f the Chihuahuan Desert
lies a mountain-ri

nged valley, the Tularosa Basin. Ri
sing from the heart of this basin is on

e of the world's great natural wo
industrial nders-the glistening whit

e sands of New Mexico. Great wave-like
dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 27

5 square miles of d

esert here and

created the largest gypsum dune field in the

world. The dunes, brilliant

and white, are ever

changing. Th

ey grow, crest, then slump b


ut always advance. Slowly but r
elentlessly the
sand, driven by strong s


outhwest 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 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 gypsum dune field, along with the plants and animals that have adapted successfully to this constantly changing environment.At the northern end of the Chihuahuan Desert lies a mountain-ringed valley, the Tularosa Basin. Rising fro

m the heart of this basin is one of the world's great natural