In the early 1970s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched the Documerica project — a sweeping effort to photograph the state of the nation. Photographers fanned out across the country to document environmental problems, industrial activity, and the texture of ordinary American life. The American Southwest offered some of the most striking contrasts: vast open landscapes sitting alongside open-pit mines, booming suburbs pressing into desert edges, and communities where centuries-old traditions were still very much alive.
Industrial extraction left a heavy mark on the region. Coal mining operations like the Peabody mine at Black Mesa in Arizona carved deep into the earth, reshaping entire landscapes. Near Moab, Utah, signs openly advertised the area’s oil, uranium, and potash deposits, inviting further industrial development. These weren’t remote, invisible operations — they defined the economy and the terrain of much of the Southwest.
Environmental monitoring was a serious and active effort during this period. In Nevada, EPA laboratory monitors collected daily water and air samples near atomic test sites. General store owners in small towns like Alamo, Nevada, wore thermo-luminescent dosimeters to track their exposure to radioactive fallout from past nuclear tests. In Las Vegas, the EPA operated a whole body counter at its National Environmental Research Center to measure radiation levels in people living in the region.
Pollution took many forms across the region. Near Ogden, Utah, a five-acre pond filled with acid water and oil from abandoned vehicles and industrial debris required EPA-supervised cleanup. In New Mexico, empty steel cans piled up near Taos were repurposed as building materials for experimental homes. Oil spills on the San Juan River in Monument Valley, Utah, required draglines and cleanup crews working directly in the water.
Away from the industrial sites, the Southwest held some of the most dramatic natural scenery in the country. Arches National Park in eastern Utah displayed geological formations shaped over millions of years. The Great Sand Dunes in Colorado rose sharply from the valley floor. These places weren’t just backdrops — they were actively used by residents and visitors alike for hiking, camping, and recreation.
Recreation was woven into the everyday fabric of Southwestern life. Lake Havasu near Parker, Arizona, drew crowds for the annual Outboard World Championship boat race. Sand dunes east of Brawley, California, were a playground for dune buggy riders. Teenagers hung out at drive-ins, working summer jobs and saving for school. Hunters checked in their deer at state game stations in Colorado. Life moved at different speeds in different corners of the region.
The Documerica photographers also turned their lenses on Native American communities across Arizona. On the Hopi Reservation, children played and went about daily life. Havasupai children were photographed in Arizona. On the Colorado River Indian Reservation in Parker, a junior rodeo drew performers who kept traditions alive for younger generations.
In Colorado’s small towns and ranches, the pace of life was slower and deeply rooted. Frank Starbuck, described as the last of the old-time ranchers near Fairview, Colorado, still fed his livestock from a horse-drawn wagon, finding it more practical than a truck on his land. In Rifle, Colorado, the annual Garfield County Fair Parade filled the streets each Labor Day weekend, while residents hosted neighborhood parties and carried on with the routines of rural life.
California, the most populous part of the broader Southwest, showed its own contradictions clearly. Sunbathers stretched out on Huntington Beach while oil platforms stood visible just offshore. New housing developments in San Diego spread across the hills in uniform rows. Freeways near Hollywood carried dense, slow-moving traffic. At Santa Cruz, the beach boardwalk and nearby amusement park drew crowds seeking an escape from the pressures of the decade.
Agriculture in the region depended on intensive methods. Crop duster planes flew low over California’s Imperial Valley, spraying vast fields from the air. Young workers joined conservation corps programs — in Alta, Utah, a fifteen-year-old named Alaua James worked with the Alta Youth Conservation Corps in 1972. Storefronts in northern California captured the commercial rhythms of smaller towns removed from the big cities.
Nevada presented its own distinct picture. East Las Vegas streets showed the side of the city away from the casinos — ordinary neighborhoods, gas stations, and everyday commerce. Hikers from Los Angeles Explorer Post 397 climbed Mineral Peak in Nevada, far from the urban sprawl they came from. The EPA’s monitoring work in the state served as a constant reminder of how deeply the region had been affected by Cold War-era nuclear testing.
