Three national parks with an explosive past

Last year, as I turned out of the gate of a national park in New Mexico, I had a strange experience. Fresh out of the otherworldly, muffled landscape of White Sands, a fighter jet hurled overhead, the sound of its thrust echoing through the Tularosa Basin. . 

It was a little jarring, but not at all surprising. While in the park, I’d hiked the Alkali Flat trail, a pseudo-out-and-back that dead-ended into a bright yellow sign. It declared that we could go no deeper into the park, lest we stumble over unexploded munitions. 

In an interesting paradox, bombs buried beneath a bucolic scene isn’t unique to White Sands National Park. At times, changing national priorities have shifted the use of federal land across the nation — including repurposing recreational and scenic public land for a military purpose. From South Dakota to the Everglades, here are three national parks with an explosive past.

Bombing in Badlands national park

Following entry into WWII, the U.S. armed forces took control of approximately 341,000 acres of land in South Dakota for use as a gunnery range. Part of this land is now the Stronghold District of Badlands National Park. The Dakota Badlands are famous for their stunning fossil resources, revealed by the swift erosion of the landscape. Many such fossils were visible from the air and used for target practice by bombers. 

Originally, most the land was part of the Pine Ridge Reservation, home of the Oglala Sioux. Using eminent domain, the US government condemned the properties of between 150 and 250 Native American families, forcing them out of their homes. These displaced families received up to $8 an acre for their land — though most receive much less. Some residents refused to leave, putting them in serious danger as aerial maneuvers with live ammunition were practiced overhead. 

In 1968, the land taken from the Oglala Sioux was determined to be of no further military use. It was declared excess federal property and Congress returned 202,000 acres of the land to the tribe. In many cases, there was no possibility of displaced families returning to their homes. Much of the landscape was scattered with debris and unexploded ordnance. Some of the land that wasn’t pitted with craters and littered with debris had climbed steeply in price, making it nearly impossible for many of the former owners to re-purchase their homes.

In 1976, almost 137,000 acres of the test range were declared as Badlands National Monument. Two years later, the monument was transformed into the southern Stronghold District of Badlands National Park. This district sits entirely within the Pine Ridge Reservation and is operated by the NPS under an agreement with the Oglala Sioux. Though an effort is underway to clean up gunnery range leftovers on the Pine Ridge Reservation, unexploded munitions continue to be found throughout the former bombing range — especially within the rugged terrain of the national park. 

Nuclear testing to the north of White Sands national park

Just as in South Dakota, the US armed forces responded to the Pearl Harbor attacks by creating a missile range and airforce base in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico. This new military installation entirely surrounded a unit in the national park system, swallowing up White Sands National Monument. 

The White Sands Proving Ground and Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range were established in the summer of 1945. (Now the White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Airforce Base). Almost immediately after, on July 16 of that year, the scientists of the secret Manhattan Project conducted their first test of a nuclear weapon. It took place at the Trinity Site in the White Sands Missile Range — just 65 miles north of the national park site. 

Today, both the Holloman Airforce Base and White Sands Missile Range continue to operate in ways that impact the park. Stray munitions have often fallen within park boundaries, prompting some sections to be permanently closed to the public. The park is occasionally closed during weapons tests on the Missile Range and visitors will often see and hear military aircraft flying overhead. 

The Cold War in Everglades National Park

Far to the south, the National Park Service transferred 660 acres to the U.S. Army in the early 1960s for a missile base. It was a response to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, creating a link in the chain of defensive missile sites installed throughout the United States. Reaching all the way to the southern terminus of the Florida Peninsula, a location within Everglades National Park afforded the most strategic location for deterring a Soviet attack from the Caribbean. 

The Everglades base (named HM 69) was manned by 140 soldiers operating three missile barns and a maintenance shop. Unlike other missile sites, the high water table of the South Florida wetlands forced the Army Corp of Engineers to construct all of its infrastructure above ground. The missile site operated during the height of the Cold War, from 1965-1979. After being decommissioned, the property was transferred back to the National Park Service. 

Today, it is preserved and interpreted as a historic resource within Everglades National Park. The NPS allows visitors to witness the site — including an original Nike missile — between early December and March.  

A new future?

In March of 2023, President Joe Biden used the power of the Antiquities Act to declare Castner Range National Monument. Uniquely, this monument isn’t managed by the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, or U.S. Forest Service. Instead, it is the only national monument to be managed by the U.S. Army. 

Currently, Castner Range is closed to the public. The monument was formerly a weapons testing range for nearby Fort Bliss and must be cleared of munitions before it can be used for recreation.

As history has shown, the ways we use these American landscapes can change over time. Perhaps we should consider more former weapons test sites for conservation, just like the Badlands and Castner Range.