species are [[Endemism|endemic]], living only in this park, with 40 of them being moth species. The Tularosa Basin has also seen a number of human inhabitants, from [[Paleo-Indians]] 12,000 years ago to modern farmers, ranchers, and miners.

White Sands National Park was originally designated White Sands [[National monument (United States)|National Monument]] on January 18, 1933, by President [[Herbert Hoover]]. Since 1941, the park has been completely surrounded by the military installations of [[White Sands Missile Range]] and [[Holloman Air Force Base]]. It was redesignated as a national park by [[United States Congress|Congress]] and signed into law by President [[Donald Trump]] on December 20, 2019. It is the most visited [[National Park Service|NPS]] site in New Mexico, with about 600,000 visitors each year.<ref name="krqe.com">{{Cite web |date=2022-01-08 |title=White Sands National Park sees record visitations |url=https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/white-sands-national-park-sees-record-visitations/ |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos |language=en-US}}</ref> The park features a drive from the visitor center to the heart of the dunes, picnic areas, backcountry campground in the dunefield, marked hiking trails, and sledding on the dunes. Ranger-guided orientation and nature walks occur at various times and months throughout the year.

==History==
===Native people===
[[File:Footprints of Human Adolescent and Teen (b47488a1-0f52-4d94-9da3-b7b8fea91d0e).JPG|left|thumb|Some of the [[White Sands fossil footprints]]]]
The [[White Sands fossil footprints|potentially oldest known human footprints in North America]] were found at White Sands by researchers who identified approximately 60 fossilized footprints buried in layers of gypsum soil on a large [[dry lake|playa]] in the Tularosa Basin.<ref>{{Cite journal |title='Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum': Oldest known human footprints in North America discovered at White Sands |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg7586 |access-date=2022-05-25 |journal=Science |date=24 September 2021 |volume=373 |issue=6562 |pages=1528–1531 |doi=10.1126/science.abg7586 |language=en-US|last1=Bennett |first1=Matthew R. |last2=Bustos |first2=David |last3=Pigati |first3=Jeffrey S. |last4=Springer |first4=Kathleen B. |last5=Urban |first5=Thomas M. |last6=Holliday |first6=Vance T. |last7=Reynolds |first7=Sally C. |last8=Budka |first8=Marcin |last9=Honke |first9=Jeffrey S. |last10=Hudson |first10=Adam M. |last11=Fenerty |first11=Brendan |last12=Connelly |first12=Clare |last13=Martinez |first13=Patrick J. |last14=Santucci |first14=Vincent L. |last15=Odess |first15=Daniel |pmid=34554787 |bibcode=2021Sci...373.1528B |s2cid=237616125 }}</ref> Multiple human footprints are stratigraphically constrained and bracketed by layers containing seeds of ''[[Ruppia cirrhosa]]'' that yield calibrated [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon]] ages between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The present consensus for human arrival into North America is placed at 13–16,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Fossilized Footprints'|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/fossilized-footprints.htm |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=National Park Service |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=D'Ammassa |first=Algernon |title='Incredible discoveries': Oldest known human footprints in North America discovered at White Sands |url=https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2021/09/23/white-sands-national-park-footprints-oldest-known-discovered-north-america/5831347001/ |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=Las Cruces Sun-News |language=en-US}}</ref> Initially, these estimates were questioned by other authors, who suggested that the dating could potentially be erroneus, due to the fact that ''Ruppia cirrhosa'' intakes carbon from the water in which it grows rather than the air, which may introduce systematic error making the seeds seem older than they actually are.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Oviatt |first1=Charles G. |last2=Madsen |first2=David B. |last3=Rhode |first3=David |last4=Davis |first4=Loren G. |date=January 2023 |title=A critical assessment of claims that human footprints in the Lake Otero basin, New Mexico date to the Last Glacial Maximum |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0033589422000382/type/journal_article |journal=Quaternary Research |language=en |volume=111 |pages=138–147 |doi=10.1017/qua.2022.38 |s2cid=252064773 |issn=0033-5894|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, the date was later supported by a variety of methods, including radiocarbon dating of pollen and [[optically stimulated luminescence dating]] of quartz grains within the footprint layers.<ref>Jeffrey S. Pigati ''et al.'' Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands. ''Science'' '''382''', 73–75 (2023). {{doi
|10.1126/science.adh5007}}</ref> Other tracks are known for extinct megafauna, including [[ground sloth]]s (likely either ''[[Nothrotheriops]]'' or ''[[Paramylodon]]'') and [[Columbian mammoths]], which appear to be contemporaneous to human footprints.<ref name=":0">[[Matthew Bennett (geographer)|Bennett, Matthew R.]] et al. (2020) «Walking in mud: Remarkable Pleistocene human trackways from White Sands National Park (New Mexico)». ''Quaternary Science Reviews'' '''249''': 106610. {{doi|10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106610}}</ref>

[[Paleo-Indians]] inhabited the shoreline of Lake Otero, a large lake that covered much of the [[Tularosa Basin]]. They used stone from the mountains to create projectile points, known as [[Folsom point|Folsom]] and [[Plano point]]s, and attached them to spears for hunting [[Columbian mammoth|mammoth]]s, [[Camelops|camel]]s, ground sloths, and [[bison]]. Projectile points and stone tools have been found in the basin associated with ancient shorelines, streams, and hills. As the large ice sheet that capped the North American continent receded, Lake Otero began to evaporate, leaving behind [[Dry lake|Alkali Flat]] and [[Lake Lucero]]. The [[grassland]] died and the basin became increasingly arid, slowly changing into desert [[Shrubland|scrubland]]. The [[megafauna]] disappeared from the basin leaving behind fossil footprints.<ref>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/paleo-indian.htm |title=Paleo-Indian |work= White Sands National Park |date=January 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207040314/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/paleo-indian.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=February 7, 2020}}</ref>

The [[Archaic period (North America)|Archaic people]] improved upon the hand thrown spear used by Paleo-Indians with the invention of the [[Spear-thrower|atlatl]]. After Lake Otero dried out, wind carried large quantities of [[gypsum]] sand up from the basin floor which accumulated into a large dunefield. Archaic people entered the Tularosa Basin about 4,000 years ago, after the dunes had stabilized, possibly attracted by a [[cereal]] grass called [[Oryzopsis hymenoides|Indian ricegrass]]. The first evidence of agriculture is found in the Archaic period. Archaic peoples would tend to wild plants so they would produce in a more reliable manner and in larger quantities than they did naturally. Archaic people started living in small villages throughout the year to tend their fields. [[Hearth]] mounds are found within the dunes, which are the remains of prehistoric fires containing charcoal and ash. When gypsum is heated to {{cvt|300|F}} it becomes a [[plaster]] that hardens when moisture is added and subsequently evaporates. The plaster cements these hearths in place, preserving them for thousands of years.<ref>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/archaic.htm |title=Archaic |work= White Sands National Park |date=January 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207043011/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/archaic.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=February 7, 2020}}</ref>

The [[:wikt:jornada|Jornada]] [[Mogollon culture|Mogollon]] people made pottery, lived in permanent houses, and farmed the Tularosa Basin. Evidence of their prehistoric presence dates back to about 200 CE. The Jornada Mogollon inhabited the basin until about 1350 CE when they moved away, leaving behind [[Puddling (civil engineering)|puddled]] [[adobe]] structures and [[Glossary of archaeology#potsherd|pottery sherds]].<ref name=people>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/people.htm |title=People |work= White Sands National Park |date=January 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207050109/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/people.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=February 7, 2020}}</ref>

[[File:Mescalero tipis.jpg|thumb|left|Two [[Mescalero]] [[Apache]] women and [[Tipi|teepees]], {{circa}} 1890–1910]]
Over 700 years ago, bands of [[Apache]]s followed herds of bison from the [[Great Plains]] to the Tularosa Basin.<ref name=people/> The Apaches were nomadic hunters and gatherers who lived in temporary houses known as [[Wigwam|wickiups]] and [[Tipi|teepees]]. The Apaches had established a sizable territory in southern New Mexico by the time European explorers arrived. They fiercely defended the rights to their homeland against the encroachment of colonial settlers. Apache groups, led by [[Victorio]] and [[Geronimo]], fought with settlers in the basin and engaged in military battles with [[Buffalo Soldier]]s. The [[Battle of Hembrillo Basin]] in 1880 was a military engagement between Victorio's warriors and the United States Army's [[9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)|9th Cavalry Regiment]] of Buffalo Soldiers. The battleground, located on White Sands Missile Range, is the closest archaeological evidence of the [[Apache Wars]] (1849 to 1924). Conflict between the Apaches and the American settlers over their conflicting interests in the basin ultimately ended in the forceful removal of the Apaches from their homelands to the [[Mescalero|Mescalero Apache]] [[Indian reservation|Indian Reservation]]. The Mescalero Apache maintain an active cultural affinity to the landscape of their ancestors.<ref>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/apachean.htm |title=Apachean |work= White Sands National Park |date=January 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207045942/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/apachean.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=February 7, 2020}}</ref>

===Euro-Americans===
While a [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish colony]] was established to the north around [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]], the Tularosa Basin was generally avoided until the nineteenth century. The basin lacked any reliable water sources and was the primary stronghold of local Apaches who stole livestock from [[Puebloans|Pueblo]] and Spanish settlements near the basin. When Spaniards did enter the basin, they traveled along established trails to the [[Salt pan (geology)|salt pan]] north of Alkali Flat.<ref>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/spanish-colonization-exploration.htm |title=Spanish Colonization Exploration |work= White Sands National Park |date=January 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207233233/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/spanish-colonization-exploration.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=February 7, 2020}}</ref> Spanish colonists had established the salt trails in 1647, to connect the salt deposits with the [[Camino Real de Tierra Adentro|Camino Real]] in El Paso del Norte (present-day [[Ciudad Juárez]]) and silver mines in [[Durango City|Durango, Mexico]]. Salt is a fundamental element in the processing of silver ore. Expeditionary parties using mule-drawn carts with military escorts would be formed a few times each year for the journey to the salinas (salt pans).<ref name=salttrail>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/the-salt-trail-and-magoffin-salt-war.htm |title=The Salt Trail and Magoffin Salt War |work= White Sands National Park |date=January 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208001351/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/the-salt-trail-and-magoffin-salt-war.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=February 8, 2020}}</ref>

Hispanic populations throughout the Spanish colonial and Mexican periods were allowed to gather salt from the salinas, which were considered public property. [[Republic of Texas|Texan-American]] settlers made private claims to the land to profit from mining of minerals on their property. James Magoffin held a title to the salt flats north of Lake Lucero but had been unsuccessful in collecting fees for salt gathering. In 1854, using military force, he intercepted a salt gathering expedition of Hispanos from [[Doña Ana, New Mexico|Doña Ana]] at the salt flats and fatally wounded three members of the party. In response to Magoffin's use of extreme force during the Magoffin Salt War, the courts dissolved his property claim to the salt flats and established a precedent for free public access to salt deposits.<ref name=salttrail/>

The first [[United States Army|US Army]] exploration of south-central New Mexico was led by a party of [[United States Army Corps of Topographical Engineers|topographical engineering officers]] in 1849. They passed west of the [[San Andres Mountains]] and [[Organ Mountains]]. A lieutenant was dispatched east across the basin with a scouting party to map a potential military wagon route to the [[Sierra Blanca (New Mexico)|Sierra Blanca]].<ref name="Welsh">{{cite book|last=Welsh |first=Michael E. |title=Dunes and dreams: a history of White Sands National Monument |url=http://www.nps.gov/whsa/historyculture/upload/Dunes-and-Dreams.pdf |access-date=May 31, 2008 |publisher=Intermountain Cultural Resource Center, National Park Service |location=Santa Fe, NM |year=1995 |isbn=1-58369-004-2 |oclc=54657415 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121112258/http://www.nps.gov/whsa/historyculture/upload/Dunes-and-Dreams.pdf |archive-date=November 21, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Rp|6}}

[[Hispanic]] families started farming communities at [[Tularosa, New Mexico|Tularosa]] in 1861 and [[La Luz, New Mexico|La Luz]] in 1863. The villagers mixed water with gypsum sand from the dunefield to create plaster for the adobe walls of their homes. The white color was not only decorative but functional in deflecting the rays of the summer sun.<ref name="Welsh"/>{{Rp|6}}

[[File:Lake Lucero NPS photo.jpg|thumb|[[Lake Lucero]], an [[Ephemerality|ephemeral]] lake filled by a significant rainfall]]
In the 1880s, a brief period of heavy rainfall supported the return of lush grasslands in the Tularosa Basin which attracted the attention of goat, sheep, and cattle grazers, predominately from Texas. Large [[Cattle drives in the United States|cattle drives]] pushed into the basin, and ranching became the dominant economy for the next sixty years. In 1897, the Lucero brothers, Jose, Felipe, and Estevan, began ranching on the south shore of the lake that would eventually bear their name. By 1940, Felipe consolidated the family's ranches into a {{cvt|20000|acre|sqmi km2|adj=on}} property. Shortly afterward, the National Park Service took over ownership of the Lucero family properties with their appropriation of Lake Lucero and Alkali Flat. The remnants of the Lucero family ranch include the stock pens, watering trough, a water well, and a fallen windmill which visitors can see on a ranger-led tour to Lake Lucero once each month, in the cooler months of the year.<ref>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/ranching-and-the-wild-west.htm |title=Ranching and the Wild West |work= White Sands National Park |date=January 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208004549/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/ranching-and-the-wild-west.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=February 8, 2020}}</ref>

At the turn of the twentieth century, the discovery of oil, coal, silver, gold, and other precious mineral deposits inspired many settlers to cover the Tularosa Basin in mining claims. By 1904, over 114 people made mineral claims to more than {{cvt|10400|acres|sqmi km2}} of Lake Lucero; however, very few of the claims were developed. Eddy's Soda Prospect, developed by the same Eddy brothers that had founded the [[El Paso and Northeastern Railway]] and the town of Alamogordo, was a mineral recovery operation for [[glauberite]] salt mining along the southern shore of Lake Lucero. In 1907, J.R. Milner and Bill Fetz constructed a [[Plaster#Gypsum plaster|plaster of Paris]] batching plant along the southern edge of the dunes. The operation involved drilling long shafts into the dunes and extracting gypsum to cook into plaster at night. Though successful, the establishment of the national monument permanently shut down the plant.<ref>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/mining-history.htm |title=Mining History |work= White Sands National Park |date=January 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208011105/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/mining-history.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=February 8, 2020}}</ref>

===National monument===
[[File:Tularosa-Basin-NM-USGS-map opaque.gif|thumb|upright=1.55|Map of the [[Tularosa Basin]] with the park near the center, on the west side]]
The idea of creating a national park to protect the white sands formation dates to 1898 when a group from [[El Paso, Texas]], proposed the creation of Mescalero National Park. The plan failed as it included a game hunting preserve that conflicted with the idea of preservation held by the [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]].<ref name="Welsh" />{{Rp|17}}<ref name="Schneider-Hector">{{cite book|last=Schneider-Hector |first=Dietmar |title=White Sands: The History of a National Monument |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |location=Albuquerque |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-8263-1415-4 |oclc=26806926}}</ref>{{Rp|52–53}}

From 1912 to 1922, [[Albert B. Fall]], a [[United States Senate|Senator]] from New Mexico—later appointed [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]]—and the owner of a large ranch in [[Three Rivers, New Mexico|Three Rivers]] northeast of the dune field, promoted four separate bills in Congress for a national park in the Tularosa Basin. Fall's ultimate plan was called the All-Year National Park as it would be open throughout the year, unlike more northerly parks. The bill included four geographically separate and diverse areas, to be administered as one national park. The proposed areas included a {{convert|2000|acre|sqmi km2|1|adj=on}} scenic portion of the Mescalero Indian reservation, {{convert|640|acre|sqmi km2|1}} of the dune field, 640 acres of a volcanic area to the north named [[Carrizozo Malpais]], and the shoreline of the [[Elephant Butte Reservoir]] to the west, beyond the [[San Andres Mountains]]. [[Stephen Mather]], the director of the National Park Service, criticized the proposal as having "disjointed boundaries, lack of spectacular scenery, and questionable usage." The [[National Parks Conservation Association|National Parks Association]] and the [[Indian Rights Association]] campaigned against Fall's bill, mainly because of the appropriation of Indian reservation land and that it might establish a precedent of industrial usage within parks. The bill failed in Congress, and Fall resigned in 1923 during the [[Teapot Dome scandal]].<ref name="Welsh" />{{Rp|22–28}}<ref name="Schneider-Hector" />{{Rp|61–70}}

During the 1920s, an Alamogordo businessman named Tom Charles promoted the potential economic benefits of protecting the white sands formation. Charles mobilized enough local support for the construction of an improved state route between Las Cruces and Alamogordo (now [[U.S. Route 70#New Mexico|U.S. Route 70]]), passing the southern edge of the dune field. He lobbied to have the dunes declared a national park, but was advised by Senator [[Bronson M. Cutting]], who had influence with President [[Herbert Hoover]], that national monument status would be much easier to obtain.<ref name="Welsh" />{{Rp|28–32}}<ref name="Schneider-Hector" />{{Rp|77–89}}

On January 18, 1933, President Hoover designated White Sands [[National monument (United States)|National Monument]], acting under the authority of the [[Antiquities Act]] of 1906.<ref name="Welsh" />{{Rp|33}}<ref name="NPS history">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/white-sands-national-monument-history.htm |title=White Sands National Monument History |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |date=November 12, 2016 |access-date=June 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224072005/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/white-sands-national-monument-history.htm |archive-date=December 24, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> The dedication and grand opening was on April 29, 1934.<ref name="Schneider-Hector" />{{Rp|102}} Tom Charles became the first custodian of the monument,<ref name="Welsh" />{{Rp|35}}<ref name="Schneider-Hector" />{{Rp|99}} and the first concessionaire in 1939, operating as White Sands Service Company.<ref name="Welsh" />{{Rp|72}}<ref name="Schneider-Hector" />{{Rp|117}}

The visitor center and a nearby comfort station, three ranger residences, as well as three maintenance buildings were constructed of adobe bricks as a [[Works Progress Administration]] project starting in 1936 and completed in 1938.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Townsend |first=Dave |date=August 26, 2007 |title=The New Deal and WSNM |periodical=Alamogordo Daily News |page=8A |oclc=10674593}}</ref><ref name=HistDist>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/white-sands-historic-district.htm |title= White Sands Historic District |website=nps.gov
|publisher= National Park Service |date=April 7, 2017 |access-date= June 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705070857/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/white-sands-historic-district.htm |archive-date=July 5, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> The original eight adobe buildings and other nearby structures were designated the White Sands National Monument Historic District when they were added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1988. The principal architects were [[Lyle E. Bennett]] and Robert W. Albers, who also designed NPS buildings together at [[Casa Grande Ruins National Monument|Casa Grande]] and [[Bandelier National Monument|Bandelier]] national monuments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/acf8b109-ac4b-4934-b95a-79bcdedf2fa6 |title=NRHP Inventory Nomination Form: White Sands National Monument Historic District |date=June 23, 1988 |pages=20, 23 (of PDF file) |format=PDF |website=npgallery.nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=February 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215035126/https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/acf8b109-ac4b-4934-b95a-79bcdedf2fa6 |archive-date=February 15, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> Bennett also designed the picnic table shelters at White Sands, the [[Painted Desert Inn]] at [[Petrified Forest National Park|Petrified Forest]], and buildings at [[Carlsbad Caverns National Park|Carlsbad Caverns]] and [[Mesa Verde National Park|Mesa Verde]] national parks.<ref name=HistDist/>

[[File:F-117 Nighthawks fly on one of their last missions.jpg|thumb|[[Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk|F-117s]] flying over White Sands to a retirement ceremony in Ohio. [[Holloman Air Force Base]] was its home base from 1992 to 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2001906598/ |title=Air Force Photos |website=af.mil |publisher=[[United States Air Force|USAF]] |access-date=February 12, 2020 |quote=The F-117A flew under the flag of the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman Air Force Base from 1992 to its retirement in 2008. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213042204/https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2001906598/ |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
The park is completely surrounded by the military installations of [[White Sands Missile Range]] and [[Holloman Air Force Base]], and has always had an uneasy relationship with the military.<ref name="Schneider-Hector" />{{Rp|131,175}} The missile range and air force base were established after the bombing of [[Pearl Harbor]] in 1941, with continuing operations after [[World War II]] and throughout the [[Cold War]].<ref name="military">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/military-history.htm |title=White Sands National Monument – Military History |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |date=January 15, 2020 |access-date=February 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207051404/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/military-history.htm |archive-date=February 7, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> Errant missiles often fell within the park's boundaries, occasionally destroying some of the visitor areas.<ref name="Welsh" />{{Rp|145}} Overflights from Holloman disturbed the tranquility of the area.<ref name="Schneider-Hector" />{{Rp|149}} Flight training missions continue over the dunefield,<ref name="military"/> and the park closes temporarily for several hours during missile tests in the adjacent range and cooperative use area on the west side of the park.<ref name="closures">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/park-closures.htm |title=White Sands National Monument – Park Closures |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |date=February 11, 2020 |access-date=February 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212065727/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/park-closures.htm |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Between 1969 and 1977, 95 [[oryx]] were released on the missile range and adjacent areas of the [[Tularosa Basin]] by the [[New Mexico Department of Game and Fish]] for hunting purposes. The oryx, having no natural predators, entered the park and competed with native species for forage.<ref name="Welsh" />{{Rp|172}} Thousands of oryx reside on the missile range presently, though annual hunts have occurred since 1974 to help control and stabilize the population. The National Park Service, concerned about the negative effects on native plants and animals within the park, erected a {{convert|67|mi|0|adj=on}} long boundary fence in 1996 to prevent oryx from entering.<ref name="NPS oryx">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/african-oryx.htm |title=White Sands National Monument – African Oryx |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |date=January 30, 2020 |access-date=February 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203181158/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/african-oryx.htm |archive-date=February 3, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Increasingly problematic alcohol abuse by students on [[spring break]] in the 1990s led to a ban on the consumption of alcohol.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/alcohol-regulations.htm |title=Alcohol Regulations: Why is alcohol banned in the monument during these times? |author=Kathy Denton |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |date=April 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407092629/http://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/alcohol-regulations.htm |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref> The possession of alcohol or alcohol containers is banned throughout the park from February 1 to May 31.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/park-regulations.htm |title=Park Regulations: Alcohol Prohibition |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |date=December 31, 2019 |access-date=February 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212063211/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/park-regulations.htm |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===World Heritage Site controversy===
White Sands was placed on a tentative list of potential [[World Heritage Site]]s on January 22, 2008.<ref name="Kempthorne press release">{{cite press release |title=Secretary Kempthorne Selects New U.S. World Heritage Tentative List |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |date=January 22, 2008 |url=http://www.doi.gov/news/08_News_Releases/080122a.html |access-date=2008-05-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513214949/http://www.doi.gov/news/08_News_Releases/080122a.html |archive-date=May 13, 2008}}</ref> The state's two U.S. Senators, [[Pete Domenici]] and [[Jeff Bingaman]], wrote letters of support of the application.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/whsa/parknews/upload/WHS%20Letters%20of%20Support.pdf |title=WHS Letters of Support |access-date=May 24, 2008 |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217022148/http://www.nps.gov/whsa/parknews/upload/WHS%20Letters%20of%20Support.pdf |archive-date=February 17, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> U.S. Representative [[Steve Pearce (politician)|Steve Pearce]] declined to support the application, saying, "I would guarantee that if White Sands Monument receives this designation, that there will at some point be international pressures exerted that could stop military operations as we know them today."<ref name="ADN Pearce">{{Cite news|last=Anderson |first=Karl |date=August 17, 2007 |title=Steve Pearce on pause |periodical=Alamogordo Daily News |oclc=10674593}}</ref>

The WHS application generated much controversy in [[Otero County, New Mexico|Otero County]], most of it taking place in meetings of the Otero County Commission. A petition with 1,200 signatures opposing the application was presented to the commission on August 16, 2007.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Anderson |first=Karl |date=August 17, 2007 |title=County opposes U.N. listing |periodical=Alamogordo Daily News |oclc=10674593}}</ref> The commission passed a resolution of opposition to the application on August 23, 2007,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Anderson |first=Karl |date=August 24, 2007 |title=Anti-U.N. resolution passed |periodical=Alamogordo Daily News |oclc=10674593}}</ref> and passed Ordinance 07-05 on October 18, 2007, relating to any potential World Heritage Site designations within the county. The ordinance requires coordination with the county in following its environmental planning and review process through its Public Land Use Advisory Council, and states that "No world heritage site...will be located on or adjacent to any military land...within or adjacent to the boundaries of Otero County."<ref name="Ordinance 07-05">{{cite web |title=Otero County, NM Code: Chapter 150 Land Development: Article V: World Heritage Sites: Ordinance No. 07-05: Applications and Designations |website=eCode360 |date=October 18, 2007 |url=https://www.ecode360.com/27131646?highlight=07-05 |access-date=June 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329085911/https://www.ecode360.com/27131646?highlight=07-05 |archive-date=March 29, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> On January 24, 2008, after the WHS tentative list was announced, the commission instructed the county attorney to write a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, demanding that WSNM be taken off the list.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Österreich |first=Elva K. |date=January 25, 2008 |title=County issues threat to feds |periodical=Alamogordo Daily News |oclc=10674593}}</ref>

===National park bill===
In May 2018, [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] [[Martin Heinrich]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], [[List of United States senators from New Mexico|New Mexico]]) introduced a bill to designate White Sands a [[national park]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Sen. Martin Heinrich |date=May 7, 2018 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/2797/text |title=S.2797 – White Sands National Park Establishment Act |website=congress.gov |publisher=[[United States Congress]] |access-date=May 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327183944/https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/2797/text |archive-date=March 27, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Heinrich consulted with monument officials, the National Park Service, White Sands Missile Range, the U.S. Army and Holloman Air Force Base before the bill was introduced in Congress. The bill was supported by the Alamogordo City Commission; the Las Cruces City Council; the [[Mescalero|Mescalero Apache]] Tribal Council; the Town of [[Mesilla, New Mexico|Mesilla]] Board of Trustees; Alamogordo Mayor Richard Boss; [[New Mexico Senate|New Mexico Senator]] [[Ron Griggs]] ([[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]); the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce; the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce; the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce; the [[National Parks Conservation Association]] and the Southern New Mexico Public Lands Alliance. The bill was opposed, however, by [[Otero County, New Mexico|Otero County]] commissioners, who stated that the main argument in favor of national park status was the potential for increased visitation, while also noting that the monument is already the most-visited NPS site in the state. The commissioners were also concerned that "the change in status will affect filmmaking here either from higher fees or increased regulation." The commissioners only supported boundary adjustments and additional infrastructure, such as campgrounds and improved road access.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jacqueline Devine |date=May 18, 2018 |url=https://www.alamogordonews.com/story/news/local/community/2018/05/18/county-opposes-white-sands-national-park-establishment-act/625148002/ |title=County opposes White Sands National Park Establishment Act |website=alamogordonews.com |publisher=[[Alamogordo Daily News]] |access-date=May 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112153132/https://www.alamogordonews.com/story/news/local/community/2018/05/18/county-opposes-white-sands-national-park-establishment-act/625148002/ |archive-date=January 12, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Doña Ana County, New Mexico|Doña Ana County]] commissioners also opposed the redesignation of White Sands as a national park.<ref name=OteroLetter>{{cite news|author=Bies, Lori |author2=Flores, Susan |author3=White, Janet T. |date=May 17, 2018 |url=https://www.kob.com/kobtvimages/repository/cs/files/OC%20Board%20Letter%20to%20Heinrich%20on%20White%20Sands%202018-05-17%20(3).pdf |title=Letter from Otero County commissioners to Martin Heinrich |work=KOB |access-date=June 6, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327183850/https://www.kob.com/kobtvimages/repository/cs/files/OC%20Board%20Letter%20to%20Heinrich%20on%20White%20Sands%202018-05-17%20(3).pdf |archive-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref>{{Rp|5}} The redesignation bill was re-introduced on March 27, 2019.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/push-renewed-to-elevate-white-sands-to-national-park-status/2019/03/26/ef55ea66-4ffc-11e9-bdb7-44f948cc0605_story.html |title=Push renewed to elevate White Sands to national park status |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |author=Susan Montoya Bryan |date=March 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326210139/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/push-renewed-to-elevate-white-sands-to-national-park-status/2019/03/26/ef55ea66-4ffc-11e9-bdb7-44f948cc0605_story.html |archive-date=March 26, 2019 |access-date=January 24, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heinrich.senate.gov/download/bill-text_white-sands-national-park_03262019 |title=U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico |author=Martin Heinrich |website=heinrich.senate.gov |access-date=March 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116021826/https://www.heinrich.senate.gov/download/bill-text_white-sands-national-park_03262019 |archive-date=January 16, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On December 11, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the [[National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020]], which includes legislation redesignating White Sands National Monument as White Sands National Park.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2500/text |title=H.R.2500 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 |last=Smith |first=Adam |website=congress.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122102739/https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/2500/text |archive-date=January 22, 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=December 20, 2019}}</ref> The Senate passed the act on December 16 and [[President of the United States|President]] [[Donald Trump]] signed the bill on December 20. The act includes the transfer of land management both to and from the missile range, as well as the protection of additional land, adding a net {{cvt|2029|acre|sqmi km2|1|abbr=}} to the park.<ref name=NDAA>{{cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1790/text |title=S.1790 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 |date=January 3, 2019 |website=congress.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229204625/https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1790/text |archive-date=December 29, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=January 24, 2020 |quote=Division B –Military Construction Authorizations, Title XXVIII – Military Construction General Provisions, subtitle E – White Sands National Park and White Sands Missile Range, SEC. 2851. White Sands Missile Range Land Enhancements, (c) Modification of boundaries of White Sands National Park and White Sands Missile Range, (1) Transfers of Administrative Jurisdiction. (A) Transfer of administrative jurisdiction to the Secretary of the Interior...approximately 2,826 acres of land identified as "To NPS, lands inside current boundary" on the Map...approximately 5,766 acres of land identified as "To NPS, new additions" on the map. (B) Transfer of administrative jurisdiction to the Secretary of the Army...approximately 3,737 acres of land identified as "To DOA" on the Map.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heinrich.senate.gov/press-releases/heinrich-torres-small-introduce-white-sands-national-park-establishment-act|title=Heinrich, Torres Small Introduce White Sands National Park Establishment Act – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico|website=heinrich.senate.gov|access-date=2020-02-25}}</ref>

===Filming===
White Sands, during its period as a national monument, has been used as a [[filming location]] for scenes in several [[Western (genre)|westerns]], including ''[[Four Faces West]]'' (1948), ''[[Hang 'Em High]]'' (1968), ''[[The Hired Hand]]'' (1971), ''[[My Name Is Nobody]]'' (1973), ''[[Bite the Bullet (film)|Bite the Bullett]]'' (1975), and ''[[Young Guns II]]'' (1990).<ref>Maddrey, Joseph (2016). ''The Quick, the Dead and the Revived: The Many Lives of the Western Film''. McFarland. p. 182. {{ISBN|9781476625492}}.</ref> Additional [[Feature film|feature-length films]] with location shooting in the park include ''[[King Solomon's Mines (1950 film)|King Solomon's Mines]]'' (1950), ''[[The Man Who Fell to Earth]]'' (1976), ''[[White Sands (film)|White Sands]]'' (1992), ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]'' (2007),<ref name=OteroLetter/>{{Rp|4}} ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen|Transformers 2]]'' (2009), ''[[The Men Who Stare at Goats (film)|The Men Who Stare at Goats]]'' (2009), ''[[Year One (film)|Year One]]'' (2009), and ''[[The Book of Eli]]'' (2010).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161009124320/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/upload/History_of_Commercial_Filming_at_White_Sands_-1-5MB_PDF.pdf "History of Commercial Filming at White Sands"] (at the [[Internet Archive]]). ''nps.gov''. National Park Service. January 31, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2020.</ref> [[Wye Oak (band)|Wye Oak]]'s title track for the album ''[[The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs]]'' (2018) was filmed at White Sands.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mergerecords.com/wye-oak-louder-i-call-music-video |title=Wye Oak explore White Sands in their music video for 'The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs' |publisher=Mergerecords.com |date=February 15, 2018 |access-date=April 13, 2018}}</ref> ''Yoga Mind & Body'' (1994), featuring yoga teacher [[Erich Schiffmann]] and actress [[Ali MacGraw]], was also filmed on the dunes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/06/Planet-Yoga|title=Planet Yoga|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=15 June 2007}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Map of White Sands National Monument.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Map of the park and part of [[White Sands Missile Range]] prior to the national park designation]]
[[File:Iss068e033229.jpg|thumb|New Mexico’s White Sands photomap, December&nbsp;26, 2022. Photo from [[ISS]].]]
White Sands National Park is located in southern New Mexico, on the north side of [[U.S. Route 70#New Mexico|U.S. Route 70]] approximately {{convert|15|mi}} southwest of [[Alamogordo, New Mexico|Alamogordo]] and {{convert|52|mi}} northeast of [[Las Cruces, New Mexico|Las Cruces]],<ref name="NPS directions">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/directions.htm |title=Directions – White Sands National Park |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |website=nps.gov |date=December 31, 2019 |access-date=January 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215042445/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/directions.htm |archive-date=February 15, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> in western [[Otero County, New Mexico|Otero County]] and northeastern [[Doña Ana County, New Mexico|Doña Ana County]].<ref name="NPS super">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/management/superintendentscompendium.htm |title=Superintendent's Compendium – 2019 |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=September 24, 2019 |access-date=January 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125002751/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/management/superintendentscompendium.htm |archive-date=January 25, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> The closest commercial airport is in [[El Paso, Texas]], about {{convert|85|mi}} away.<ref name="NPS directions"/> The park is situated in the [[Tularosa Basin]] with elevations ranging from {{convert|3887|ft|m}} at [[Lake Lucero]], to {{convert|4116|ft|m}} at a former military site called NE 30.<ref name="NPS stats">{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/news/parkstatistics.htm |title=Park Statistics |work= White Sands National Park |date=January 2, 2020 |access-date=January 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124143813/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/news/parkstatistics.htm |archive-date=January 24, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The park's primary feature is the field of white [[sand]] [[dune]]s composed of [[gypsum]] crystals. The gypsum dunefield is the largest of its kind on Earth.<ref name="NPS nature"/> The park protects {{convert|115|mi2|km2|abbr=on}} of the {{convert|275|mi2|km2|abbr=on}} dunefield, about 42%, while the remaining {{convert|160|mi2|km2|abbr=on}} are located to the north within [[White Sands Missile Range]].<ref name="NPS stats"/> The depth of gypsum sand across the entire field is about {{convert|30|ft}} below the interdunal surface, while the tallest dunes are about {{convert|60|ft}} high. About 4.5&nbsp;billion short&nbsp;tons (4.1&nbsp;billion metric&nbsp;tons) of gypsum sand fill the dunefield,<ref name="NPS stats"/> which formed about 7,000–10,000 years ago.<ref name="NPS history"/>

Total park acreage is {{convert|148,588|acre|sqmi km2|1}} which includes a net {{cvt|4855|acre|sqmi km2|1}} added in 2019 when the national park designation modified the boundaries between the park and the missile range.<ref name="NPS stats"/><ref name=NDAA/> The missile range borders the park on all sides, with a cooperative use area designated in the park's western portion where public access is only allowed by permit. The cooperative use area includes most of the [[Alkali Flat]] region in the park's northwestern quadrant, as well as Lake Lucero and [[Dune#Dome|dome dunes]] in the southwestern quadrant. The [[San Andres Mountains]] rise beyond the park's western boundary, while [[Holloman Air Force Base]] is a short distance to the east.<ref name="NPS map">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/upload/Park_Unigrid_Map_-6-6MB_JPG.jpg |title=Park Unigrid Map – White Sands National Park |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=n.d. |access-date=January 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225194041/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/upload/Park_Unigrid_Map_-6-6MB_JPG.jpg |archive-date=February 25, 2017 |url-status=live |quote=Aerial viewpoint facing west-northwest; see also the NPS map here in this article.}}</ref> A rock formation called the Twin Buttes is located to the south on land administered by the [[Bureau of Land Management]].<ref name="NPS stats"/>

==Climate==
According to the [[Köppen climate classification]] system, White Sands National Park has a continental or [[Semi-arid climate#Cold semi-arid climates|cold semi-arid climate]] (''BSk''),<ref>[https://www.mindat.org/feature-5497920.html "White Sands National Monument, Otero County, New Mexico, United States"] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20200227063437/https://www.mindat.org/feature-5497920.html archive]). ''mindat.org''. Hudson Institute of Mineralogy. Retrieved February 26, 2020.</ref> bordering closely on a [[Desert climate#Cold desert climates|cold desert climate]] (''BWk''). Daily means resemble those of a [[humid subtropical climate]] (''Cfa''), though its relatively high [[elevation]] and low [[precipitation]] causes a higher [[diurnal temperature variation]] and shorter [[growing season]] than would be typical of such a climate. The growing season generally lasts less than six months, from April 27 to October 19 on average.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliTFrezS.pl?nm9686 |title=Spring 'Freeze' Probabilities (Jan 1 – Jul 31) – White Sands Natl Mon, New Mexico |publisher=[[Western Regional Climate Center]] |access-date=May 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215043121/https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliTFrezS.pl?nm9686 |archive-date=February 15, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliTFrezF.pl?nm9686 |title=Fall 'Freeze' Probabilities (Jul. 31 – Dec. 31) – White Sands Natl Mon, New Mexico |publisher=Western Regional Climate Center |access-date=May 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215043327/https://wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliTFrezF.pl?nm9686 |archive-date=February 15, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The warmest months are April through October when the average high temperature reaches or exceeds {{cvt|79|F}} and the daily mean temperature is in the range {{cvt|60–81|F}}. Afternoon temperatures in June and July average around {{cvt|97|F}}. The highest recorded temperature is {{cvt|111|F}}, set on June 22, 1981. The cooler months are November through March when the average low temperature is below {{cvt|32|F}} and the daily mean temperature is in the range {{cvt|39–52|F}}, with December and January being the coldest months. The lowest recorded temperature is {{cvt|-25|F}}, set on January 11, 1962.<ref name=WRCC>
{{cite web|url=http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?nm9686 |title=Period of Record General Climate Summary – White Sands Natl Mon, New Mexico |publisher=Western Regional Climate Center |access-date=February 3, 2020 |quote=Access tables via the links along the left margin of the WRCC website, under the heading "General Climate Summary Tables", for Temperature, Precipitation, Extreme Maximum (Maximum of Maximum Temperature), and Extreme Minimum (Minimum of Minimum Temperature).}}</ref>

The average annual precipitation is {{convert|9.81|in}}, with the wettest month being August at {{convert|1.88|in}}. July through October have the most [[North American Monsoon|rainy days]], averaging four to seven days per month. The remaining months have an average of two or three days with precipitation. Snow may occur from November through March, with an average accumulation of {{convert|1.6|in}}.

{{Weather box|width=auto
|location = White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, 1991&ndash;2020 normals, extremes 1939&ndash;present
|single line = Y

|Jan avg record high F = 70.4
|Feb avg record high F = 75.8
|Mar avg record high F = 84.5
|Apr avg record high F = 90.0
|May avg record high F = 98.8
|Jun avg record high F = 105.9
|Jul avg record high F = 105.8
|Aug avg record high F = 102.4
|Sep avg record high F = 98.3
|Oct avg record high F = 91.4
|Nov avg record high F = 79.7
|Dec avg record high F = 70.9
|year avg record high F = 107.1

| Jan high F = 57.0
| Feb high F = 63.0
| Mar high F = 71.1
| Apr high F = 79.0
| May high F = 88.0
| Jun high F = 97.3
| Jul high F = 97.0
| Aug high F = 94.8
| Sep high F = 88.8
| Oct high F = 79.3
| Nov high F = 66.6
| Dec high F = 56.5
|year high F = 78.2
|Jan mean F = 39.7
|Feb mean F = 44.9
|Mar mean F = 52.2
|Apr mean F = 59.9
|May mean F = 69.2
|Jun mean F = 78.8
|Jul mean F = 81.2
|Aug mean F = 79.2
|Sep mean F = 72.5
|Oct mean F = 60.8
|Nov mean F = 48.0
|Dec mean F = 39.4
|year mean F = 60.5
| Jan low F = 22.4
| Feb low F = 26.7
| Mar low F = 33.4
| Apr low F = 40.9
| May low F = 50.4
| Jun low F = 60.4
| Jul low F = 65.4
| Aug low F = 63.5
| Sep low F = 56.2
| Oct low F = 42.4
| Nov low F = 29.4
| Dec low F = 22.3
|year low F = 42.8

|Jan avg record low F = 9.3
|Feb avg record low F = 12.4
|Mar avg record low F = 16.0
|Apr avg record low F = 25.6
|May avg record low F = 33.9
|Jun avg record low F = 47.5
|Jul avg record low F = 56.5
|Aug avg record low F = 55.2
|Sep avg record low F = 43.2
|Oct avg record low F = 26.8
|Nov avg record low F = 13.6
|Dec avg record low F = 8.1
|year avg record low F = 5.2

|Jan record high F = 78
|Feb record high F = 85
|Mar record high F = 91
|Apr record high F = 97
|May record high F = 104
|Jun record high F = 111
|Jul record high F = 110
|Aug record high F = 110
|Sep record high F = 104
|Oct record high F = 97
|Nov record high F = 88
|Dec record high F = 84
|year record high F =
|Jan record low F = -25
|Feb record low F = -14
|Mar record low F = 0
|Apr record low F = 11
|May record low F = 20
|Jun record low F = 36
|Jul record low F = 48
|Aug record low F = 45
|Sep record low F = 30
|Oct record low F = 13
|Nov record low F = -12
|Dec record low F = -8
|year record low F =
|precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation inch = 0.50
| Feb precipitation inch = 0.38
| Mar precipitation inch = 0.24
| Apr precipitation inch = 0.30
| May precipitation inch = 0.45
| Jun precipitation inch = 0.72
| Jul precipitation inch = 1.64
| Aug precipitation inch = 1.88
| Sep precipitation inch = 1.46
| Oct precipitation inch = 1.05
| Nov precipitation inch = 0.45
| Dec precipitation inch = 0.74
|year precipitation inch = 9.81
| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
| Jan precipitation days = 3.3
| Feb precipitation days = 2.7
| Mar precipitation days = 2.2
| Apr precipitation days = 1.9
| May precipitation days = 2.4
| Jun precipitation days = 3.3
| Jul precipitation days = 6.9
| Aug precipitation days = 6.8
| Sep precipitation days = 4.9
| Oct precipitation days = 4.0
| Nov precipitation days = 2.4
| Dec precipitation days = 2.8
| year precipitation days = 43.6
|Jan snow inch = 0.8
|Feb snow inch = 0.0
|Mar snow inch = 0.0
|Apr snow inch = 0.0
|May snow inch = 0.0
|Jun snow inch = 0.0
|Jul snow inch = 0.0
|Aug snow inch = 0.0
|Sep snow inch = 0.0
|Oct snow inch = 0.1
|Nov snow inch = 0.0
|Dec snow inch = 0.7
|year snow inch = 1.6
|unit snow days = 0.1 in
|Jan snow days = 0.4
|Feb snow days = 0.0
|Mar snow days = 0.0
|Apr snow days = 0.0
|May snow days = 0.0
|Jun snow days = 0.0
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.0
|Oct snow days = 0.2
|Nov snow days = 0.0
|Dec snow days = 0.3
|year snow days = 0.9
|source 1 = NOAA<ref>{{cite web
| url = https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=epz
| title = NOWData – NOAA Online Weather Data
| publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
| access-date = June 12, 2021
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00299686&format=pdf
| title = Summary of Monthly Normals 1991–2020
| publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]
| access-date = June 12, 2021
}}</ref> }}

==Geology==
[[File:WhiteSandsGypsum.jpg|thumb|left|Gypsum sand]]
During the [[Permian|Permian Period]], shallow seas covered the area that today forms White Sands National Park. The seas left behind [[gypsum]] ([[calcium sulfate]]), and subsequent tectonic activity lifted areas of the gypsum-rich seabed to form part of the [[San Andres Mountains|San Andres]] and [[Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico)|Sacramento Mountains]].<ref name="NPS Geology"/> Over time, rain dissolved the [[Solubility|water-soluble]] gypsum in the mountains, and rivers carried it to the Tularosa Basin, which has no outlet to the sea. The trapped water sank into the ground or formed shallow pools that subsequently dried out, leaving the gypsum on the surface in a crystalline form called [[Selenite (mineral)|selenite]]. Groundwater that flows out of the Tularosa Basin flows south into the Hueco Basin.<ref>
{{cite journal
|last1        = Langford
|first1       = Richard C.
|editor-last  = Tchakerian
|editor-first = V.
|year         = 2003
|title        = The Holocene history of the White Sands dune field and influences on eolian deflation and playa lakes
|journal      = Quaternary International
|volume       = 104
|issue = 1
|pages        = 31–39
|location     = Oxford
|publisher    = Pergamon
|issn         = 1040-6182
|doi=10.1016/s1040-6182(02)00133-7|bibcode = 2003QuInt.104...31L
}}</ref> 
During the last [[ice age]], a {{convert|1600|sqmi|0|adj=on}} body of water named Lake Otero covered much of the basin. When it dried out, a large flat area of selenite crystals remained, which is named the Alkali Flat.<ref name="NPS Geology">{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/geology-of-white-sands.htm |work=White Sands National Park |title=Geology |date=January 22, 2020 |access-date=February 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203164329/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/geology-of-white-sands.htm |archive-date=February 3, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Lake Lucero]] is a dry lakebed in the southwest corner of the park, at one of the lowest points in the basin. Rain and [[snowmelt]] from the surrounding mountains and upwelling from deep groundwater within the basin periodically fill Lake Lucero with water containing dissolved gypsum.<ref name="NPS Geology"/> When filled, the lake covers about {{convert|10|sqmi}} at a depth of {{cvt|2–3|ft}}.<ref name="NPS stats"/> As the water evaporates, small selenite crystals about {{convert|1|in|cm|1}} in diameter form on the surface of the lake. Most of the crystal formation occurs when large floods concentrate the mineralized water every ten to fourteen years. Wind and water break down the crystals into progressively smaller particles until they are fine grains of white gypsum sand.<ref name="NPS Geology"/>

[[File:White Sands selenite crystal, page 15.png|thumb|[[Selenite (mineral)|Selenite]] crystal]]
The ground in the Alkali Flat and along Lake Lucero's shore is also covered with selenite crystals that measure up to {{cvt|3|ft|1}} long. [[Weathering]] and [[erosion]] eventually break the crystals into sand-size grains that are carried away by the prevailing winds from the southwest, forming the white dunes. The dunes constantly change shape and slowly move downwind. Since gypsum is water-soluble, the sand that composes the dunes may dissolve and [[cementation (geology)|cement]] together after rain, forming a layer of sand that is more solid, which increases the wind resistance of the dunes.<ref>
{{cite journal
|last1      = Schenk
|first1     = C. J.
|last2      = Fryberger
|first2     = S. G.
|date       = 1988-03-10
|title      = Early diagenesis of eolian dune and interdune sands at White Sands, New Mexico
|journal    = Sedimentary Geology
|volume     = 55
|issue = 1–2
|pages      = 109–120
|location   = Amsterdam
|publisher  = Elsevier
|issn       = 0037-0738
|doi=10.1016/0037-0738(88)90092-9|bibcode = 1988SedG...55..109S
}}</ref>
The increased resistance does not prevent dunes from quickly covering the plants in their path. Some species of plants can grow fast enough to avoid being buried by the dunes, while others utilize survival strategies such as the formation of a hardened pedestal around their roots to stabilize the plant amid the moving dunes.<ref name=Survival>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/plant-survival-strategies.htm |title=White Sands National Park – Plant Survival Strategies |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=January 14, 2017 |access-date=January 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130083739/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/plant-survival-strategies.htm |archive-date=January 30, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:A085, White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, USA, sunset, 2004.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dune#Parabolic|Parabolic dune]] at sunset]]
White Sands contains various forms of dunes. [[Dune#Dome|Dome dunes]] are found along the southwest margins of the field, [[Dune#Transverse dunes|transverse]] and [[barchan]] dunes in the center of the field, and [[Dune#Parabolic|parabolic dunes]] along the northern, southern, and northeastern margins.<ref>
{{cite journal
|last1      = McKee
|first1     = E. D.
|year       = 1966
|title      = Structures of dunes at White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, and a comparison with structures of dunes from other selected areas
|journal    = Sedimentology
|volume     = 7
|issue = 1
|pages      = 3–69
|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3091.1966.tb01579.x|bibcode = 1966Sedim...7....3M
}}</ref> Scientists have surveyed a {{convert|9.3|mi|0|adj=on}} long strip of dunes with lasers; installed shallow water wells across the dunefield; looked at the chemistry and age of the water below the dunes; measured hundreds of thousands of individual sand grains from across the dunes; and used satellites to see temperature and moisture changes throughout the year.<ref name=Dunes>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/upload/Uncovering_Dunes_04_06_16_-1-1MB_PDF.pdf |work=White Sands National Park |title= Uncovering Dunes |date=April 6, 2016 |access-date=February 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215032042/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/upload/Uncovering_Dunes_04_06_16_-1-1MB_PDF.pdf |archive-date=February 15, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Toward the western side of the dunefield, the dunes are more than {{cvt|50|ft}} tall, and they become progressively smaller toward the eastern edge, until they come to an abrupt stop at the eastern boundary. Throughout the dunes, water is only a few feet (a meter) from the surface and very salty, but toward the western edge of the dunefield, the water is older and even saltier. The depth to groundwater also decreases from {{cvt|5|ft}} below the surface on the eastern end to only {{cvt|1–2|ft|1}} on the western end of the dunefield. The dunes at the western end have very little vegetation and move very quickly, while the dunes on the eastern end move very slowly and are very vegetated. Toward the western edge, the sand grains become larger and have all different shapes, while at the eastern edge they are all very small and round. The dunefield is much cooler and wetter than the surrounding hot, dry desert soils based on satellites images. Scientists have discovered what appear to be old lakeshores beneath the dunes using [[laser scanning]] technology. At each of these old [[Terrace (geology)#Lacustrine terraces|lakeshore terraces]], the dune movement and type of dunes changes greatly.<ref name=Dunes/>

==Ecology==
More than 600 invertebrates,<ref name=Invertebrates/> 300 plants, 250 birds, 50 mammals, 30 reptiles, seven amphibians, and one fish species inhabit White Sands National Park.<ref name="NPS stats"/> Animal species that have a white, or off-white, coloration include three mammals, three reptiles, one amphibian, and numerous insects.<ref name=Table1>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/table-1.htm |title=Table 1: Description of the species reported to have lighter-colored populations inside than outside the gypsum dune field at White Sands National Monument |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=February 24, 2015 |access-date=February 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160228184331/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/table-1.htm |archive-date=February 28, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> At least 45 species are [[Endemism|endemic]], living only in this park, with 40 of them being [[moth]] species, along with the [[Apache]] [[Plains pocket mouse|pocket mouse]] (''Perognathus flavescens Apachii''), [[Southern Plains woodrat|White Sands woodrat]] (''Neotoma micropus leucophaea''), bleached [[Holbrookia maculata|earless lizard]] (''Holbrookia maculata ruthveni''), and two [[Rhaphidophoridae|camel crickets]].<ref name="NPS stats"/>

===Flora===
[[File:Gypsum plant stand.jpg|thumb|A [[Rhus trilobata|skunkbush sumac]] growing on a gypsum plant stand, or pedestal<ref name=Survival/>]]
The plants at White Sands National Park stabilize the leading edges of the dunes, providing both food and shelter for wildlife. Humans have made extensive use of the dunefield's native plant life, using some for food and others to create cloth and medicine. [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] wove mats with the thicker blades of grass, and consumed some of the grass seeds.<ref name=Plants>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/plants.htm |work=White Sands National Park |title= Plants |date=February 27, 2017 |access-date=January 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710170958/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/plants.htm |archive-date=July 10, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The park's flora must be tough to live in the nutrient-poor [[alkali]]ne soil of the dunefield. Drought-tolerant plants are able to survive in temperatures that range from sub-freezing to over {{cvt|100|F}}, depending on the season. Many of these plants also tolerate the high concentrations of salt, while [[wikt:gypsophile|gypsophiles]] thrive in these conditions.<ref name=Plants/>

The [[Cylindropuntia imbricata|cane cholla]] and other [[Cactus|cacti]], as well as desert [[Succulent plant|succulents]] like the [[Yucca elata|soaptree yucca]], are able to store water through the hot summers and dry winters, blooming in the spring. Desert grasses have developed a tolerance for the highly alkaline soil. Grass species like [[Sporobolus airoides|alkali sacaton]] and [[Oryzopsis hymenoides|Indian rice grass]] provide food for many tiny animals, such as Apache pocket mice and [[kangaroo rat]]s. Grass seeds produce a protein-rich kernel that dries well and fills many rodents' underground [[granary|granaries]].<ref name=Plants/>

Native Americans used many parts of the soaptree yucca. The young flower stalks are rich in vitamin C, while the flower pods can be boiled or roasted. The leaf fibers were used for the fabrication of rope, matting, sandals, baskets, and coarse cloth. The roots were chopped and boiled to produce soap to wash hair, blankets, and rugs.<ref name=Plants2>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/upload/Native_Plants_of_the_Northern_Chihuahuan_Desert_-2-9MB_PDF.pdf |title=Native Plants of the Northern Chihuahuan Desert |date=July 19, 2015 |access-date=January 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225125029/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/upload/Native_Plants_of_the_Northern_Chihuahuan_Desert_-2-9MB_PDF.pdf |archive-date=February 25, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Other plants include [[Rhus trilobata|skunkbush sumac]], [[Populus deltoides|Rio Grande cottonwood]] (''Populus deltoides wislizeni''), [[Poliomintha incana|hoary rosemary mint]], [[Abronia (plant)|purple sand verbena]] (''Abronia angustifolia''), [[Ephedra trifurca|Mormon tea]] (also known as longleaf jointfir), and [[Echinocereus triglochidiatus|claret cup cactus]] whose fruit is among the sweetest of any
desert plant. American Indians used the hoary rosemary mint for seasoning foods, and the purple sand verbena as a mild [[sedative]]. They used the skunkbush sumac's berries to make a tart drink, while the flexible stems were used for basketry and binding. The sumac's branches contain [[tannin]], which is useful in producing dyes, and its leaves were used as an [[astringent]] to treat stings, bites, rashes, and sunburn. The cholla's fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, while its flower buds were used as a [[diuretic]], and a hair tonic was made from its roots. Strips of the cottonwood's branches and bark were woven into baskets. The tree's buds and flowers are edible, and its bark was used for treating bruises, strains, and sprains. A tea made from cottonwood bark is an [[anti-inflammatory]] agent and mild diuretic. The Mormon tea plant contains traces of [[ephedrine]], which is a stimulant and decongestant effective in countering symptoms of the common cold.<ref name=Plants2/>

===Fauna===
[[File:Bleached earless lizard, White Sands National Park, New Mexico, United States.jpg|thumb|The bleached [[Holbrookia maculata|earless lizard]] (''Holbrookia maculata ruthveni'') is capable of hearing though it has no external ear openings.]]
More than 800 animal species inhabit the park, many of them [[Nocturnality|nocturnal]]. Several species of animals have developed very specialized means of survival in this harsh environment, enabling them to thrive in a place with very little surface water and highly mineralized [[groundwater]]. Some species that inhabit the dunes have gradually changed color through centuries of [[evolution]], becoming substantially lighter than their cousins elsewhere. Many of these white species are endemic to the park.<ref name=Wildlife>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/animals.htm |work=White Sands National Park |title= Animals |date=December 15, 2015 |access-date=January 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705070902/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/animals.htm |archive-date=July 5, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Apache pocket mouse, bleached earless lizard, [[Daihiniodes larvale|sand-treader camel cricket]], [[Arctosa littoralis|sand wolf spider]], and moth species including ''[[Protogygia whitesandsensis]]'' and ''[[Givira]] delindae'' are among the white animals inhabiting the dunefield. Lighter colored animals blend in with their white surroundings better than darker animals, which helps them to avoid predation, allowing them more time to reproduce.<ref name=WhiteSpecies>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/white-species.htm |title=White Sands National Park – White Species |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=January 15, 2020 |access-date=February 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113062259/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/white-species.htm |archive-date=January 13, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Invertebrate]]s form the largest group with more than 600 species, including varied species of [[spider]]s, [[wasp]]s, [[beetle]]s and moths.<ref name=Wildlife/> Spider species include [[Phidippus apacheanus|Apache jumping spider]], [[Geolycosa rafaelana|burrowing wolf spider]], [[Agelenopsis|funnel-web spider]] (''Agelenopsis longistylus''), [[Aphonopelma|tarantula]], and [[Latrodectus hesperus|western black widow spider]]. Other [[arachnid]] species include [[Paruroctonus|sand scorpion]] (''Paruroctonus utahensis''), and [[Eremobates|wind scorpion]]. [[Insect]] species include [[Hyles lineata|white-lined sphinx moth]], [[Tegeticula elatella|yucca moth]], [[Libellula composita|bleached skimmer dragonfly]], [[tarantula hawk|tarantula hawk wasp]], [[Litaneutria minor|minor ground mantis]], [[Paropomala pallida|toothpick grasshopper]], [[Diapheromera velii|walking stick]], [[Pogonomyrmex maricopa|Maricopa harvester ant]], and [[darkling beetle]].<ref name=Invertebrates>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/invertebrates.htm |title=White Sands National Park – Invertebrates |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=January 7, 2020 |access-date=January 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129145340/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/invertebrates.htm |archive-date=January 29, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Maricopa harvester ant inhabits much of the [[Southwestern United States]] and is believed to have the most toxic insect venom in the world. Humans may experience up to four hours of intense pain, while the equivalent of twelve ant stings is capable of killing a {{cvt|4.4|lb|0}} rat.<ref name="BIR">{{cite web|title=Chapter 23: Most Toxic Insect Venom |url=http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/ufbir/chapters/chapter_23.shtml |author=W. L. Meyer, Department of [[Entomology]] and [[Nematology]] |publisher=[[University of Florida]] |date=May 1, 1996 |work=Book of Insect Records |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626105632/http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/ufbir/chapters/chapter_23.shtml |archive-date=June 26, 2019}}</ref><!-- another archive - https://www.webcitation.org/68pivficU?url=http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/walker/ufbir/chapters/chapter_23.shtml |archive-date=July 1, 2012 -->

{{As of|November 2019}}, 246 species of [[bird]]s have been recorded, including [[wren]]s, [[mockingbird]]s, and [[raven]]s, as well as larger species like [[Greater roadrunner|roadrunners]] and [[Bird of prey|raptors]]. Fourteen species are listed as ''common'' meaning they may be seen daily but not in large numbers, while the others are seen only a few times each month, each year, or every few years. The most commonly seen species are: [[mourning dove]], [[turkey vulture]], [[Swainson's hawk]], [[red-tailed hawk]], [[ash-throated flycatcher]], [[Chihuahuan raven]], [[common raven]], [[northern mockingbird]], [[house finch]], [[Brewer's sparrow]], [[black-throated sparrow]], [[white-crowned sparrow]], and [[great-tailed grackle]]. [[Cactus wren]]s have a long white streak over their eyes, a cluster of black spots on their breast, and make a somewhat ratchety call. They build their nests in cacti and feed by hopping under shrubs hunting insects, or picking insects off the radiator grills of parked cars. Birds are usually observed in vegetated areas of the park away from the heart of the dunefield, mainly near the visitor center and the edges of the dunefield, as well as Lake Lucero though it is open to the public only once each month by guided tour.<ref name=Birds>{{cite web|url=https://irma.nps.gov/Datastore/DownloadFile/632046 |type=PDF |title=Chihuahuan Desert Network. 2019. White Sands National Monument Bird Checklist |publisher=National Park Service |website=irma.nps.gov |date=November 2019 |access-date=January 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200127122019/https://irma.nps.gov/Datastore/DownloadFile/632046 |archive-date=January 27, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Rattlesnakes-are-extremely-fast-and-variable-when-striking-at-kangaroo-rats-in-nature-Three-srep40412-s1.ogv|thumb|A [[Merriam's kangaroo rat|kangaroo rat]] hops past an attacking [[Crotalus scutulatus|rattlesnake]]]]
Most [[mammal]]s of the Tularosa Basin have adapted to the hot summers by staying in their dens until evening. Visitors may see footprints along the dunes as evidence of the nightly hunting and foraging excursions of nocturnal animals. [[Carnivora]]ns include [[coyote]]s, [[bobcat]]s, [[American badger|badgers]], and [[kit fox]]es. [[Rabbit]]s include [[desert cottontail]]s and [[black-tailed jackrabbit]]s, with the jackrabbit capable of speeds as high as {{cvt|40|mph}}. [[Rodent]]s include [[porcupine]]s, [[pocket gopher]]s, Apache pocket mice, and [[Merriam's kangaroo rat]]s, the latter of which can jump up to {{cvt|10|ft|0}} high when frightened despite having only a {{cvt|5|in|cm}} body and an {{cvt|8|in|cm}} tail. The [[pallid bat]] eats insects in the air like other bats but locates most of its food on the ground while walking around.<ref name=Mammals>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/mammals.htm |title=White Sands National Park – Mammals |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=January 15, 2020 |access-date=January 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128114256/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/mammals.htm |archive-date=January 28, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> Four other bat species have also been observed in the park, though the pallid bat is the most commonly seen species, roosting under the visitor center's [[eaves]] during the summer.<ref name=Bats>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery-item.htm?pg=0&id=28A42828-155D-451F-676AFBBAB8B7259D&gid=28665DCF-155D-451F-6733C96694898896 |title=White Sands National Park – Pallid Bats |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=n.d. |access-date=January 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200131223522/https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery-item.htm?pg=0&id=28A42828-155D-451F-676AFBBAB8B7259D&gid=28665DCF-155D-451F-6733C96694898896 |archive-date=January 31, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Among [[reptile]]s, the most common lizards include the bleached earless lizard, little white [[Aspidoscelis|whiptail]] (''Aspidoscelis gypsi'' – a white species that will detach its tail as an escape strategy), [[southwestern fence lizard]], and [[common side-blotched lizard|side-blotched lizard]]; while the most common snakes are the [[Masticophis flagellum|coachwhip]], [[Pituophis catenifer affinis|Sonoran gopher snake]], [[Crotalus viridis|prairie rattlesnake]], [[western diamondback rattlesnake]], and the [[Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii|massasauga]] which is another species of [[rattlesnake]], all of them venomous. The sole resident turtle species is the [[desert box turtle]].<ref name=Reptiles>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/upload/Common_Reptiles_of_White_Sands_01_30_17_-2-7MB_PDF.pdf |title=Common Reptiles of White Sands |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=January 30, 2017 |access-date=January 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128142631/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/upload/Common_Reptiles_of_White_Sands_01_30_17_-2-7MB_PDF.pdf |archive-date=January 28, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Seven species of [[amphibian]]s inhabit the park, including three species of [[toad]]s: the [[Great Plains toad]], the [[western toad]], and the [[red-spotted toad]]; three species of [[American spadefoot toad|spadefoot toads]]: [[Couch's spadefoot toad]], the [[plains spadefoot toad]], and the [[New Mexico spadefoot toad]], all of which have a single hard, dark spade on the underside of each hind foot that is used to burrow into the ground to prevent water loss and hide from predators; and one [[salamander]] species, the [[barred tiger salamander]].<ref name=Amphibians>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/amphibians.htm |title=White Sands National Park – Amphibians |publisher=National Park Service |website=nps.gov |date=February 24, 2016 |access-date=January 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713042840/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/amphibians.htm |archive-date=July 13, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[White Sands pupfish]] is the only species of [[fish]] endemic to the Tularosa Basin, and the only fish found in the park. The pupfish has dark eyes, silver scales, and grows from {{convert|1.75-2.5|in}} in length.<ref name=Wildlife/>

==Paleontology==
[[File:Paleontological landscape painting, White Sands National Park, United States.jpg|thumb|upright=2.7|center|A herd of [[Columbian mammoth]]s, a [[Paramylodon|ground sloth]] (left background), [[dire wolf|dire wolves]] (left foreground), [[American lion|lions]] (center/left background), [[Camelops|camels]] (right background), and [[Smilodon|saber-toothed cats]] (right foreground, in reeds) gather at a water source]]
Before the [[Pleistocene]] epoch ended about 12,000 years ago, the land within the Tularosa Basin featured large lakes, streams, and grasslands. The climate was wetter and cooler, producing a lot more rain and snow than in the present. Lake Otero was one of the largest lakes in the southwest, covering {{convert|1600|sqmi|0}}, which is an area larger than the state of [[Rhode Island]].<ref name=Paleontology>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/paleontology.htm |work=White Sands National Park|title=Paleontology |date=January 22, 2020 |access-date=January 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126150422/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/paleontology.htm |archive-date=January 26, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The basin teemed with life, including large [[ice age]] mammals that lived by the shores of Lake Otero and in the surrounding grasslands. [[Columbian mammoth]]s, [[Paramylodon|ground sloths]], [[Camelops|ancient camels]], [[dire wolf|dire wolves]], [[American lion|lions]], and [[Smilodon|saber-toothed cats]]—also known as saber-toothed tigers, though not closely related to [[tiger]]s<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/carnivora/sabretooth.html |title=What Is a Sabertooth? |date=May 12, 1994 |website=ucmp.berkeley.edu |publisher=[[University of California Museum of Paleontology]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029102824/https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/mammal/carnivora/sabretooth.html |archive-date=October 29, 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=January 26, 2020}}</ref>—all crossed the Tularosa Basin where the dunes lie presently. The animals left [[Ichnite|fossil footprints]] as they walked the muddy shores of Lake Otero, their body weight compressing the wet clay and gypsum. The fragile tracks are uncovered by the wind, then rapidly erode away, with many tracks disappearing after only two years.<ref name=Paleontology/>

Scattered along the now dried lakebed are trackways of ancient camels and Columbian mammoths. The fossilized footprints appear to gather around ancient pools of water. For 80 years, only a small collection of fossil footprints had been found in the park; however, a group of scientists noticed dark spots dotting the expanse of the lakebed that appeared to be footprints. During the 2010s, footprints of a dire wolf were discovered beside ancient seeds dated to more than 18,000 years ago. The fossil footprints of ground sloths have also been found in the park. [[Paleolithic]] human footprints are sometimes found interacting with Ice Age animals. One set of footprints shows the stalking of sloths. The paleo-humans who lived in the Tularosa Basin left behind no other evidence of their passage. Though stone flakes from toolmaking, arrowheads, and spear points are found in surrounding areas, they are the artifacts of humans who lived after the Ice Age. The lakebed is nearly devoid of a single artifact from before the Spanish exploration in the 1500s.<ref name=Footprints>{{NPS|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/fossilized-footprints.htm |work=White Sands National Park |title= Fossilized Footprints |date=April 4, 2019 |access-date=January 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024050503/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/fossilized-footprints.htm |archive-date=October 24, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> In a study of exposed outcrops of Lake Otero in 2021, Bennett et al. reveal numerous human footprints dating to about 23,000 to 21,000 years ago which provide strong evidence of pre-Clovis occupation of the American continents.<ref>''Science,'' 24 September 2021, "Evidence of humans in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum"</ref>

===Carnivores===
[[File:Canis dirus size.png|thumb|[[Dire wolf]] and human, size comparison]]
Dire wolves lived in North and South America during the Pleistocene. Standing at about 2.6–2.8 feet (80–85&nbsp;cm) tall and weighing 130–150 pounds (60–68&nbsp;kg), they were about the same size as modern gray [[wolf|wolves]], but with a heavier, more muscular build. They had powerful jaws, with a stronger bite than modern wolves, and probably hunted in packs, allowing them to target larger prey such as horses and bison.<ref name=Paleontology/>

During the Pleistocene, large cats lived throughout the world, including lions in North America. About four feet (1.2 m) tall at the shoulder and weighing over 500 pounds (230&nbsp;kg), American lions had long, slender legs for chasing down prey. They hunted by ambushing animals like deer, camels, ground sloths, [[bison]], and young mammoths.<ref name=Paleontology/>

Saber-toothed cats are known for their oversized canine teeth, which could reach seven to ten inches (17–20&nbsp;cm) in length. Standing around 3 feet (one meter) tall and weighing up to 750 pounds (340&nbsp;kg), saber-toothed cats had a bulky, muscular build that allowed them to subdue large prey, like sloths, bison, and young mammoths. Some fossil evidence suggests that they may have hunted in packs.<ref name=Paleontology/>

===Herbivores===
[[File:Fossil footprint, Harlan's ground sloth, White Sands National Park, New Mexico, United States.jpg|thumb|[[Ichnite|Fossil footprint]] of a [[Paramylodon|Harlan's ground sloth]]]]
Columbian mammoths stood up to 14 feet (over four meters) tall at the shoulder and weighed 18,000–22,000 pounds (8,000–10,000 kilograms). They had large tusks and ridged teeth for eating plants like modern [[elephant]]s. These giant herbivores probably did not have much hair, unlike the [[woolly mammoth]]s that evolved in colder regions. Columbian mammoths inhabited a range from Canada to Nicaragua and Honduras.<ref name=Paleontology/>

Camels are commonly associated with Africa, though they originated in North America. The ancient western camel probably resembled modern, one-humped [[dromedary]] camels, but with longer legs, standing up to seven feet (over two meters) tall at the shoulder. The camels were opportunistic herbivores, grazing over large ranges, and leaving distinctive footprints.<ref name=Paleontology/>

[[Ground sloth]]s are the ancient relatives of modern tree [[sloth]]s, [[armadillo]]s, and [[anteater]]s. The Harlan's ground sloth dwarfed modern relatives, standing 10 feet (three meters) tall when upright and weighing over a ton (about 2,200–2,400 pounds or 1000–1090 kilograms). These giant herbivores had a slow, waddling walk and left kidney-bean shaped footprints, created as their back feet rotated inwards while walking. Some ground sloth prints appear bipedal, possibly caused by the large hind feet covering the tracks of the smaller front feet. Such tracks have sometimes been mistaken for the tracks of a giant human.<ref name=Paleontology/>

==Visitation==
[[File:Visitors sledding and picnicking at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, United States.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Visitors sledding down the dunes]]
White Sands National Park is the most visited NPS site in New Mexico, with about 600,000 visitors each year. In year two of the pandemic, White Sands National Park saw more than 780,000 visitors from both locals and visitors.<ref name="krqe.com"/> Many visitors arrive during the warmer months from March through August, but sledders and photographers can be seen throughout the dunes year round. March and July are the two busiest months with more than 60,000 visitors each, or about 2,000 per day, while November through February have the fewest visitors with less than 30,000 each month, or fewer than 1,000 per day.<ref name="NPS stats"/>

The Dunes Drive leads {{convert|8|mi|km}} into the dunes from the visitor center at the park entrance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/upload/Dunes_Drive_Map_8_11_16_-870KB_PDF.pdf |title=Dunes Drive map |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |date=August 11, 2016 |access-date=February 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622170113/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/upload/Dunes_Drive_Map_8_11_16_-870KB_PDF.pdf |archive-date=June 22, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Three picnic areas are available, as well as a backcountry campground with ten sites for overnight camping in the dunefield. Five marked trails totaling {{convert|9|mi}} allow visitors to explore the dunes on foot.<ref name="NPS stats"/> Ranger-guided orientation and nature walks occur at various times and months throughout the year. Sunset strolls are presented every evening of the year, while Lake Lucero hikes are offered once a month, from November to April,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/lake-lucero-tour.htm |title=Lake Lucero Tour |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |date=February 14, 2020 |access-date=February 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215064358/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/lake-lucero-tour.htm |archive-date=February 15, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> and full moon guided hikes from April to October, on the night before the full moon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/ranger-programs.htm |title=Park Ranger Programs |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |date=December 31, 2019 |access-date=February 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204005614/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/planyourvisit/ranger-programs.htm |archive-date=February 4, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> The park participates in the [[Junior Ranger Program]], with various age-group-specific activities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/kidsyouth/beajuniorranger.htm |title=Be A Junior Ranger |website=nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |date=December 27, 2019 |access-date=February 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111000224/https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/kidsyouth/beajuniorranger.htm |archive-date=January 11, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Both the park and [[U.S. Route 70 in New Mexico|U.S. Route 70]] between [[Las Cruces, New Mexico|Las Cruces]] and [[Alamogordo, New Mexico|Alamogordo]] are subject to closure for safety reasons when tests are conducted at [[White Sands Missile Range]] which completely surrounds the park. Dunes Drive may be closed for periods of up to three hours during missile tests. Park staff is usually notified two weeks in advance of scheduled tests; however, notifications from White Sands Missile Range may be received as little as 24 hours in advance of a test. All activity, including horseback riding, backcountry camping, hiking, sledding, and driving on Dunes Drive is prohibited during all missile tests that require road closure.<ref name="closures"/> According to a National Park Service report, in 2020, visitors spent roughly $22.5 million in nearby communities with more than 360,000 more guests in 2021, nearby towns felt the boost.<ref name=":0" />

{{wide image|White_sands_panorama_2009.jpg|1200px|align-cap=center|Panorama of the dune field from the Alkali Flat trail}}

==See also==
{{Portal|NRHP}}
* [[List of national parks of the United States]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Otero County, New Mexico]]
* [[Trinity (nuclear test)|Trinity Site]] – world's first nuclear weapon test, at [[White Sands Missile Range]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|wikt=no|commonscat=White Sands National Park|b=no|n=no|q=no|s=no|v=no|voy=White Sands National Park|species=no|d=no}}
* [https://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm Official website] at the [https://www.nps.gov/index.htm National Park Service]
* [https://www.lascrucescvb.org/white-sands-national-monument-new-mexico/ White Sands National Park] – [https://www.lascrucescvb.org Las Cruces Convention & Visitors Bureau]

{{Protected areas of New Mexico}}
{{National parks of the United States}}
{{Registered Historic Places}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Dunes of the United States]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico]]
[[Category:Museums in Otero County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:National parks in New Mexico]]
[[Category:Natural history museums in New Mexico]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1933]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Doña Ana County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Otero County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Tularosa Basin]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Alamogordo, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Works Progress Administration in New Mexico]]
[[Category:Landforms of New Mexico]]
[[Category:Landforms of Doña Ana County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Landforms of Otero County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Otero County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Doña Ana County, New Mexico]]
[[Category:1933 establishments in New Mexico]]
[[Category:Protected areas of the Chihuahuan Desert]]
[[Category:Pre-Clovis archaeological sites in the Americas]]
[[Category:Articles with WikiMiniAtlas displaying incorrectly; WMA not showing area]]