Wednesday, July 1, 2009

July 2009

FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS COALITION
JULY 2009
http://www.franklinmountains.org/

NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, July 15, 2009
6:00 p.m. in the Maud Sullivan Gallery at the El Paso Public Library’s Main Branch located downtown at 501 N. Oregon St. The main branch’s location map and parking information are available online at:
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/library/ourlibraries/main_library/main_library.asp

Our Coalition’s continued vitality, efficacy and strength depend upon membership participation. Individual member or representative of a member organization - we hope to see you at the meeting!


WELCOME!

Speaking of members: a belated welcome to our new member organizations: Bordersenses, Centro San Vicente, El Paso County Master Gardeners, El Paso Zoo and Voter Education Project, Inc. We also have numerous new individual members but space does not permit welcoming each of you by name. Please know how much we value your commitment.

RECENT EVENTS

Castner Range: Congressman Sylvester Reyes included the following critical policy language in the National Defense Authorization Act.

The committee understands that the Department of Defense ceased operations at the Castner Range Complex at Fort Bliss, Texas, in 1971. In testimony, the Army indicated that Castner Range is “wholly impractical to use for any range activity.”
The committee is interested in maintaining this land for a conservation purpose. The committee encourages the Department to enter into an agreement in furtherance of conveyance with eligible conservation entities.
If you haven’t already, please send Congressman Reyes your thanks: 310 North Mesa, Suite 400, El Paso, TX 79901, 915-534-4400, or e-mail: http://reyes.house.gov/Contact/vyo.htm
And a big thank you to Sito Negron at Newspaper Tree for his article “Incrementally Preserving the Castner Range Status Quo” – check it out at: http://newspapertree.com/news/3983

New Garden: Kudos to the volunteers from El Paso Cactus and Rock Club, Master Gardeners, Master Naturalists, and the Native Plant Society for their hard work this spring creating a new cactus garden for the Lee and Beulah Moor Children’s Home.


MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Sunrise Hikes: Did you know that there’s a hiking group that hikes various trails on the Franklin Mountains at sunrise several days a week? The group includes Park volunteers, trail experts and generic citizens and hikes from 6 a.m. until 8 a.m. Interested in learning more about Franklin Mountains hiking trails or joining the group, email Jim Tolbert @ jimhtolbert@elp.rr.com

Farmer’s Market: at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing continues every Saturday through mid October from 7:30 AM–12:00PM: http://www.ardovinos.com/farmersmarket.html for more information, including directions.

Poppies Celebration 2010: The Fourth Annual Franklin Mountains Poppies Celebration at Castner Range – a FREE Family Fun Day – is planned for Saturday, March 20 at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology, 4301 Transmountain Road and will include a full program of nature talks, wildlife displays, educational exhibits, demonstrations, vendors, music and refreshments.
El Pasoans care deeply about the Franklin Mountains – one of our area’s greatest assets. We are frequently blessed with a stunning wildflower display on particular parts of the Franklin Mountains when the Mexican golden poppies burst forth on Castner Range.

Sponsors include El Paso Archaeological Society, El Paso Museum of Archaeology, Franklin Mountains State Park, and Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition.
For more information: 915-755-4332 or lobellorl@elpasotexas.gov.
Exhibitors are invited to join in planning the event.

As last year, we will charge a small fee for exhibitor organizations but the fee will be waived for those organizations who are actively involved in planning the event.

Please attend the next planning meeting: Wednesday, 5 Aug 09, at 0900, at the Museum of Archaeology. See you then!

PARK NEWS

Franklin Mountains State Park volunteer, Richard Love, writes: “Well, summer is in full swing, and things are hopping around the bird blind. The hummingbird count is up to ten. They recently had a shock when they came in to eat. The feeder was occupied by a female Ladder-back Wood Pecker. At first I thought she was robbing a drink of nectar, but after watching her for a while I discovered she was moving hole to hole eating the bees and ants that come in. The very next day an Ash-throated Flycatcher was on the Hummingbird feeder after the sweet Bees. With the recent rains and the few flowers that have already opened there have been a large number of Butterflies. I have seen four different butterflies mostly at the End Loop. There was a good year for the different lizards in the park. I have seen lots of juveniles, and they are healthy and colorful. We have had a couple of twilight hikes and have had very good feedback. Weekends and holidays there are guided hikes and tours, and lots of campers using the facilities. In the next few weeks there will be some great additions to the park so keeping track of upcoming events will be easier. In September there will be a CASI Chili Cook Off in conjunction with the Celebration of the Mountains. We’re looking for judges so, if you or a friend have a very high tolerance for hot and spicy food, please call Kelly at 566-6441. Right now after the rains it is a photographers dream - almost any time of day you can find willing (some not so willing) subjects to photograph. Each day that goes by more flowers open. One staple of nature photography is to shoot right after a rain. The colors and the landscape are like no other time. See you soon...” Thank you, Richard, for news of the Park.

Borderlands Photography Exhibit in Las Cruces

Member organization Southwest Environmental Center is hosting a stunning photo exhibit through the end of July at the Center’s Cottonwood Gallery in Las Cruces. On loan from the International League of Conservation Photographers, the 30 photograph exhibit entitled Continental Divide: Borderlands, Wildlife, People and the WALL, shows the diversity of wildlife, cultures and communities that exists in the fragile borderlands, but is now jeopardized by the 630 miles of pedestrian and vehicle fencing dividing the U.S. from Mexico.

The border wall has drawn heavy criticism from conservation organizations including the Southwest Environmental Center, Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club, civil-rights groups, private landowners, tribes and communities along the border for reasons as varied as habitat destruction, infringement on property rights, and damage to historic and cultural sites.

Documenting the region’s wildlife and ecology, the photographs were taken earlier this year by world-renowned ILCP photographers who had visited the borderlands along with a team of writers, filmmakers and scientists to highlight the effects of the wall.

“We hope the exhibit will provide viewers with a more intimate connection to the people and wildlife of the borderlands,” said Krista Schlyer, ILCP exhibit coordinator and expedition leader. “The photographers involved in the expedition saw first hand the damage that border wall and other infrastructure are doing to borderlands communities.”

The Department of Homeland Security – the federal agency tasked with building the wall – waived some 36 laws during its construction, including measures protecting the environment and religious freedoms.

In 2005, Congress passed the REAL ID Act, giving the former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff the authority to waive laws that slowed new walls and infrastructure – a move which is still being challenged in the courts as a constitutional violation.

Today, some 50 miles of wall continue to be built without the guidance of environmental laws, scientific study or public input. Some segments of wall will cut landowners off from their own property, and place some US homes south of the border wall.

The resulting damage to the region’s fragile ecosystem has not been fully documented, but the ILCP’s photographs and multimedia presentation taken over a two-month period show that the destruction is extensive.

Meanwhile, construction continues.

“In west Texas, the wall was recently built along nearly 90 miles of the Rio Grande, blocking access by mountain lions, bobcats, deer, javelina, pronghorn and many other wildlife species to this critically important resource,” said Kevin Bixby, Executive Director of the Southwest Environmental Center. “This is how animals go extinct—by fragmenting larger populations into smaller ones, and by destroying habitat. We need to find better ways to secure our borders that are not environmentally destructive.”

In late April, U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalava (AZ) introduced legislation aimed at improving border security, while also helping to restore the natural environment. The Border Security and Responsibility Act (HR 2076) includes provisions that would require environmental studies to review the impacts the wall has had on wildlife and the environment, and to identify ways to mitigate the damage that’s already been done.

The exhibit is cosponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies at New Mexico State University, and City of Artists Promotional Association. Later this year Borderlands will travel to Berlin, Germany, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

For more information contact Roger Turner, SWEC, (575) 522-5552 or roger@wildmesquite.org



FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS STATE PARK NEWS

All the latest news and information about upcoming events at the Park are available at the Park’s great website. Check it out!!



LONE STAR LEGACY
You can make a lasting contribution to the future of Franklin Mountains State Park with your tax-deductible donation to the Lone Star Legacy Endowment Fund. Checks, payable to "Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation" can be sent to: Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Attention: Lone Star Legacy, P.O. Box 191207, Dallas, TX, 75219. Mark your donation to the endowment fund for Franklin Mountains State Park.

FMWC IN CYBERSPACE
This is the electronic version of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition newsletter. To be added to or removed from the distribution list, contact: j.p.ackerman@sbcglobal.net.
Many of you also receive the paper version of this newsletter. If you wish to help us save paper and postage by receiving the e-newsletter only, contact: j.p.ackerman@sbcglobal.net.


The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike AssociationBorder Toasters, Toastmasters International BordersensesCelebration Of Our MountainsCentro San VicenteChihuahuan Desert Education CoalitionChihuahuan Desert Wildlife RescueEl Paso Archaeological SocietyEl Paso Cactus And Rock ClubEl Paso County Master GardenersEl Paso Native Plant SocietyEl Paso Regional Group Of The Sierra ClubEl Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon SocietyEl Paso Youth SymphonyEl Paso ZooFriends Of The Rio Bosque • Jolly Elders • League Of Women Voters Of El PasoMesilla Valley Audubon SocietyMountain Park Community AssociationPhotography Enthusiasts Of El PasoSouthern New Mexico Group Of The Sierra ClubSouthwest Environmental Center • Skyline Optimist Club Of El Paso • Trans Pecos Chapter Of The Texas Master NaturalistsVista Hills Rotary ClubVoter Education Project, Inc