uahuan Desert lies a mountain-ringed valley, the Tularosa Basin. Rising from the h

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eart of this basin is one
Scope of Course
of the world's gre
at natural wonders-the glis
tening white sa
nds of New Mexico
. Great wave-like   

dunes of gypsum sand have

• engulfed 275 square miles of desert here
• and created the largest gypsum dune field in the world. The dunes, brilliant and white, are ever changing. They grow, crest, then slump but always advance. Slowly but relentl
• essly the sand, driven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path. Within the extremely harsh environment of the dune field, even plants and animals adapted to desert conditions s
• truggle to survive. Only a few species of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial by the moving dunes, but several types of small animals have evolved white colorations to camouflage them in the gypsum sand. White Sands National Monument preserves a major part of this gy
• psum dune field, along with the plants and animals that have adapted successfully to this const

antly changing

• environment.At the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert lies a mountain-ringed valley, the Tularosa Basin. Rising from the heart of this basin is one of the world's great natural wonders-the glistening white sands of N
• ew Mexico. Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square identifies the importance of conducting these assessments within a jurisdiction.
• miles of desert here and created the largest gypsum dune field in the world. The dunes, brilliant and white, are ever changing. They grow, crest, then slump but always advance. Slowly but relentlessly the
• sand, driven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path. Within the e
• xtremely harsh environment of the dune field, even plants and animals adapted to desert conditions struggle to survive. Only a few species of plants grow rapi
• dly enough to survive burial by the moving dunes, but several types of small animals have evolved white colorations to camouflage them in the gypsum sand.
• White Sands National Monument preserves a major part of this gypsum dune field, along with the plants and animals that have adapted successfully to this constantly changing environment.At the northern end of the Chihu
• ahuan Desert lies a mountain-ringed valley, the Tularosa Basin. Rising from the heart of this basin is one of the world's great natural wonders-the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert here and created the la
• Vulnerability Assessmentsrgest gypsum dune field in the world. The dunes, brilliant and white, are ever changing. They grow, crest, then slump but always advance. Slowly but relentlessly the sand, d
• riven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path. Within the extremely harsh environment of the dune field, even plants and animals adapted to desert conditions struggle to survive. Only a few sp
• ecies of plants grow rapidly enough to survive burial by the moving dunes, but several types of small animals have evolved white colorations to camouflage them in the gypsum sand. White Sands Nation
• al Monument preserves a major part of this gypsum dune field, along with the plants and animals that have adapted successfully to this constantly changing en

vironment.A

t the northern end

of the Chihuahuan Desert lies a mountain-ringed valley, the Tularosa Basin. Rising from the heart of this basin is one of the world's

• great natural wonders-the
• glistening white sands of New Mexico. Great wav
• Vehicle Bomb Lab
• e-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275

square miles of desert here and created the largest gypsum dune field in the world. The dunes, brilliant and white, are ever changing. They grow, crest, then slump but always advance. Slowly but relentlessly the sand, driven by strong southwest winds, covers everything in its path. Within the extremely harsh environment of the dune field, even plants and animals adapted to desert conditions struggle to survive. Only a f

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ew species of p

lants grow rapidl

y enough to survive burial by the moving dunes, but several types of small animals have evolved white colorations to camouflage them in the gypsum sand. White Sands National

• Monument preserves a major part o
• f this gypsum dune field, along wit
• h the plants
• and animals that have adapted successfully to this constantly changing envi

ronment.At the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert lies a mountain-ring