On May 21, 2014, a nearly 500,000-acre area in the southern part of New Mexico was designated by President Barack Obama as the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. Now protected by the Bureau of Land Management, it features picturesque mountain ranges, the Kilbourne Hole (a mile-wide volcanic crater), historical sites, and portions of the Chihuahuan Desert.

Enjoy more photos in the New U.S. National Monument gallery and New Mexico group.