Monday, January 13, 2014

Happy New Year from the Franklin Mountains State Park

All of us here at Franklin Mountains State Park wish everyone a Happy New Year and look forward to seeing many of you out in the park and on the trails throughout the year.  We had a great start with about 70 people and 20 dogs enjoying a beautiful New Year’s Day for our “First Day Hike” up to Mundys Gap.  Our first Women’s Hike of 2014 also saw a record setting 35 ladies on January 5th as we set out on the Maze Trail!  We have many more hikes and programs coming to you over the course of the year; below, take a peek at the upcoming events through the end of March:

Mon., January 20:  11:00 a.m. MLK Day Volunteer Celebration – Potluck & Service Project
Saturday., February 1 :  “12 Hours of Old El Paso” - Mountain Bike Race
Sun., February 2:  7:00 a.m. – Peak Fitness Hike – Ron Coleman Trail (carpooling necessary)
Sun., February 9:  9:00 a.m. – Sweetheart Hike – Aztec Caves
Sat., February 22:  9:00 a.m. – Womens Only hike – Lower Sunset
Sat., March 1 : 7:30 a.m. “Green Tea at the Peak” – N. Franklin Peak
Sun., March 2:  9:00 a.m. “Bark in the Park” hike
Sat., March 15:  9:00 a.m.  St. Patty’s Beginner’s MTB ride
Sun., March 16:  8:00 a.m.  Jack Rabbit Foot Race
Thurs., March 20:  10:00 a.m. “Spring Fever Hike” - West Cottonwood Springs

Must have reservation to participate. For more information:  (915) 566-6441
or visit:  http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/franklin-mountains/park_events

WHAT TO BRING:

For Hikes:  Water, snacks, sturdy hiking shoes/boots, hiking stick, camera, and binoculars!
For Bike rides:  Functional mountain bike, cycling helmet, drinking water and eye protection (sunglasses). We highly recommend that each participant also bring flat repair materials (extra inner tube, plastic tire levers, handheld bicycle pump, etc.), snacks, cycling gloves, cycling shorts, sunscreen, and a backpack or hydration pack (i.e. Camelbak).

If you are interested in being added to the email list to receive the monthly park event flyers, please contact:  Adrianna.weickhardt@tpwd.texas.gov

The Franklin Mountains / Big Bend Connection

by Rick LoBello

Many of you are aware of the change.org petition I created in December to gather support for
convincing the National Park Service to stop plans to build a new Fossil Bone Exhibit in a largely
undeveloped area of the park.  I want to thank all of you for your help and if you have not signed
yet I have an Take Action Page set up at www.iloveparks.com.   Please check it out.  I also want to thank the El Paso Times and KFOX for running stories on this effort.  

I have never written about any connection between the Franklin Mountains and Big Bend and
now is as good a time as any. We are connected to the Big Bend region by many mountain ranges where animals such as mountain lions in the Franklins could very well be connected genetically to lions living in Big bend mountain ranges.  The same can be said about genetic connections to lions living in mountain ranges to the north, west, and south.  Other wide ranging animals such as raptors like the Golden Eagle could also have genetic conditions.  The Franklin Mountain desert ecology has many obvious plant connections as well. When we encourage our friends to visit Big Bend and get involved with conservation issues in the area, we are also encouraging people in El Paso to become active as conservation advocates. Therefore there is a Franklin Mountains Big Bend Connection.



We should be more involved with this area and encourage Big Bend conservation advocates to
support Franklin Mountain conservation efforts too.

Organizations like the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute (www.cdri.org) have encouraged
scientists and conservationists to work together in this region for years and the Department of the
Interior is working on implementing a new Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative in the
southwest that includes not only our area and the Bend Bend, but the entire desert region (http://www.usbr.gov/dlcc/).

2014 will be another challenging year for the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition.  I wish
everyone involved in FMWC all the best and would be happy to work with anyone who wants to
help improve the FMWC facebook presence and the website at www.franklinmountains.org.