Park Entrance – Vigilance Needed

by: Judy Ackerman

Expect more calls for action to ensure a safe and appropriate entrance to the Tom Mays Section of our Franklin Mountains State Park (FMSP).  As you know, TX Parks and Wildlife Department prefers TxDOT’s option 4 and El Pasoans agree.  Option 4 would allow for safe vehicular access, using an underpass that would also facilitate hikers, bicyclists, and wildlife crossing; serving as a vital connection between north and south portions of FMSP.

At the 15 Apr 2013 Special Meeting of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Transportation Policy Board (TPB), members acknowledged hearing from you, the public, and discussed this topic at length.  The ball is in TxDOT’s court.  El Paso’s transportation expert, State Representative Joe Pickett, said, “… options are still being looked at since the environmental has not been completed.  The [TxDOT] district engineer [Bob Bielek] has committed to the project in 2014, but not sure what option would be proposed or at what cost….  At this point, it is up to TxDOT to provide the when, and how much.”

FMWC alert system will keep you informed on breaking news and ask you to contact elected and appointed officials as necessary.  For background information, see our website:  www.franklinmountains.org/. You can also subscribe to ElPasoNaturally at www.elpasonaturally.blogspot.com/. 

CDEC working to raise the bar for 10th Anniversary

by: Rick LoBello, Board of Directors, CDEC Chair

The Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition will celebrate its 10th anniversary in January 2014.   We had our first organizational meeting in the Cisneros Paraje at the El Paso Zoo in January 2004 and over the years our small group has worked to help others better understand and appreciate the Chihuahuan Desert.   We have helped to organize eight Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta events at Tom Mays Park, seven annual Poppies Celebrations at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology and a Chihuahuan Desert Conference at the Tech H2O Center.

In 2007 the IRS awarded our group 501(c)3 non-profit status.  Our current projects include helping to develop more curriculum materials on our desert, supporting upcoming outdoor events like the Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta and Poppies Celebration, supporting the new newly formed Franklin/Organ Mountains Conservation Cooperative, the City of El Paso Outside educational initiative, and improving our website at chihuahuandesert.org.  The mission of CDEC is to collaborate with educators and the public in support of programs that enhance conservation and education of the Chihuahuan Desert.  The goal of the organization is to serve as a resource for information about the Chihuahuan Desert and encourage life-long learning. Your support will help people discover and connect to our Chihuahuan Desert and improve their quality of life.

In August CDEC will elect new officers at its annual meeting and work on new plan to restructure the organization to help raise the effectiveness of our group in meeting our mission.  If you would like to help please contact any board member listed on our website at  http://www.chihuahuandesert.org/cdeccontactus.html.

Celebration of Our Mountains Needs Event Guides

This year Celebration of Our Mountains will be focusing on guided events which teach others about the natural history or history of places in and around El Paso.  In the past we have had visits to petroglyph sites, volcanoes, mines, historic airplane crash sites as well as geology tours, birding outings and historic districts.  We’ve gone as far away as Guadalupe National Park, Tonuco Mountain and Valley of Fires.  Closer to home we’ve done events at Cristo Rey, the Otero Plateau, the Tin Mine and more.

The purpose of Celebration is to show people great places to visit in our mountains and desert and to teach them more about the ecosystems, geology, zoology, botany and history of our area.  We want to instill the value of the need to preserve and conserve our land and key historic sites.

If you would like to organize an event, please contact Jim Tolbert at 915-525-7364 or diegotolbert@gmail.com now.  A calendar meeting will be held next Wednesday evening at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing.  You must RSVP with Jim to attend. We each purchase our own dinner from the menu.

FMWC Booth – Join the Fun

We need your help to staff the FMWC booth.  You’ll have fun discussions with others who care about our mountains and get them involved protecting El Paso’s greatest natural resource.  FMWC Member Organizations can use this as an opportunity to get the word out about your issues.

In addition to other venues, we will be at Ardovino’s Farmers Market is Saturday, July 20 from 7:30 am to noon at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing, 1 Ardovinos Dr, Sunland Park, NM.  

If you can assist, please contact Judy Ackerman, 915-755-7371, jpackerman53@gmail.com.

Castner Range Land Use Plan, Your Input Needed

by: Janae Reneaud Field, Executive Director, Frontera Land Alliance
Members of the boards of The Frontera Land Alliance and the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition have been collaborating (as the “4C’s”—the Castner Conservation Conveyance Committee) with Fort Bliss to propose an option for the 7,081 acres locally known as Castner Range. The goals of the two groups are to preserve the natural areas, wildlife corridors and natural springs that occur on Castner Range, Fort Bliss.

To date a Conservation Conveyance Report has been completed with $300,000 in grant funding awarded by federal Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA). With the remaining grant funds we are also completing a Land Use Plan to aid the Department of Defense in determining what type of limited recreational development would occur if the land were transferred to the Franklin Mountain State Park.

We are asking the public to review the draft land use plan at www.FronteraLandAlliance.org and provide comments.

To help you have a better understanding for the purpose of the land use plan, please see the executive summary below with the four proposed alternatives that will allow Castner Range to be preserved. Please note the following report is not endorsed by Fort Bliss. We will be providing the report as an option for them to consider as they go through their evaluation of the land and the future use of the land.

Executive Summary:
The Frontera Land Alliance (TFLA), the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition (FMWC), the Castner Conservation Conveyance Committee (4C’s) and the Franklin Mountains State Park (FMSP) of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will continue to work with the Department of Defense (DOD) to transfer Castner Range to the TPWD for incorporation into the FMSP. As part of the 2013 Defense Appropriations Act, Congress indicated that Castner Range may indeed be transferred to TPWD. The El Paso community and visitors to the FMSP will benefit greatly from the 7,081-acre addition. Currently there are over 40,000 registered visitors to the park annually, approximately 10,000 military personnel use the park for training purposes every year, and between 5,000 to 10,000 non-registered individuals visit the park each year. FMSP is the largest urban state park in the continental United States. It is estimated that there will be a 10 to 20 percent increase in users if Castner Range is transferred to TPWD. The following Castner Range Land Use Plan lays out two alternatives and alternative two has three major phases:

Alternative 1:
- Castner Range could be established as a State Natural Area (SNA) or as a Wildlife Management Area (WMA). SNA protects outstanding examples of native landscapes, of natural communities, of significant geological formations and of archeological sites. WMA designation is used to conserve wildlife. Both SNA and WMA are the least costly options for management, and would be closed to the public.

Alternative 2:
Phase 1: Castner Range to be studied, monitored, and managed for three to five years. It is the intent of the FMSP to conserve and provide a unique outdoor experience for all generations to come.

Phase 2: Based on the findings in Phase 1, trails will be built for hiking/biking and trail signage, and maps will be installed in predetermined locations.

Castner Range continued
Phase 3: The area south of Transmountain Road will have only hike/bike trails and signage. The area north of Transmountain Road will have hike/bike trails with trail heads, picnic sites, rock climbing at designated areas, primitive roads, backcountry remote campsites, an interior road for primitive camping, RV access, and an RV campsite with amenities such as electricity. The TPWD favors locating a visitors’ center and state park headquarters either on the existing El Paso Museum of Archaeology property or on adjacent Castner Range land.  

The addition of Castner Range to the FMSP will address many needs beyond the park and recreation for the community, including benefits to public health, education, natural resource management, the community’s economy and the preservation of breathtaking viewsheds that define Northeast El Paso. The area has been preserved in its pristine natural state due to the stewardship of Fort Bliss. The conservation of Castner Range will preserve the fragile lands at the urban fringe around the FMSP. The preservation of additional lands will provide a network of natural areas that will preserve the community’s unique character and sense of place. This project will result in substantial benefits at many levels—locally by strengthening residents’ land ethics, and regionally for habitat protection and for water conservation and erosion control.

Alternative 3
As Fort Bliss’s remediation investigation takes place on Castner Range, it might be determined that the best way to transfer the Castner Range to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is by taking a “from-the-top-down” approach, a piecemeal tactic that conserves parts of the Range at a time. While sections of Castner Range are being cleaned up and transferred, the remainder of Castner Range would be placed under a Lease in Furtherance of Conveyance to ensure that all 7,081 acres of Castner Range are protected in perpetuity. The end result will be that all of Castner Range is transferred to TPWD. For example if Whispering Springs were to be cleared of UXOs and transferred to TPWD, this action would connect to an existing trail on FMSP property and allow the public access to Castner Range on a restricted trail. As tracts of land within Castner Range are identified as safe and transferable, TPWD would develop trails which are specific to that area.

Alternative 4
As Fort Bliss completes its remediation investigation and feasibility study, on Castner Range, it might be determined that the best use for Castner Range is to keep the land as is, status quo. The ownership of the land would remain with DoD, Fort Bliss. As owners of the land Fort Bliss would continue to monitor trespassers, maintain the fences, replace signage as needed, etc. The public would directly benefit by enjoying the views of Castner Range, and no disturbance would come to the existing wildlife corridors, the natural springs or wildlife habitat.