Carlsbad Caverns National Park
GLO Record of the Week for January 27, 2020
This week the General Land Office is taking you to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the Chihuahuan Desert of southeastern New Mexico. Follow along to learn more about the history of the establishment of the National Park, and what makes it so unique.
GLO Survey Record
GLO Survey Plats Depicting Carlsbad Cave National Monument
Above, you can see two GLO survey plats both approved on January 30, 1885, by Surveyor General Clarence Pullen. When the Presidential Proclamation establishing Carlsbad Cave National Monument was signed in 1923, these two plats were annotated to display the National Monument boundary which included 719.22 acres.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States of America, by authority of the power in me vested by section two of the act of Congress entitled, “An Act for the preservation of American antiquities,” approved June eighth, nineteen hundred and six (34 Stat., 225) do proclaim that there is hereby reserved from all forms of appropriation under the public land laws, subject to all valid existing claims, and set apart as a National Monument to be known as the Carlsbad Cave National Monument all that piece or parcel of land in the County of Eddy, State of New Mexico, shown upon the diagram hereto annexed and made a part hereof, and more particularly described as follows: lots one and two, section thirty-one, township twenty-four south, range twenty-five east, and section thirty-six, township twenty-four south, range twenty-four east of the New Mexico Principal Meridian.
After the original Presidential Proclamation was signed by President Calvin Coolidge, an Executive Order and a Supplemental Executive Order were also established to withdrawal additional lands for classification. Carlsbad Caverns, which now includes 46,766 acres, was established through an Act of Congress , May 14, 1930.
The map below shows the two GLO survey plats depicting Carlsbad Cave National Monument and the current park boundary (in green) for Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Map displaying GLO Survey Plats and the Carlsbad Caverns National Park Boundary
Bat Flight Program
From late May through October, you can visit Carlsbad Caverns around sunset for a free Bat Flight Program at the Bat Flight Amphitheater. Each night, a Park Ranger talks about the bats prior to thousands of them exiting the cavern. To learn more, click here . To watch a video of the bats exiting the cave, click here .
Virtual Tour
If you can't make it to New Mexico to check out this spectacular National Park, watch the YouTube video below to see the amazing stalactites and stalagmites.
Sources
We hope you enjoyed this Record of the Week! For more story maps, visit the BLM Record of the Week Shortlist . For more information on Carlsbad Caverns National Park, check out our sources below!
