Cowboys For Trump Sends National Monument Sand To Washington

Above, the Cowboys For Trump during their ride through Grants, New Mexico last month. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The New Mexico Cowboys for Trump group may have made a faux pas when they brought sand to Washington, D.C. from White Sands National Monument.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported:

ALAMOGORDO, N.M. — The New Mexico group Cowboys for Trump faces criticism after members brought iconic gypsum sands from White Sands National Monument to Washington for the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree lighting ceremony — a possible violation of federal law. 

Otero County Commission Chairman and Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin said the group brought four "big plastic bins" of the extremely fine, pure white sand for the ceremony Wednesday, the Alamogordo Daily News reported. 

"We're bringing Washington, D.C., some of the most beautiful treasure out of New Mexico," Griffin said in a video posted to the Cowboys for Trump Facebook page Nov. 30. 

The sand was given as a gift to New Mexico's congressional delegation so it could be "showcased" with the tree, the group said without providing more details on how it was used. The tree itself is a large blue spruce, from the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. 

But removing natural resources from a U.S. national parks unit, including national monuments, is illegal without permission.

Hopefully, the group obtained permission first. At the very least, if they did mess up, perhaps the sand could be returned to the national monument by New Mexico's aforementioned congressional delegation.

To read more, go here.

UPDATE (12/6/9, 6:49 PM):

About an hour ago, the Washington Post reported:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Iconic gypsum sand that the group Cowboys for Trump had said was from White Sands National Monument in New Mexico and was sent to Washington for the U.S. Capitol Tree lighting ceremony this week was actually gathered just outside the monument, one of the group’s co-founders said Friday. 

The group had caused a political furor after announcing it sent the sand because it’s illegal to remove sand from the park — and Democrats said the group might have violated federal law. 

But Otero County Commission Chairman and Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin told The Associated Press the group collected its four “big plastic bins” of extremely fine, pure white sand from outside the monument’s perimeter for delivery to Wednesday’s tree lighting ceremony after getting permission from the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

To read more, go here.