From: Sproul, John [jsproul@utep.edu]Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2007 11:40 AMSubject: {FMWC} E-Newsletter -- May 2007
FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS COALITION
http://www.iloveparks.com/fmwc/
NEXT MEETING: May 16, 2007
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, May 16 at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411 Burges Hall on the UTEP campus. Burges Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door to let you in, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information, contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
PARK FUNDING AND THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE
by John Sproul
The 80th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature is moving into its final weeks. There has been progress securing adequate funding for Texas state parks, but the work is far from done. Two key bills are still under consideration.
The first is H.B. 12. At the beginning of the session, Rep. Harvey Hilderbran of Kerrville introduced 3 bills related to state parks and park funding. The first, H.B. 6, would remove the existing $32 million cap on the amount of sporting-goods sales-tax revenue that can be used for state and local parks. The second, H.B. 7, provided for transfer of certain state historic sites (including Magoffin Home) from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to the Texas Historical Commission (THC). The third, H.B. 12, combined both these actions in a single bill. The House Committee on Culture, Recreation and Tourism (which Rep. Hilderbran chairs) reported all three bills favorably. The House Calendars Committee brought H.B. 12 forward for consideration by the full House.
As amended, H.B. 12 directs that 94% of the sporting-goods tax revenues go to state and local parks and 6% go to the THC. Based on estimates from the Comptroller’s Office, that 94% would equal approximately $106 million in Fiscal Year 2008. H.B. 12 passed the House on May 3. On May 4, it was sent to the Senate, where it is now awaiting action.
The second key bill is the general appropriations bill. Different versions have passed the House (C.S.H.B. 1) and Senate (S.C.S.H.B. 1), and a House-Senate conference committee is working to resolve the differences. This is the bill that determines the state’s budget for the next 2 years. Even if H.B. 12 becomes law and the funding cap for parks is removed, the Legislature might choose not to appropriate to the TPWD the full amount potentially available for parks.
The House conferees are advocating an appropriation for parks of $100 million for each of the next 2 years. We do not know the position of the Senate conferees at this time, but Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who serves as president of the Senate, has expressed reservations about providing funding at this level. Let the Senate conferees know your views about funding for parks. They are:
Sen. Steve Ogden (512-463-0105, steve.ogden@senate.state.tx.us)
Sen. Judith Zaffirini (512-463-0121, judith.zaffirini@senate.state.tx.us)
Sen. John Whitmire (512-463-0115, john.whitmire@senate.state.tx.us)
Sen. Tommy Williams (512-463-0104, tommy.williams@senate.state.tx.us)
Sen. Robert Duncan (512-463-0128, robert.duncan@senate.state.tx.us)
KEEP EL PASO WILD
by John Sproul
On March 23, Sen. Eliot Shapleigh announced his “Keep El Paso Wild” legislative initiative, a package of six measures aimed at protecting natural landscapes and scenic beauty in El Paso and beyond. Included are two measures specific to Franklin Mountains State Park. The first involves lands adjacent to the Park that were identified for protection as open space in the master plans prepared for Public Service Board lands in northeast and northwest El Paso. Approximately 1,800 acres are involved, 1,600 in the northeast and 200 in the northwest. The Public Service Board wants to convey these lands to the State of Texas for inclusion in the State Park, and Sen. Shapleigh is working to make the conveyance happen.
The second measure is to pursue appropriation of $500,000 for a visitor center for the Park. In the Park management plan, the TPWD proposed a visitor center/headquarters on the east side of the mountains next to the El Paso Museum of Archaeology. This site takes advantage of the Museum’s location at the eastern gateway to the mountains, is well known and easily accessible, and promises a productive synergy between the Museum and the visitor center. Reportedly, however, there are advocates within City Hall for another site elsewhere in northeast El Paso.
Prospects for both the land conveyance and the visitor center will improve greatly if the Texas Legislature removes the current cap on the amount of sporting-goods sales-tax revenue that can be used for parks and appropriates to the TPWD the full amount of sales-tax revenue available to it.
FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS POPPIES CELEBRATION
by Scott Cutler
The culmination of the petition campaign to save Castner Range happened on March 17th with the inaugural Franklin Mountains Poppies Celebration at Castner Range. While this was not a year for a major bloom, roughly 2,400 people attended the event which ended with the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition presenting to Congressman Silvestre Reyes the petitions signed by over 5,000 people. City Council members, County Commissioners, and State Senator Eliot Shapleigh were also present.
There was great support for the idea of having Castner Range preserved, but there was no commitment to getting the job done. Still, the event provided an opportunity to introduce government officials to the use of Conservation Conveyances as a means of setting aside Castner Range and protecting it from development. In the coming year, FMWC will continue making contact with influential officials and pursue getting the range set aside.
The Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition was an invaluable partner in making this event happen. Thank you! To all those who helped with setting up and taking down, we couldn't have done it without you. And to those who worked so hard gathering petition signatures, your efforts made the event a success – conveying to our elected officials how important it is to El Pasoans to preserve all of Castner Range - forever!
A RELATED NOTE…
by judy Ackerman
Walter Christensen was the guest speaker at City Representative Melina Castro’s breakfast meeting Thursday, May 10th. Mr. Christensen works for Fort Bliss Directorate of Environment as their National Environmental Policy Act Planner and spoke about the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) that the U.S. Army Installation Management Command recently approved concerning the Fort Bliss Mission and Master Plan. The SEIS deals with the increased number of troops (due to BRAC) in El Paso and with training areas (i.e. McGregor Range).
Representative Castro and several attendees had questions about Castner Range (which was NOT included in the SEIS). Mr. Christensen said that Fort Bliss has no plans to do anything, or to even think about doing anything, with Castner Range. He indicated that Fort Bliss has two main concerns with regard to Castner: Financial – there is no money for cleaning up any unexploded ordnance (UXO); and Liability – there are hazardous UXO on Castner.
It was heartening to see that Castner Range is on the minds of many active citizens and to hear Rep. Castro reiterate her commitment to preserving Castner. Rep. Castro reminded me that with any correspondence we have with Fort Bliss, we should request it be put “in the record” so that Fort Bliss maintains the information.
Castner Range remains vulnerable to development and becomes dramatically more so with increasing population. (Mr. Christensen said the SEIS considered a possible increase of 180,000 people in the area!) We need to keep the pressure on to preserve Castner. Let’s keep Castner Range on the minds of El Pasoans, our elected officials and Fort Bliss personnel.
FUN AT FEATHERFEST 2007
by judy Ackerman
On Saturday, April 28th, FMWC had a booth at FeatherFest 2007 at Keystone Heritage Park. Thanks to Nora Butler, we had a dynamic display with historical information, coalition members, and photographs. The wind was whipping, but thanks to Sal Quintanilla’s ingenuity and yards of clear packing tape, our display stayed upright for easy viewing. Friends of the Rio Bosque joined FMWC a few days before FeatherFest, and I brought their display and brochures to add to our FMWC booth. We had a chance to chat with and give information to dozens of FeatherFest participants. Our handouts included: FMWC brochures, Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine, and Franklin Mountains State Park brochures and maps. FeatherFest is a fun and effective way to spread information on FMWC. Thanks also to Joe and Inga Groff who helped “man” the booth. Recommendations: Participate again next year. Acquire a professional display board. Co-locate with any coalition member booths and/or Franklin Mountains State Park personnel.
TRANSMOUNTAIN CLEANUP
by Scott Cutler
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition maintains a section of Transmountain Rd. as part of the Adopt-a-Highway program. On April 14th, six Coalition members participated in our first cleanup since entering the program. The weather was great and 30 bags of trash were removed from our part of the roadway. Thanks to Jane Fowler, judy and Jamie Ackerman, Miki and Andrew Cutler for helping out. Another cleanup will be held soon. If you’re interested in helping, contact me at 581-6071 and I’ll put you on the list to be informed of the next cleanup.
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: Lone Star Legacy Endowment Fund, c/o Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, 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: jsproul@utep.edu.
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: jsproul@utep.edu.
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association * Celebration of Our Mountains * Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue * El Paso Archaeological Society * El Paso Cactus and Rock Club * El Paso Native Plant Society * El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club * El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society * El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee * El Paso Women's Political Caucus * Friends of the Franklins * League of Women Voters of El Paso * Mesilla Valley Audubon Society * Mountain Park Community Association * Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso * Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Thursday, March 1, 2007
March 2007
FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS NOTES
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
March 2007
Next Meeting: March 21, 2007
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, March 21st at 7 p.m. This meeting will take place at a different location than usual: the Centennial Museum on the UTEP campus. Parking will be available in the museum’s parking lot and on the street. Please be prompt. If you arrive late and are unable to enter the building, please call Scott Cutler at 747-6668.
The Poppies Celebration will be a Free Family Fun Day on March 17th from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology on Transmountain Road. The event is hosted by the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition and the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. There will be a full program of nature walks and talks, educational exhibits, children’s activities, Plein art painting, demonstrations and a photography workshop. Free parking will be available down the road at the National Border Patrol Museum, 4315 Transmountain Road.
A highlight of the event is something we have all been working hard on and looking forward to: the presentation of our Castner Range Preservation Letter and petitions to Representative Silvestre Reyes at 2:30 P.M. on the grounds of the Museum of Archaeology. Hard to believe, folks, that the day has finally arrived! We need to gather any remaining petitions by Sunday, March 11 so call Kathy McConaghie at 227-5330 to arrange drop-off or pick-up. We will be making copies for our archives and binding the originals early next week so it’s important we have all of them by Sunday. Thank you again to all of you who worked so tirelessly to gather signatures and to the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition for helping to make this event a reality.
We hope to see all FMWC members, families, and friends at the Celebration. We will have an art project at our table for all ages to participate in – paper “Poppy Bricks” on which we invite you to write your thoughts, memories, dreams, wishes, or beliefs about and for the poppies and Castner Range. These “bricks” will become a “wall” which will reflect desert fields of golden poppies imprinted with the heartfelt words of the men, women and children who believe in the preservation of the Range. Be sure to stop by to see us and be prepared to express your feelings poetically, philosophically, reflectively, plainly… See you there!
MAKE IT A CONSERVATION WEEKEND!
by Rick LoBello
For all those wanting to make it a conservation weekend, the Zoo is having a Habitat for Wildlife Weekend on March 17th and 18th. So you can go to the Poppies Celebration on Saturday and go to the Zoo on Sunday. From 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. each day, the Zoo’s volunteers and staff will be encouraging Zoo visitors to learn more about and get involved with habitat conservation using 15 new computers donated by the West El Paso and Juarez Industrial Rotary Clubs.
There is also a new website we should all check out at http://www.chihuahuandesert.org/. The
Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition is looking for volunteers to help build the website into a premier resource center on the Chihuahuan Desert.
Franklins to be Prominent at March 13th
El Paso City Council Meeting
by John Sproul
When El Paso’s City Council meets on Tuesday, March 13, there will be two items on the agenda of great interest to friends of the Franklin Mountains.
First up will be a Mayor’s Proclamation supporting the Franklin Mountains Poppies Celebration. Supporters of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition and the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition, and all who are enthusiastic about the poppies and the Celebration, are invited to attend the meeting and come forward when the proclamation is presented. The two coalitions will in turn present each council member and the Mayor with a T-shirt commemorating the event and a packet of Mexican gold poppy seeds.
Next, on the Regular Agenda, will be discussion and action on incorporating the City’s new open space plan – Towards a Bright Future: A Green Infrastructure Plan for El Paso, Texas – into the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The open-space plan addresses open space throughout the City and includes a number of important recommendations relating to the Franklins, including protection of arroyos and protection of Castner Range. You can view the plan at:
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/green_infrastructure/ .
The meeting starts at 9 A.M. in City Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall. The Mayor’s Proclamation on the Poppies Celebration will be presented early in the meeting. Free public parking is available in a lot on the corner of S. Durango Street and W. Franklin Avenue, or on the street at W. Franklin Avenue. For those who cannot attend in person, the meeting will be broadcast over the Internet through the City’s website http://www.elpasotexas.gov/realplayer.asp
At the Texas Legislature
by John Sproul
A number of bills have been introduced in the current Regular Session of the Texas Legislature relating to funding for Texas State Parks. Most notable is H.B. 6, introduced by Rep. Harvey Hilderbran of Kerrville, which would eliminate the current $32 million cap on the amount of sporting-goods sales-tax revenue that can be used to fund state and local parks. An identical companion bill – S.B. 252 – has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Craig Estes of Wichita Falls.
H.B. 6 currently has 124 co-sponsors (our of 150 House members), including Reps. Chavez, Haggerty and Quintanilla of El Paso. The House Culture, Recreation & Tourism Committee heard the bill on Feb. 20, and it is currently pending in the committee.
S.B. 252 currently has 22 co-sponsors (out of 31 Senate members), including Sen. Shapleigh of El Paso. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 30 and has not yet had a hearing.
Franklin Mountains State Park Update by Danny Contreras will return next time.
Castner Range Poppies
Black and White Rendition
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
March 2007
Next Meeting: March 21, 2007
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, March 21st at 7 p.m. This meeting will take place at a different location than usual: the Centennial Museum on the UTEP campus. Parking will be available in the museum’s parking lot and on the street. Please be prompt. If you arrive late and are unable to enter the building, please call Scott Cutler at 747-6668.
The Poppies Celebration will be a Free Family Fun Day on March 17th from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology on Transmountain Road. The event is hosted by the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition and the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. There will be a full program of nature walks and talks, educational exhibits, children’s activities, Plein art painting, demonstrations and a photography workshop. Free parking will be available down the road at the National Border Patrol Museum, 4315 Transmountain Road.
A highlight of the event is something we have all been working hard on and looking forward to: the presentation of our Castner Range Preservation Letter and petitions to Representative Silvestre Reyes at 2:30 P.M. on the grounds of the Museum of Archaeology. Hard to believe, folks, that the day has finally arrived! We need to gather any remaining petitions by Sunday, March 11 so call Kathy McConaghie at 227-5330 to arrange drop-off or pick-up. We will be making copies for our archives and binding the originals early next week so it’s important we have all of them by Sunday. Thank you again to all of you who worked so tirelessly to gather signatures and to the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition for helping to make this event a reality.
We hope to see all FMWC members, families, and friends at the Celebration. We will have an art project at our table for all ages to participate in – paper “Poppy Bricks” on which we invite you to write your thoughts, memories, dreams, wishes, or beliefs about and for the poppies and Castner Range. These “bricks” will become a “wall” which will reflect desert fields of golden poppies imprinted with the heartfelt words of the men, women and children who believe in the preservation of the Range. Be sure to stop by to see us and be prepared to express your feelings poetically, philosophically, reflectively, plainly… See you there!
MAKE IT A CONSERVATION WEEKEND!
by Rick LoBello
For all those wanting to make it a conservation weekend, the Zoo is having a Habitat for Wildlife Weekend on March 17th and 18th. So you can go to the Poppies Celebration on Saturday and go to the Zoo on Sunday. From 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. each day, the Zoo’s volunteers and staff will be encouraging Zoo visitors to learn more about and get involved with habitat conservation using 15 new computers donated by the West El Paso and Juarez Industrial Rotary Clubs.
There is also a new website we should all check out at http://www.chihuahuandesert.org/. The
Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition is looking for volunteers to help build the website into a premier resource center on the Chihuahuan Desert.
Franklins to be Prominent at March 13th
El Paso City Council Meeting
by John Sproul
When El Paso’s City Council meets on Tuesday, March 13, there will be two items on the agenda of great interest to friends of the Franklin Mountains.
First up will be a Mayor’s Proclamation supporting the Franklin Mountains Poppies Celebration. Supporters of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition and the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition, and all who are enthusiastic about the poppies and the Celebration, are invited to attend the meeting and come forward when the proclamation is presented. The two coalitions will in turn present each council member and the Mayor with a T-shirt commemorating the event and a packet of Mexican gold poppy seeds.
Next, on the Regular Agenda, will be discussion and action on incorporating the City’s new open space plan – Towards a Bright Future: A Green Infrastructure Plan for El Paso, Texas – into the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The open-space plan addresses open space throughout the City and includes a number of important recommendations relating to the Franklins, including protection of arroyos and protection of Castner Range. You can view the plan at:
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/green_infrastructure/ .
The meeting starts at 9 A.M. in City Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall. The Mayor’s Proclamation on the Poppies Celebration will be presented early in the meeting. Free public parking is available in a lot on the corner of S. Durango Street and W. Franklin Avenue, or on the street at W. Franklin Avenue. For those who cannot attend in person, the meeting will be broadcast over the Internet through the City’s website http://www.elpasotexas.gov/realplayer.asp
At the Texas Legislature
by John Sproul
A number of bills have been introduced in the current Regular Session of the Texas Legislature relating to funding for Texas State Parks. Most notable is H.B. 6, introduced by Rep. Harvey Hilderbran of Kerrville, which would eliminate the current $32 million cap on the amount of sporting-goods sales-tax revenue that can be used to fund state and local parks. An identical companion bill – S.B. 252 – has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Craig Estes of Wichita Falls.
H.B. 6 currently has 124 co-sponsors (our of 150 House members), including Reps. Chavez, Haggerty and Quintanilla of El Paso. The House Culture, Recreation & Tourism Committee heard the bill on Feb. 20, and it is currently pending in the committee.
S.B. 252 currently has 22 co-sponsors (out of 31 Senate members), including Sen. Shapleigh of El Paso. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 30 and has not yet had a hearing.
Franklin Mountains State Park Update by Danny Contreras will return next time.
Castner Range Poppies
Black and White Rendition
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Monday, January 1, 2007
January 2007
FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS NOTES
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
January 2007
Next Meeting: January 17, 2007
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, January 17th at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411, Burgess Hall on the UTEP campus. Burgess Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of the campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
PREVIEW OF CASTNER RANGE PRESS RELEASE:
THOUSANDS SIGN CASTNER RANGE PRESERVATION LETTER
PETITIONS WILL BE PRESENTED TO
SILVESTRE REYES AT THE “FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS POPPIES CELEBRATION AT CASTNER RANGE”
Over 5,000 people have signed a letter to Representative Silvestre Reyes asking him to help protect Castner Range, the site of breathtaking poppy blooms on the east side of the Franklin Mountains. The letter and hundreds of pages of attached signatures will be presented to the congressman on Saturday, March 17th, at 2:30 PM on the grounds of the Museum of Archaeology, 4301 Transmountain Road, in the heart of Castner Range. The presentation will be the highlight of a free, outdoor family event that day, the “Franklin Mountains Poppies Celebration,” featuring dozens of educational exhibits, and wildlife demonstrations.
The letter states support for a resolution unanimously passed by El Paso City Council on March 14th, 2006, in favor of permanent preservation for the range. Signers ask Congressman Reyes “to work actively with Congress and the Department of the Army to achieve the preservation of all of Castner Range in its natural state for the benefit and enjoyment of all Americans forever.” Signatures were collected over the past nine months by members of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition (FMWC), a federation of local civic pride groups, outdoor recreation enthusiasts and wildlife preservation organizations.
FMWC acting president Scott Cutler stated, “The enthusiasm of the public for protecting Castner Range from development is inspirational. The thousands who signed the petition are from all walks of life and political persuasions. To El Pasoans, Castner Range is a special place.” The “Franklin Mountains Poppies Celebration” will kick off at 10 AM on March 17th with a full program of nature talks, wildlife demonstrations, educational exhibits and photography workshops. Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy the beauty of the mountains and the poppies during this free event which will last until 3 PM. The celebration is organized by the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition (CDEC). CDEC President Rick LoBello noted, “This will be a festive day and a wonderful opportunity for us to help educate our community about both the wonders and threats to our Chihuahuan Desert.”
The above paragraphs are only the beginning of a fantastic press release concerning an event we have all been waiting for and working towards. The release includes a glorious photo of the poppies spreading across Castner Range and the text (which space limitations do not allow us to reproduce here) continues with information about Castner Range, FMWC and CDEC. We hope to see all FMWC members, families and friends at the Celebration.
Franklin Mountains State Park Update
By Danny Contreras, PRII, ADSO
Greetings, from the staff of The Franklin Mountains State Park. Visitation for December was down in comparison to this time last year. This was probably due to some very cold weather. The Franklins have seen snow flurries, some precipitation, and some very cold winds this month.
On December 20, 2006 interviews were held for the Park Ranger II/ ADSO position at the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park. In all four applicants were interviewed, and as of yet, there has been no word from Austin as to who was selected.
On December 18th, Jordan Construction Services was contracted by Texas Department of Transportation to repair the road in the Tom Mays Unit that was destroyed by the heavy rains we received this year. Repairs to the road were completed on December 19th.
Work Continues on the trails with the help from Volunteers and Volunteer Organizations.
On March 17, 2007 from 10:00am to 3:00pm The Franklin Mountains Poppy Celebration at Castner Range will be held at the El Paso Museum of Archeology. Any organizations interested in setting up a booth can contact myself, Danny Contreras Texas Parks and Wildlife at (915) 566-6441 or Diane Perez of the El Paso Water Utilities at (915) 594-5615. Either way come out and join us.
As always we would like to thank our wonderful staff of Volunteers at the Franklin Mountains State Park and the Franklin Mountain Wilderness Coalition for their continuous and added support.
*FRONTERA LAND ALLIANCE INVITATION*
Everyone is invited to The Frontera Land Alliance’s reception and annual meeting on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing in Sunland Park, NM (map and directions available at www.ardovinos.com/map.html). Casual reception with an hors d’oeuvres buffet and cash bar begin at 6 PM, with the meeting following at 7. This is a great opportunity to learn more about our local land trust from the Board of Directors and to enjoy Ardovino’s relaxed atmosphere and delicious food alongside friends and neighbors who share a commitment to El Paso’s natural environment and quality of life. Please come out and learn more about the land trust’s work over the past year.
City Plan Commission Endorses Open-Space Plan
At its Dec. 21 meeting, the El Paso City Plan Commission discussed the draft Open Space Plan for El Paso, expressed great enthusiasm for the plan, and recommended unanimously that City Council approve it. The draft plan is now undergoing some final revisions before it goes to City Council. It is expected to be introduced before Council soon, followed by formal discussion and action two weeks later. As always, we'll send out an e-mail alert when it is introduced.
For a look at the draft plan: http://www.elpasotexas.gov/_documents/Openspace.pdf
You can also get a hard copy at the Planning Division offices on the 5th floor of City Hall. For more information: Chuck Kooshian, Lead Planner, 915-541-4632.
At the Texas Legislature
The 80th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature opened Jan. 9. Legislators appear to be waking up to the fact that the state park system faces serious funding shortfalls, and measures to address those shortfalls should get serious consideration.
Locally, in an unprecedented development, state park issues are included among the City of El Paso's top state legislative priorities. Specific priorities adopted by City Council on Jan. 3 include:
Seek appropriate legislation and/or appropriation to allow the foothills of the Franklin Mountains currently designated as open space on the N.E. Master Plan to be incorporated into the Franklin Mountains State Park.
Seek appropriation for a visitor's center in the Franklin Mountains State Park to be located in the Northeast part of El Paso.
Oppose the transfer control of property such as the Magoffin Home from the State Park System to the Texas Historical Commission without an appropriate funding source to insure the continued maintenance and operation of the facility.
For all of the City's state legislative priorities: http://www.elpasotexas.gov/_documents/kzf05.pdf.
Annual Dues
Annual dues for the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition are due in January each year. Even if you normally get our newsletter only via e-mail, in January you also get this hard copy, along with an annual-renewal form and return envelope. If you are a Coalition member, please use these materials to renew your membership. If you are not a member, now would be an excellent time to join. With your help, 2007 can be a banner year for the Franklin Mountains.
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
January 2007
Next Meeting: January 17, 2007
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, January 17th at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411, Burgess Hall on the UTEP campus. Burgess Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of the campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
PREVIEW OF CASTNER RANGE PRESS RELEASE:
THOUSANDS SIGN CASTNER RANGE PRESERVATION LETTER
PETITIONS WILL BE PRESENTED TO
SILVESTRE REYES AT THE “FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS POPPIES CELEBRATION AT CASTNER RANGE”
Over 5,000 people have signed a letter to Representative Silvestre Reyes asking him to help protect Castner Range, the site of breathtaking poppy blooms on the east side of the Franklin Mountains. The letter and hundreds of pages of attached signatures will be presented to the congressman on Saturday, March 17th, at 2:30 PM on the grounds of the Museum of Archaeology, 4301 Transmountain Road, in the heart of Castner Range. The presentation will be the highlight of a free, outdoor family event that day, the “Franklin Mountains Poppies Celebration,” featuring dozens of educational exhibits, and wildlife demonstrations.
The letter states support for a resolution unanimously passed by El Paso City Council on March 14th, 2006, in favor of permanent preservation for the range. Signers ask Congressman Reyes “to work actively with Congress and the Department of the Army to achieve the preservation of all of Castner Range in its natural state for the benefit and enjoyment of all Americans forever.” Signatures were collected over the past nine months by members of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition (FMWC), a federation of local civic pride groups, outdoor recreation enthusiasts and wildlife preservation organizations.
FMWC acting president Scott Cutler stated, “The enthusiasm of the public for protecting Castner Range from development is inspirational. The thousands who signed the petition are from all walks of life and political persuasions. To El Pasoans, Castner Range is a special place.” The “Franklin Mountains Poppies Celebration” will kick off at 10 AM on March 17th with a full program of nature talks, wildlife demonstrations, educational exhibits and photography workshops. Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy the beauty of the mountains and the poppies during this free event which will last until 3 PM. The celebration is organized by the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition (CDEC). CDEC President Rick LoBello noted, “This will be a festive day and a wonderful opportunity for us to help educate our community about both the wonders and threats to our Chihuahuan Desert.”
The above paragraphs are only the beginning of a fantastic press release concerning an event we have all been waiting for and working towards. The release includes a glorious photo of the poppies spreading across Castner Range and the text (which space limitations do not allow us to reproduce here) continues with information about Castner Range, FMWC and CDEC. We hope to see all FMWC members, families and friends at the Celebration.
Franklin Mountains State Park Update
By Danny Contreras, PRII, ADSO
Greetings, from the staff of The Franklin Mountains State Park. Visitation for December was down in comparison to this time last year. This was probably due to some very cold weather. The Franklins have seen snow flurries, some precipitation, and some very cold winds this month.
On December 20, 2006 interviews were held for the Park Ranger II/ ADSO position at the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park. In all four applicants were interviewed, and as of yet, there has been no word from Austin as to who was selected.
On December 18th, Jordan Construction Services was contracted by Texas Department of Transportation to repair the road in the Tom Mays Unit that was destroyed by the heavy rains we received this year. Repairs to the road were completed on December 19th.
Work Continues on the trails with the help from Volunteers and Volunteer Organizations.
On March 17, 2007 from 10:00am to 3:00pm The Franklin Mountains Poppy Celebration at Castner Range will be held at the El Paso Museum of Archeology. Any organizations interested in setting up a booth can contact myself, Danny Contreras Texas Parks and Wildlife at (915) 566-6441 or Diane Perez of the El Paso Water Utilities at (915) 594-5615. Either way come out and join us.
As always we would like to thank our wonderful staff of Volunteers at the Franklin Mountains State Park and the Franklin Mountain Wilderness Coalition for their continuous and added support.
*FRONTERA LAND ALLIANCE INVITATION*
Everyone is invited to The Frontera Land Alliance’s reception and annual meeting on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing in Sunland Park, NM (map and directions available at www.ardovinos.com/map.html). Casual reception with an hors d’oeuvres buffet and cash bar begin at 6 PM, with the meeting following at 7. This is a great opportunity to learn more about our local land trust from the Board of Directors and to enjoy Ardovino’s relaxed atmosphere and delicious food alongside friends and neighbors who share a commitment to El Paso’s natural environment and quality of life. Please come out and learn more about the land trust’s work over the past year.
City Plan Commission Endorses Open-Space Plan
At its Dec. 21 meeting, the El Paso City Plan Commission discussed the draft Open Space Plan for El Paso, expressed great enthusiasm for the plan, and recommended unanimously that City Council approve it. The draft plan is now undergoing some final revisions before it goes to City Council. It is expected to be introduced before Council soon, followed by formal discussion and action two weeks later. As always, we'll send out an e-mail alert when it is introduced.
For a look at the draft plan: http://www.elpasotexas.gov/_documents/Openspace.pdf
You can also get a hard copy at the Planning Division offices on the 5th floor of City Hall. For more information: Chuck Kooshian, Lead Planner, 915-541-4632.
At the Texas Legislature
The 80th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature opened Jan. 9. Legislators appear to be waking up to the fact that the state park system faces serious funding shortfalls, and measures to address those shortfalls should get serious consideration.
Locally, in an unprecedented development, state park issues are included among the City of El Paso's top state legislative priorities. Specific priorities adopted by City Council on Jan. 3 include:
Seek appropriate legislation and/or appropriation to allow the foothills of the Franklin Mountains currently designated as open space on the N.E. Master Plan to be incorporated into the Franklin Mountains State Park.
Seek appropriation for a visitor's center in the Franklin Mountains State Park to be located in the Northeast part of El Paso.
Oppose the transfer control of property such as the Magoffin Home from the State Park System to the Texas Historical Commission without an appropriate funding source to insure the continued maintenance and operation of the facility.
For all of the City's state legislative priorities: http://www.elpasotexas.gov/_documents/kzf05.pdf.
Annual Dues
Annual dues for the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition are due in January each year. Even if you normally get our newsletter only via e-mail, in January you also get this hard copy, along with an annual-renewal form and return envelope. If you are a Coalition member, please use these materials to renew your membership. If you are not a member, now would be an excellent time to join. With your help, 2007 can be a banner year for the Franklin Mountains.
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
November 2006
FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS NOTES
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
November, 2006
Next Meeting: November 15, 2006
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, November 15th at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411, Burgess Hall on the UTEP campus. Burgess Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of the campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
CASTNER RANGE PETITION UPDATE
“We respectfully urge you and your staff to work actively with Congress and the Department of the Army to achieve the preservation of all of Castner Range in its natural state for the benefit and enjoyment of all Americans forever.” These words close the heading of our petition to Congressman Silvestre Reyes, a petition which has been signed by over 3,300 people since we began our petition drive in the spring.
The enthusiasm of the public for protecting Castner Range has been inspirational! Nearly everyone we approach wants to sign the petition: active duty military, veterans, concert fans, moms, dads, kids, business owners and workers, local celebrities, and everyday people. Now the day (tentatively in December) is swiftly approaching when we will present the petitions to Congressman Reyes at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology on Castner Range. Stay tuned for the date and time. We plan to have extensive media coverage and a big turnout of supporters who want to see Castner Range preserved.
So, folks, that gives us more time to gather more signatures -- let’s try for 10,000! Enlist your friends and family, classmates and office mates, to continue this drive for the next few weeks - any place where people gather is a great place to get signatures: meetings, sports events, school, work, grocery stores, malls, etc. We can do this - if only 50 of us gathered 5 signatures a day for the next 30 days we would pass the 10,000 mark. It’s a good community project for families, scouts, classes, clubs and neighborhood associations.
Blank petitions can be downloaded from our website or call one of our officers and we will get some to you. Anyone who has signed petitions, please bring them to the November 15 meeting or call Kathy McConaghie at 915-227-5330 to arrange pickup. And, please, come to the meeting -- bring your ideas and input for media contacts and increasing turnout for the day of presentation.
EL PASO OPEN SPACE PLANNING
The open-space plan for El Paso continues to take shape. The City's Development Services Department and its planning consultant, Halff Associates, are putting the finishing touches on a draft plan for public review and comment. We'll send an e-mail alert as soon as it is available. In the meantime, visit the City's Open Space Plan website at
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/green_infrastructure/default.asp
to view some of the recommendations from the Open Space Advisory Group and other supporting information. For more information, you can also contact Chuck Kooshian, Lead Planner, 915-541-4632.
FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS STATE PARK UPDATE
Greetings, from the staff of The Franklin Mountains State Park. On September 23, 2006 the Second Annual Desert Fiesta was held at the Tom Mays Unit; it was a great success. Visitation was up from last year. We at The Franklin Mountains State Park would like to thank everyone involved including the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition and its member organizations who worked hard to make it a success. We also thank the Serna Ranch (Youth Mentorship Program) and The El Paso Police Department West Side Command Center Explorers Group for their active support. This is a program that we hope will continue to evolve and to become a regular yearly event. This is a perfect example of what can be done when organizations pool their resources for a common goal.
Work continues on the trails, unfortunately this will be an ongoing project for some time. Lead Ranger Robert Pichardo and Park Volunteer Robert Newman are in the planning stages for the repair of the Mountain Bike Trails, once repaired the Trails will be more sustainable. The Aztec Caves Trail is also in the process of being repaired and again to be more sustainable, the Fort Bliss Sergeant Majors Academy Volunteers are helping with this project. It won’t happen overnight but the work is in its beginning stages. Our UTEP Fraternity Volunteers dismantled and removed the remains of the bridge leading to Mundy’s Gap. Whether it will be rebuilt or rerouted is still in the planning stages.
The West Cottonwood Mine Shaft was originally cleared from debris from the heavy rains. However, the rains we had this month again made it inaccessible but with help from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Work Crews it has been cleared again and is accessible.
On a different note, four Porcupines have been released over the last couple of months into the Franklin Mountains State Park by The Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue.
We would like to thank our wonderful staff of Volunteers at the Franklin Mountains State Park and the Franklin Mountain Wilderness Coalition for their continuous and added support.
Respectfully Submitted,
Danny Contreras, Ranger II, ADSO
Coalition Officers ---- 2006
Acting President: open
Vice-Pres: open
Secretary: Nora Butler 915-755-0671
Treasurer Scott Cutler 915-581-6071
Newsletter: Kathy McConaghie 915-227-5330
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
November, 2006
Next Meeting: November 15, 2006
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, November 15th at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411, Burgess Hall on the UTEP campus. Burgess Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of the campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
CASTNER RANGE PETITION UPDATE
“We respectfully urge you and your staff to work actively with Congress and the Department of the Army to achieve the preservation of all of Castner Range in its natural state for the benefit and enjoyment of all Americans forever.” These words close the heading of our petition to Congressman Silvestre Reyes, a petition which has been signed by over 3,300 people since we began our petition drive in the spring.
The enthusiasm of the public for protecting Castner Range has been inspirational! Nearly everyone we approach wants to sign the petition: active duty military, veterans, concert fans, moms, dads, kids, business owners and workers, local celebrities, and everyday people. Now the day (tentatively in December) is swiftly approaching when we will present the petitions to Congressman Reyes at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology on Castner Range. Stay tuned for the date and time. We plan to have extensive media coverage and a big turnout of supporters who want to see Castner Range preserved.
So, folks, that gives us more time to gather more signatures -- let’s try for 10,000! Enlist your friends and family, classmates and office mates, to continue this drive for the next few weeks - any place where people gather is a great place to get signatures: meetings, sports events, school, work, grocery stores, malls, etc. We can do this - if only 50 of us gathered 5 signatures a day for the next 30 days we would pass the 10,000 mark. It’s a good community project for families, scouts, classes, clubs and neighborhood associations.
Blank petitions can be downloaded from our website or call one of our officers and we will get some to you. Anyone who has signed petitions, please bring them to the November 15 meeting or call Kathy McConaghie at 915-227-5330 to arrange pickup. And, please, come to the meeting -- bring your ideas and input for media contacts and increasing turnout for the day of presentation.
EL PASO OPEN SPACE PLANNING
The open-space plan for El Paso continues to take shape. The City's Development Services Department and its planning consultant, Halff Associates, are putting the finishing touches on a draft plan for public review and comment. We'll send an e-mail alert as soon as it is available. In the meantime, visit the City's Open Space Plan website at
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/green_infrastructure/default.asp
to view some of the recommendations from the Open Space Advisory Group and other supporting information. For more information, you can also contact Chuck Kooshian, Lead Planner, 915-541-4632.
FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS STATE PARK UPDATE
Greetings, from the staff of The Franklin Mountains State Park. On September 23, 2006 the Second Annual Desert Fiesta was held at the Tom Mays Unit; it was a great success. Visitation was up from last year. We at The Franklin Mountains State Park would like to thank everyone involved including the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition and its member organizations who worked hard to make it a success. We also thank the Serna Ranch (Youth Mentorship Program) and The El Paso Police Department West Side Command Center Explorers Group for their active support. This is a program that we hope will continue to evolve and to become a regular yearly event. This is a perfect example of what can be done when organizations pool their resources for a common goal.
Work continues on the trails, unfortunately this will be an ongoing project for some time. Lead Ranger Robert Pichardo and Park Volunteer Robert Newman are in the planning stages for the repair of the Mountain Bike Trails, once repaired the Trails will be more sustainable. The Aztec Caves Trail is also in the process of being repaired and again to be more sustainable, the Fort Bliss Sergeant Majors Academy Volunteers are helping with this project. It won’t happen overnight but the work is in its beginning stages. Our UTEP Fraternity Volunteers dismantled and removed the remains of the bridge leading to Mundy’s Gap. Whether it will be rebuilt or rerouted is still in the planning stages.
The West Cottonwood Mine Shaft was originally cleared from debris from the heavy rains. However, the rains we had this month again made it inaccessible but with help from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Work Crews it has been cleared again and is accessible.
On a different note, four Porcupines have been released over the last couple of months into the Franklin Mountains State Park by The Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue.
We would like to thank our wonderful staff of Volunteers at the Franklin Mountains State Park and the Franklin Mountain Wilderness Coalition for their continuous and added support.
Respectfully Submitted,
Danny Contreras, Ranger II, ADSO
Coalition Officers ---- 2006
Acting President: open
Vice-Pres: open
Secretary: Nora Butler 915-755-0671
Treasurer Scott Cutler 915-581-6071
Newsletter: Kathy McConaghie 915-227-5330
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Saturday, July 1, 2006
July 2006
FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS NOTES
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
July, 2006
Next Meeting: July 19, 2006
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, July 19th at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411, Burgess Hall on the UTEP campus. Burgess Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of the campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
MARK YOUR CALENDARS…
Thanks to Maria Trunk
“Save Our Arroyos” opens Thursday, July 27th, 7 to 9 PM. The Hal Marcus Gallery and The Frontera Land Alliance are partnering to host a grassroots exhibit which will be on display through Friday, September 1st. A Gallery Talk will be given on Thursday, August 24th from 7 to 9 PM.
The Frontera Land Alliance is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the special places and wide-open spaces of West Texas and Southern New Mexico forever. Arroyos are distinctive natural features in El Paso, carved into the slopes of our beloved Franklin Mountains by the flowing water of many years. Many stretch and wind like ribbons through established neighborhoods, offering havens of peace and beauty in the urban setting. Residents often assume these areas will remain in their natural state forever, so they’re surprised when a plan is put forth for a new development in an arroyo. Overwhelmingly, the citizen response has been: Save Our Arroyos!
Artists in the exhibit include Bill Rakocy, Barbara Howe, Candy Mayer, Jeniffer Stapher-Thomas, Jim Andrew, Margaret Tumey, Bob Adams, Kristina Freeman, Dee Olga Min-Young Phillips, Krystyna Robbins, Natalie Baca, Jane Friedman, Gerie Muchinkoff, Jim Quinnan, Lelaroy Williams, Barbara Armijo, Ramie McIntosh-Scully, Ann Mitchell, Jean McGee, John Ryno, Roxanne Shroeder, Susan Frary, Pat Olchefski-Winston and many others. For more information, please call the gallery at 533-9090.
Public Meetings - The New El Paso Open Space Plan: The City of El Paso is taking the first steps in creating a “Green Infrastructure Plan”, the first of its kind in our area. The idea is to consider all open spaces, parks, trails and greenways and integrate them into an organized, interconnected system to be assembled over the next 30 years. Just as a network of roadways, utilities and buildings forms the urban or “gray” infrastructure of a city, the “green” infrastructure network will weave a web of recreational and undeveloped areas to harmonize with the natural landscape, enhance neighborhoods and make El Paso an even better place to live.
The City’s Development Services Department is inviting every interested citizen to contribute input to the plan. Several public meetings will be held to gather input on open space and trail needs, opportunities and desires. Franklin Mountains State Park is sure to play a pivotal role in the layout of surrounding trails, pocket parks and access points, so members of FMWC are especially welcome to attend. If you have a favorite place or route that you’d like to see included in the plan, try to make it to one of the meetings, each of which is scheduled from 6 to 8 PM.
Tues., July 25 at City Council Chambers, City Hall
Wed., July 26 at El Paso Community College, Northwest Campus, 6701 South Desert
Thurs., July 27 at Father Martinez Senior Center, 9311 Alameda
Tues., Aug. 1 at Auxiliary Gym, Eastwood Recreation Center, 3001 Parkwood
Wed., Aug. 2 at El Paso Community College, Transmountain Campus, 9570 Gateway North
For more info contact Chuck Kooshian, Lead Planner, 915-541-4632
Notes from John Sproul
As El Paso continues to grow, the need to conserve significant open space is becoming ever more apparent and urgent. The City of El Paso has recognized this need and is starting work on a comprehensive open-space plan. The first step: five public meetings aimed at getting your input on where significant areas of open space are and how they should be conserved. The plan will address open space throughout the City. Needless to say, it will have important implications for the Franklin Mountains, including Castner Range. Is this the birth of a new era of meaningful open-space protection in El Paso? Your active participation in the planning process can help make it happen.
Castner Range petitions continue to circulate. Fort Bliss’s decision to suspend indefinitely its land-use planning for Castner Range doesn’t change our focus on educating the public about the importance of protecting the range. Until we can meet with U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes to discuss Castner, we are continuing to circulate our petition urging that he work with Congress and the Army to preserve all of Castner Range in its natural state. For downloadable copies of the petition, an accompanying fact sheet, and a sign-up sheet for people interested in doing more to help protect Castner Range, go to the Conservation Issues page on our website: http://www.iloveparks.com/fmwc/issues.htm
Hitt Canyon Arroyo: Proposed Quarry Impact
By Joel Bay, President
North Hills Neighborhood Pride Association
The Hitt Canyon Arroyo, on the northeastern slope of the Franklin Mountains, is in danger of irreparable damage from a proposed rock quarry being planned for the area. The proposed quarry is part of a lease agreement between the El Paso Water Utilities PSB and Jobe Materials orchestrated in relative secrecy and signed in December, 2005. The area of quarry operation - originally 300 acres, but reduced to 223 acres due to the efforts of Charlie Wakeem and Dr. Rick Bonart - lies directly in the path of the run-off from Hitt Canyon.
It also lies in an area of the Northeast that has been designated for future development as low-density residential housing, a school, a park and a nature walk trail head - all specified in detail in the Master Plan for Northeast El Paso that became part of the Comprehensive Plan for future City development in October, 2005. Initially, PSB officials advised interested groups that the quarry, which according to the lease can operate for 20 years (with a 20 year extension option), would be a “surface mining operation” just taking surface materials for use in road beds and home construction projects. Then, at one of many meetings with city officials, NHNPA learned that the quarry was planned to be a 100-foot-deep excavation operation.
The PSB presented the 100-foot-deep hole as a future flood prevention ponding area planned as part of the area’s development. However, the drainage plans for this Master Plan area, of which 3 options are posted on the PSB website, show no plan nor indicated need for a ponding area anywhere in the vicinity of the quarry site. The “story” got more interesting when we discovered that an “executive session” meeting of the PSB held in late June of this year addressed the need for an earthen dam to be constructed across Hitt Canyon to collect run-off and “prevent potential flooding” of the area.
The effect of a dam blocking the natural run-off from Hitt Canyon (identified by City engineers as a “shadow rainfall area”) could be disastrous to the natural environment in and around the canyon and would permanently alter the nature-scape of the area. Why is there now a need for a dam? The dam isn’t necessary, nor identified in the Master Plan drainage options, to protect future development and home sites, but it sure makes sense when you consider that a 100-foot-deep quarry will be located directly in the path of water run-off from the canyon. It would be very difficult to quarry rock from a flooded hole!
First we went from a Master Planned up-scale residential development to a quarry site; then we went from a surface scraping operation to a 100-foot-hole (said to be “needed” but not included in any existing planning assessments); then we need a dam to protect the future development area…which cannot be developed, as planned, because there is a 100-foot- deep hole where a school and homes were to be! Does it make sense to you? Does it sound like a proper use of public land and a key mountain canyon?
If your answer is NO, join the effort on July 25th to convince City Council to deny the rezoning required to permit the quarry to proceed. Concerns about a shortage of rock and other materials for new construction in the area - used as justification for the quarry - are easily nullified when you learn that Jobe Materials alone has more than 10 other quarry operations in the City, not even counting the resources of other rock and cement companies.
Please visit the North Hills Neighborhood Pride Association’s website at http://www.northhillselpaso.org/ for more information, a pre-worded e-mail, printable letter and petition forms. Send the e-mail to the Mayor, City Reps and planning division personnel. Call your District Representative and voice your opposition. This is not just a Northeast issue. Please join us in voicing opposition at City Council on July 25th!
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
July, 2006
Next Meeting: July 19, 2006
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, July 19th at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411, Burgess Hall on the UTEP campus. Burgess Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of the campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
MARK YOUR CALENDARS…
Thanks to Maria Trunk
“Save Our Arroyos” opens Thursday, July 27th, 7 to 9 PM. The Hal Marcus Gallery and The Frontera Land Alliance are partnering to host a grassroots exhibit which will be on display through Friday, September 1st. A Gallery Talk will be given on Thursday, August 24th from 7 to 9 PM.
The Frontera Land Alliance is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the special places and wide-open spaces of West Texas and Southern New Mexico forever. Arroyos are distinctive natural features in El Paso, carved into the slopes of our beloved Franklin Mountains by the flowing water of many years. Many stretch and wind like ribbons through established neighborhoods, offering havens of peace and beauty in the urban setting. Residents often assume these areas will remain in their natural state forever, so they’re surprised when a plan is put forth for a new development in an arroyo. Overwhelmingly, the citizen response has been: Save Our Arroyos!
Artists in the exhibit include Bill Rakocy, Barbara Howe, Candy Mayer, Jeniffer Stapher-Thomas, Jim Andrew, Margaret Tumey, Bob Adams, Kristina Freeman, Dee Olga Min-Young Phillips, Krystyna Robbins, Natalie Baca, Jane Friedman, Gerie Muchinkoff, Jim Quinnan, Lelaroy Williams, Barbara Armijo, Ramie McIntosh-Scully, Ann Mitchell, Jean McGee, John Ryno, Roxanne Shroeder, Susan Frary, Pat Olchefski-Winston and many others. For more information, please call the gallery at 533-9090.
Public Meetings - The New El Paso Open Space Plan: The City of El Paso is taking the first steps in creating a “Green Infrastructure Plan”, the first of its kind in our area. The idea is to consider all open spaces, parks, trails and greenways and integrate them into an organized, interconnected system to be assembled over the next 30 years. Just as a network of roadways, utilities and buildings forms the urban or “gray” infrastructure of a city, the “green” infrastructure network will weave a web of recreational and undeveloped areas to harmonize with the natural landscape, enhance neighborhoods and make El Paso an even better place to live.
The City’s Development Services Department is inviting every interested citizen to contribute input to the plan. Several public meetings will be held to gather input on open space and trail needs, opportunities and desires. Franklin Mountains State Park is sure to play a pivotal role in the layout of surrounding trails, pocket parks and access points, so members of FMWC are especially welcome to attend. If you have a favorite place or route that you’d like to see included in the plan, try to make it to one of the meetings, each of which is scheduled from 6 to 8 PM.
Tues., July 25 at City Council Chambers, City Hall
Wed., July 26 at El Paso Community College, Northwest Campus, 6701 South Desert
Thurs., July 27 at Father Martinez Senior Center, 9311 Alameda
Tues., Aug. 1 at Auxiliary Gym, Eastwood Recreation Center, 3001 Parkwood
Wed., Aug. 2 at El Paso Community College, Transmountain Campus, 9570 Gateway North
For more info contact Chuck Kooshian, Lead Planner, 915-541-4632
Notes from John Sproul
As El Paso continues to grow, the need to conserve significant open space is becoming ever more apparent and urgent. The City of El Paso has recognized this need and is starting work on a comprehensive open-space plan. The first step: five public meetings aimed at getting your input on where significant areas of open space are and how they should be conserved. The plan will address open space throughout the City. Needless to say, it will have important implications for the Franklin Mountains, including Castner Range. Is this the birth of a new era of meaningful open-space protection in El Paso? Your active participation in the planning process can help make it happen.
Castner Range petitions continue to circulate. Fort Bliss’s decision to suspend indefinitely its land-use planning for Castner Range doesn’t change our focus on educating the public about the importance of protecting the range. Until we can meet with U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes to discuss Castner, we are continuing to circulate our petition urging that he work with Congress and the Army to preserve all of Castner Range in its natural state. For downloadable copies of the petition, an accompanying fact sheet, and a sign-up sheet for people interested in doing more to help protect Castner Range, go to the Conservation Issues page on our website: http://www.iloveparks.com/fmwc/issues.htm
Hitt Canyon Arroyo: Proposed Quarry Impact
By Joel Bay, President
North Hills Neighborhood Pride Association
The Hitt Canyon Arroyo, on the northeastern slope of the Franklin Mountains, is in danger of irreparable damage from a proposed rock quarry being planned for the area. The proposed quarry is part of a lease agreement between the El Paso Water Utilities PSB and Jobe Materials orchestrated in relative secrecy and signed in December, 2005. The area of quarry operation - originally 300 acres, but reduced to 223 acres due to the efforts of Charlie Wakeem and Dr. Rick Bonart - lies directly in the path of the run-off from Hitt Canyon.
It also lies in an area of the Northeast that has been designated for future development as low-density residential housing, a school, a park and a nature walk trail head - all specified in detail in the Master Plan for Northeast El Paso that became part of the Comprehensive Plan for future City development in October, 2005. Initially, PSB officials advised interested groups that the quarry, which according to the lease can operate for 20 years (with a 20 year extension option), would be a “surface mining operation” just taking surface materials for use in road beds and home construction projects. Then, at one of many meetings with city officials, NHNPA learned that the quarry was planned to be a 100-foot-deep excavation operation.
The PSB presented the 100-foot-deep hole as a future flood prevention ponding area planned as part of the area’s development. However, the drainage plans for this Master Plan area, of which 3 options are posted on the PSB website, show no plan nor indicated need for a ponding area anywhere in the vicinity of the quarry site. The “story” got more interesting when we discovered that an “executive session” meeting of the PSB held in late June of this year addressed the need for an earthen dam to be constructed across Hitt Canyon to collect run-off and “prevent potential flooding” of the area.
The effect of a dam blocking the natural run-off from Hitt Canyon (identified by City engineers as a “shadow rainfall area”) could be disastrous to the natural environment in and around the canyon and would permanently alter the nature-scape of the area. Why is there now a need for a dam? The dam isn’t necessary, nor identified in the Master Plan drainage options, to protect future development and home sites, but it sure makes sense when you consider that a 100-foot-deep quarry will be located directly in the path of water run-off from the canyon. It would be very difficult to quarry rock from a flooded hole!
First we went from a Master Planned up-scale residential development to a quarry site; then we went from a surface scraping operation to a 100-foot-hole (said to be “needed” but not included in any existing planning assessments); then we need a dam to protect the future development area…which cannot be developed, as planned, because there is a 100-foot- deep hole where a school and homes were to be! Does it make sense to you? Does it sound like a proper use of public land and a key mountain canyon?
If your answer is NO, join the effort on July 25th to convince City Council to deny the rezoning required to permit the quarry to proceed. Concerns about a shortage of rock and other materials for new construction in the area - used as justification for the quarry - are easily nullified when you learn that Jobe Materials alone has more than 10 other quarry operations in the City, not even counting the resources of other rock and cement companies.
Please visit the North Hills Neighborhood Pride Association’s website at http://www.northhillselpaso.org/ for more information, a pre-worded e-mail, printable letter and petition forms. Send the e-mail to the Mayor, City Reps and planning division personnel. Call your District Representative and voice your opposition. This is not just a Northeast issue. Please join us in voicing opposition at City Council on July 25th!
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Monday, May 1, 2006
May 2006
FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS NOTES
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
May, 2006
Next Meeting: May 17, 2006
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, May 17th at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411, Burgess Hall on the UTEP campus. Burgess Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of the campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
CASTNER RANGE UPDATE
by John Sproul
El Paso City Council Acts
On March 14, El Paso’s City Council made an important statement on behalf of protecting Castner Range when it approved, by a 7-0 vote (Lozano not present), a resolution authorizing City Manager Joyce Wilson to send a letter to the Army expressing “the City of El Paso’s desire to protect Castner Range in its entirety in its current state, and that it be preserved for future generations and that it not be developed in whole or in part.”
Thanks go to the Council for taking this action. Special thanks are due Reps. Susie Byrd, Melina Castro, Beto O’Rourke and Steve Ortega, members of the ad hoc committee that studied the Castner Range issue and recommended the action taken. The clear support of the City of El Paso for protecting all of Castner Range will be an important factor in the Army’s eventual decision about future disposition of the range.
Fort Bliss Suspends Castner Range Planning
Much of the recent activity regarding Castner Range was stimulated by the Army’s plans to prepare a comprehensive land-use plan for the range. Public meetings to gather initial community input were expected to take place early this year. First, we heard they would be in February. The April. Now it appears they won’t take place at all. Here’s the full text of Fort Bliss’s statement on the current status of Castner Range:
The U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Center and Fort Bliss has determined that due to increased training requirements and budgetary constraints, all planning efforts involving future land uses of Castner Range will be indefinitely suspended. No unsolicited proposals suggesting land use schemes will be accepted or reviewed at this time. If and when Fort Bliss determines that it is practicable to resume evaluating and planning for Castner Range, the Directorate of the Environment’s NEPA office will generate a formal public announcement. Only then will proposals be accepted from interested parties.
The public’s active interest in land use designations and planning efforts for Castner Range has been fully acknowledged and well received. The Fort Bliss NEPA coordinator will ensure that NEPA mandates are fully complied with, and therefore, El Pasoans can rest assured that nothing will occur at Castner Range without first undergoing appropriate public review.
Until that time, we cannot stress enough the dangers of trespassing on Castner Range. The majority of Castner Range continues to remain “off-limits” to unauthorized persons as it is littered with unexploded ordnance and any contact with UXO could result in very serious injury. Because trespassing on Castner Range is a violation of federal law and the safety concern, we ask the public to heed the warnings and observe posted prohibitions.
Jean Offutt
Public Affairs Officer
Fort Bliss, Texas
Fort Bliss’s decision to suspend its planning efforts for Castner Range does not mean we will suspend our efforts to educate the public about the importance of protecting the range. Our petition to Rep. Silvestre
Reyes urging that he work with Congress and the Army to preserve all of Castner Range in its natural state remains in circulation. We look forward to presenting Rep. Reyes a thick stack of these petitions soon and beginning a dialogue with him about potential mechanisms for achieving lasting protection of Castner Range.
THANK YOU TO ALL PETITION BEARERS AND SIGNERS - SO FAR WE HAVE OVER 1,600 SIGNATURES AND MORE COMING IN EACH DAY.
Franklin Mountains State Park Update
By Danny Contreras, PRII, ADSO
Greetings from the State Park. May is upon us and already it has been very hot. The staff and volunteers at the Park have been very busy with school tours along with our regular tour groups, Outreach Programs and Career Day Programs. We also have been working on the final stages of repair and changes to The Nature Walk, including the wooden bridge.
We would like to thank all the Volunteers for their help with tours and day-to-day Park operations. Thanks, also, to the students from the Sergeant Majors Academy at Fort Bliss, who will be leaving us later this month, for all their help with Park patrols.
Coming up on June 3, 2006, the Serna Ranch Youth Leadership Program, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Franklin Mountains State Park will be hosting a workshop from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. This workshop is for community and outdoor groups interested in learning new skills, sharpening old skills and networking.
Program sessions will cover outdoor trip planning, basic mountain biking, plant identification, hiking, outdoor cooking, fishing, camping and resources. The registration fee is $25.00 and space is limited to 60 participants. Registrants will receive a confirmation packet by mail or e-mail before the workshop. We are excited to be hosting this program and hope to see you there. For more information please contact Jaime (Slim) Serna at 915-858-2281; Terry Zambrano at zambrano@bmcwest.com ; or Tim Spice at tim.spice@tpwd.state.tx.us .
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Artists, art-lovers and nature-lovers, The Hal Marcus Gallery is opening a “Save the Arroyos” exhibit which will benefit The Frontera Land Alliance, our local land trust. The exhibit opens July 27th with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. and will run until September 1st, with a gallery talk on August 24th at 7 p.m. The gallery has issued an open call for art in all media depicting arroyos in the El Paso area (submission deadline is June 17th). An entry fee of $10.00 will be matched by The Hal Marcus Gallery and donated to The Frontera Land Alliance to sponsor the artist’s membership in the trust. The Gallery is located at 800 N. Mesa, open Tues. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and by appointment. For more information call 915-533-9090 or visit www.halmarcus.com.
PROPOSED QUARRIES UPDATE
By Kathy McConaghie
Two new quarry operations are planned by Jobe Materials - a 200+ acre site on Public Service Board land in Northeast El Paso (about 3 miles north of the North Hills neighborhood and about ½ mile east of the Franklin Mountains State Park’s eastern boundary) and another site in Northwest El Paso owned by the Texas General Land Office, crossed by FEMA arroyos #42 and #41A and close to the State Park. Mining leases have already been signed, apparently with no input from the public or the City of El Paso.
It appears that the Northeast quarry is blatantly inconsistent with the PSB’s Master Plan for its land in N.E. El Paso. This plan shows the area where the quarry is placed as Light Residential and Natural Transition Buffer (open space buffering the State Park).
Jobe has applied for re-zoning from the City and permits from TCEQ and spins the quarry locations as necessary to progress and cost-efficiency as the Northeast Parkway and other projects get underway. He has been interviewed in Newspaper Tree (newspapertree.com), has met with concerned parties., and seemingly addressed some environmental concerns.
The North Hills Neighborhood Pride Association is very concerned about the proposed quarry operation’s dust pollution, damage to local roadways and danger to residents caused by increased heavy truck traffic, and the non-adherence to the Master Plan which provides for no industrial activities in the area. These citizens have excellent reporting and upcoming events on their website - check it out (www.northhillselpaso.org).
This complex issue cannot be fully addressed here. But FMWC is very concerned about new quarry operations so close to the State Park’s boundaries. We intend to follow the story, develop a position and keep you informed. In the meantime, there is an important City Planning Commission Meeting on May 18th at 4 p.m. in which the PSB’s request to change the zoning of the proposed quarry lease site will be considered.
TxDOT Northeast Parkway
TxDOT is currently working on a project called the Northeast Parkway which would ease the congestion on I-10. Plans call for the Parkway to branch off I-10 at Anthony, follow NM 404 across “Anthony Gap” , turn southeast and meet Loop 375 close to Railroad Dr. FMWC is following this project since it affects the Franklins and we will, again, keep you informed. There is plenty of information available at http://www.dot.state.tx.us/ELP/mis/NEParkway/project.htm .
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
May, 2006
Next Meeting: May 17, 2006
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, May 17th at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411, Burgess Hall on the UTEP campus. Burgess Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of the campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
CASTNER RANGE UPDATE
by John Sproul
El Paso City Council Acts
On March 14, El Paso’s City Council made an important statement on behalf of protecting Castner Range when it approved, by a 7-0 vote (Lozano not present), a resolution authorizing City Manager Joyce Wilson to send a letter to the Army expressing “the City of El Paso’s desire to protect Castner Range in its entirety in its current state, and that it be preserved for future generations and that it not be developed in whole or in part.”
Thanks go to the Council for taking this action. Special thanks are due Reps. Susie Byrd, Melina Castro, Beto O’Rourke and Steve Ortega, members of the ad hoc committee that studied the Castner Range issue and recommended the action taken. The clear support of the City of El Paso for protecting all of Castner Range will be an important factor in the Army’s eventual decision about future disposition of the range.
Fort Bliss Suspends Castner Range Planning
Much of the recent activity regarding Castner Range was stimulated by the Army’s plans to prepare a comprehensive land-use plan for the range. Public meetings to gather initial community input were expected to take place early this year. First, we heard they would be in February. The April. Now it appears they won’t take place at all. Here’s the full text of Fort Bliss’s statement on the current status of Castner Range:
The U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Center and Fort Bliss has determined that due to increased training requirements and budgetary constraints, all planning efforts involving future land uses of Castner Range will be indefinitely suspended. No unsolicited proposals suggesting land use schemes will be accepted or reviewed at this time. If and when Fort Bliss determines that it is practicable to resume evaluating and planning for Castner Range, the Directorate of the Environment’s NEPA office will generate a formal public announcement. Only then will proposals be accepted from interested parties.
The public’s active interest in land use designations and planning efforts for Castner Range has been fully acknowledged and well received. The Fort Bliss NEPA coordinator will ensure that NEPA mandates are fully complied with, and therefore, El Pasoans can rest assured that nothing will occur at Castner Range without first undergoing appropriate public review.
Until that time, we cannot stress enough the dangers of trespassing on Castner Range. The majority of Castner Range continues to remain “off-limits” to unauthorized persons as it is littered with unexploded ordnance and any contact with UXO could result in very serious injury. Because trespassing on Castner Range is a violation of federal law and the safety concern, we ask the public to heed the warnings and observe posted prohibitions.
Jean Offutt
Public Affairs Officer
Fort Bliss, Texas
Fort Bliss’s decision to suspend its planning efforts for Castner Range does not mean we will suspend our efforts to educate the public about the importance of protecting the range. Our petition to Rep. Silvestre
Reyes urging that he work with Congress and the Army to preserve all of Castner Range in its natural state remains in circulation. We look forward to presenting Rep. Reyes a thick stack of these petitions soon and beginning a dialogue with him about potential mechanisms for achieving lasting protection of Castner Range.
THANK YOU TO ALL PETITION BEARERS AND SIGNERS - SO FAR WE HAVE OVER 1,600 SIGNATURES AND MORE COMING IN EACH DAY.
Franklin Mountains State Park Update
By Danny Contreras, PRII, ADSO
Greetings from the State Park. May is upon us and already it has been very hot. The staff and volunteers at the Park have been very busy with school tours along with our regular tour groups, Outreach Programs and Career Day Programs. We also have been working on the final stages of repair and changes to The Nature Walk, including the wooden bridge.
We would like to thank all the Volunteers for their help with tours and day-to-day Park operations. Thanks, also, to the students from the Sergeant Majors Academy at Fort Bliss, who will be leaving us later this month, for all their help with Park patrols.
Coming up on June 3, 2006, the Serna Ranch Youth Leadership Program, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Franklin Mountains State Park will be hosting a workshop from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. This workshop is for community and outdoor groups interested in learning new skills, sharpening old skills and networking.
Program sessions will cover outdoor trip planning, basic mountain biking, plant identification, hiking, outdoor cooking, fishing, camping and resources. The registration fee is $25.00 and space is limited to 60 participants. Registrants will receive a confirmation packet by mail or e-mail before the workshop. We are excited to be hosting this program and hope to see you there. For more information please contact Jaime (Slim) Serna at 915-858-2281; Terry Zambrano at zambrano@bmcwest.com ; or Tim Spice at tim.spice@tpwd.state.tx.us .
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Artists, art-lovers and nature-lovers, The Hal Marcus Gallery is opening a “Save the Arroyos” exhibit which will benefit The Frontera Land Alliance, our local land trust. The exhibit opens July 27th with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. and will run until September 1st, with a gallery talk on August 24th at 7 p.m. The gallery has issued an open call for art in all media depicting arroyos in the El Paso area (submission deadline is June 17th). An entry fee of $10.00 will be matched by The Hal Marcus Gallery and donated to The Frontera Land Alliance to sponsor the artist’s membership in the trust. The Gallery is located at 800 N. Mesa, open Tues. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and by appointment. For more information call 915-533-9090 or visit www.halmarcus.com.
PROPOSED QUARRIES UPDATE
By Kathy McConaghie
Two new quarry operations are planned by Jobe Materials - a 200+ acre site on Public Service Board land in Northeast El Paso (about 3 miles north of the North Hills neighborhood and about ½ mile east of the Franklin Mountains State Park’s eastern boundary) and another site in Northwest El Paso owned by the Texas General Land Office, crossed by FEMA arroyos #42 and #41A and close to the State Park. Mining leases have already been signed, apparently with no input from the public or the City of El Paso.
It appears that the Northeast quarry is blatantly inconsistent with the PSB’s Master Plan for its land in N.E. El Paso. This plan shows the area where the quarry is placed as Light Residential and Natural Transition Buffer (open space buffering the State Park).
Jobe has applied for re-zoning from the City and permits from TCEQ and spins the quarry locations as necessary to progress and cost-efficiency as the Northeast Parkway and other projects get underway. He has been interviewed in Newspaper Tree (newspapertree.com), has met with concerned parties., and seemingly addressed some environmental concerns.
The North Hills Neighborhood Pride Association is very concerned about the proposed quarry operation’s dust pollution, damage to local roadways and danger to residents caused by increased heavy truck traffic, and the non-adherence to the Master Plan which provides for no industrial activities in the area. These citizens have excellent reporting and upcoming events on their website - check it out (www.northhillselpaso.org).
This complex issue cannot be fully addressed here. But FMWC is very concerned about new quarry operations so close to the State Park’s boundaries. We intend to follow the story, develop a position and keep you informed. In the meantime, there is an important City Planning Commission Meeting on May 18th at 4 p.m. in which the PSB’s request to change the zoning of the proposed quarry lease site will be considered.
TxDOT Northeast Parkway
TxDOT is currently working on a project called the Northeast Parkway which would ease the congestion on I-10. Plans call for the Parkway to branch off I-10 at Anthony, follow NM 404 across “Anthony Gap” , turn southeast and meet Loop 375 close to Railroad Dr. FMWC is following this project since it affects the Franklins and we will, again, keep you informed. There is plenty of information available at http://www.dot.state.tx.us/ELP/mis/NEParkway/project.htm .
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
March 2006
FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS NOTES
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
March, 2006
Next Meeting: March 15, 2006
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, March 15th at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411, Burgess Hall on the UTEP campus. Burgess Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of the campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
CASTNER RANGE FORUM
On February 22, over 100 people attended the Castner Range Forum put on by the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. Fort Bliss provided a short presentation about cleanup efforts to date and found archeological sites. Fort Bliss personnel were unable to attend so a coalition member read their prepared statement. This was followed by Mr. Bob Cook, who presented REDCO’s (El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation, part of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce) proposed vision for Castner Range. The concept presented included parts of the range going to the Park, a swath of poppy fields set aside, and a technology park along the eastern boundary with Hwy. 54. The third and final presenter was John Sproul, who gave an enlightening historical review of Castner Range since the Army labeled it as surplus to their needs. The review showed how many proposals have been put forth over the years and how completely viable alternatives have been found to allow the development to take place somewhere other than Castner Range.
The question and answer period followed with many impassioned pleas to leave Castner as it is and add it to the State Park. The Coalition will continue working to have Castner Range saved in its entirety. Your support, through your financial support and your time, will be most helpful as we move forward to protect Castner Range. Please try to attend the FMWC bimonthly meetings.
Many thanks to all who volunteered their time to make this event happen.
Scott Cutler
FMWC Interim President
CASTNER RANGE UPDATE
by John Sproul
Castner Range remains a hot topic. Here’s what’s happened in the past two months:
To keep the public informed about the issue of future use of the range, the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition decided to hold a community educational forum. We invited a representative from Fort Bliss to speak about the status of clean-up of unexploded ordnance and Bob Cook, president of the El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDCO), to present REDCO’s concept for an office park for high-tech defense contractors on Castner Range.
The forum took place February 22 at Chapin High School. Nick Miller of KTSM-TV moderated. Fort Bliss declined to participate but did provide information on ordnance clean-up and archaeological-survey work that we shared with the audience. Bob Cook presented REDCO’s technology-park concept, and John Sproul gave an overview of the different recommendations put forward over the past 35 years for future use of Castner Range. Following these presentations, the audience had an opportunity to offer comments or questions for the speakers.
The forum was well attended, and the audience took full advantage of the time allotted for comments and questions. Most questions concerned REDCO and its
proposal. Thanks go to Nick Miller for keeping the evening running smoothly, Bob Cook for giving us a better understanding of REDCO’s proposal, and Chapin High School for providing the venue and logistical support.
A week later, on March 1, the City Council’s ad hoc committee on Castner Range met. This is the committee City Council asked on January 10 to develop a conservation alternative for Castner Range to present to Fort Bliss. The committee (Reps. Susie Byrd, Melina Castro, Beto O’Rourke and Steve Ortega) decided to recommend that the City:
1 Lobby Congress for funding for Fort Bliss to continue clean-up of unexploded ordnance on the range.
2 Ask the Department of the Army to initiate the process for having the range declared surplus property.
3 Ask the Army to consider either a conservation conveyance or public-benefit conveyance of all of Castner Range to ensure its permanent protection.
These recommendations are scheduled to go before the City Council for action on Tuesday, March 14. Needless to say, we fully support them and hope the Council will approve them.
Back on September 26, we submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to Fort Bliss in an effort to learn more about its land-use planning for Castner Range. On October 21, Fort Bliss provided us a summary of documents within the scope of our request. We then narrowed our request to just documents related to “enhanced-use leasing” (the mechanism REDCO proposes using to secure land for the technology park) and to preparation of a land-use plan.
Fort Bliss’s summary indicated there were 731 pages of material on enhanced-use leasing of Castner Range and 240 pages on land-use-plan preparation. Evidently a lot has been done in both areas. On February 7, Fort Bliss provided us the documents it found to be “releasable”. We received no enhanced-use-lease documents and just 10 pages related to land-use planning (with the most substantive information “redacted”, i.e. whited out). The rest? “Exempt from disclosure.” The work Fort Bliss has been doing in these areas remains hidden from public view.
Fort Bliss has not yet announced a date for the public meeting to gather initial community input for its Castner Range land-use plan but has indicated it will be in early April. Stay tuned.
The obvious versus the inconspicuous
By Gertrud D. Konings
While hiking through the Franklins we focus often too much on the most obvious plants and easily forget to take a closer look at what is hidden amongst the lechugillas, sotols, yuccas, agaves, ocotillos, and creosote bushes. And when thinking about cacti we visualize the big Barrel cactus that we are familiar with as desert landscape decoration for front yards and also those unloved green or purple shrubs with the spiny pads, the opuntias that despite our dislike for them sometimes greet us with a heart.
The most common opuntias in our area are the Engelmann’s Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii) and the Long-Spined Purplish Prickly Pear (Opuntia macrocentra) which during the winter acquires a purple color of the pads that give the landscape a nice tint.
Once we take our time to stop and take a closer look at what grows around us, we will detect a different set of plants that are more inconspicuous and too easily overlooked but very worthy to study more carefully; among them are the smaller cacti of our region. The bees and butterflies will guide us to their site! They are grateful for the generous supply of nectar in the very early spring days. Now is the time of the Early Bloomer (Echinomastus intertextus), a small cactus with an intricately twisted spination and a grayish-green to brown earth color that helps hide it from the view of the passer-by. It deserves its name, since it already flowers when everything else is still looking pretty dry and in winter-sleep. With its crown of white flowers it is now a little easier to spot.
Take the West Cottonwood trail that passes along Cory’s Cove up to a little hill overlooking the area. On your way up you will find several specimens of this little cactus that will be in bloom now, and you will come across several of our indigenous small cacti. The most common among them are whitish clumps of the Corn Cob Cactus (Coryphantha tuberculosa) that looks like a Corn Cob when it loses its spines on the stem and flowers end of May to beginning of June.
The Eagle Claw (Echinocactus horizonthalonius) and the Cat Claw Cactus (Glandulicactus uncinatus var. wrightii) are also to see. Especially the Eagle Claw cactus is easy to spot and sometimes even grows on the path, and you have to be careful to not step on it.
When it flowers in the summer, starting in June, it produces 1-3 large purple flowers and all members of the species in the area will bloom at the same day. The flowers only last for one day and open around noon. You will have to be lucky to catch this cactus flowering, but they do so several times during the summer, usually three to four days after a rain. In bloom this cactus is a special treat for the eyes.
The Eagle Claw is easily recognized by its very long, extending upper central spines that bend into a threatening claw. Its spines are usually yellow and the cactus resembles dry grass bushels, but on this trail I found some specimens with a dark red spination. They were sitting on rocks, and the sun lit them up to give them a beautiful red glare. Their dark brown-red flowers appear in April at the tip of the plant, and when the fruits ripen they will be bright red and easy to spot.
The yellow flowering Texas Rainbow (Echinocereus dasyacanthus) is less common on this trail and often replaced by the New Mexico Rainbow (Echinocereus viridiflorus var. chloranthus) with its beautiful red and white spines. They will catch your eye when the sun is shining on them. Its flowers appear at the side of the stem in April and are relatively small and brown to brown-green in color.
Once you reach the top of the hill you will find a seat to rest and enjoy the great view over the desert around you. When you continue walking a little further to the southeast on the plateau, you will spot many specimens of the little Early Bloomer that just started to bloom in the beginning of this month and will continue flowering all through March and into early April. The petals of the flowers often have a pinkish mid-vein and the color of the stigma varies from a soft pink to an obvious dark red.
While you are watching the plants you will experience the busy search for nectar of the bees and how much they enjoy minding their business. They dive all the way into the flower, roll over in between the stamens and cover themselves completely with the yellow pollen. They often do not mind the company of another bee, but sometimes they sit in the flower and defend “their” plant. They will make you forget the time.
Here on the top of the hill I was surprised to find a big clump of the Long Mamma cactus (Coryphantha macromeris) which is usually restricted to arroyos and loves the shade of the mesquites and creosote bushes. But here it stood completely in the open, fully exposed to the sun and seemed happy with it. This cactus flowers several times in the summer, for the first time usually in June, and its fine, pink flowers are plentiful and last over several days.
Descending the trail, take a stroll over the rocks of Cory’s Cove where the climbers have a place to practice their hobby. There you will find some beautiful ferns, lichens, and mosses and occasionally a small specimen of the Tree Cholla (Opuntia imbricate var. arborescens), a slender-stemmed Opuntia that will decorate itself with big purple flowers in April. Its yellow fruits look like dried parts of the stem and often last all through the winter into spring. On the red boulders you will spot some lizards bathing in the sun and after a rain some butterflies coming to drink from the water that got trapped in between the rocks. Happy hiking!
Franklin Mountains State Park Update
by Danny Contreras, PRII, ADSO
Greetings, from the Franklin Mountains State Park. The great weather we have been having lately has increased our visitation and is keeping us very busy we hope you’ll take advantage of the weather and come out to visit the Park.
We also would like to welcome Michael Hill as our new Regional Director for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
We are looking forward to “The Coyote Classic Mountain Bike Race” coming up on Sunday April 2, 2006, which will be held at The Franklin Mountains State Park. Mike Rosson along with the Borderland Mountain Bike Association, Robert Newman and the Texas Youth Commission (Schaffer House) and other Volunteer’s have been doing trail work in preparation for the race.
Also coming up on Saturday April 8, 2006 at the Tom May’s Unit will be “The Canutillo School District Walk-A-Thon”. We look forward to seeing you all for these exciting events.
On Saturday, February 18, 2006 the “5th Annual Far West Texas Jack Rabbit Rally”, was held at The Franklin Mountains State Park. Mark Dorian worked very hard to make this race a success, rarely does a week go by that Mark is not out working on trails along with his wife Helen. We would like to thank Mark and Helen for their support and hard work.
On March 4, 2006, I was given the opportunity to participate in an outreach program held at the Botanical Gardens. The response from the community was great. On the same day Rick LoBello of the El Paso Zoo was kind enough to allow me to speak during one of his programs to students from Hornedo Middle School. I encouraged them to plan and develop a garden using native plants to attract butterflies and hummingbirds by adopting an area next to the Franklin Mountains States Park Headquarters.
Robert Pichardo, Lead Ranger of The Franklin Mountains State Park was interviewed by Channel 7 regarding current drought conditions.
We have been incredibly busy with the different programs, our regular tours, and the day-to-day operations of the Park none of which would be possible if it wasn’t for the great staff of Volunteers who are always willing to go above and beyond. Thank you all from the Park’s staff.
Mountain Memories
Thank you, Steve Vinson, for the following essay :
I won’t be shy; the Franklin Mountains are epochly beautiful, ecologically important and self-supporting, and a continuing resource for the El Paso region. Conversely, the aspirations and struggles of men and women, including both those who scheme for personal profit and those who cry to protect the land, are minuscule and plain, an insignificant blip in the earth’s timeline, a dust into dust reality. I study the geologic folds along the Transmountain Road cuts, each a million- of- years wrinkle; from atop North Franklin Mountain, I take in the expanse of the basin and range, splayed out eastward in my tiny field of view; I note the change in complex plant communities on either side of the ridgeline, ever following the sun; my blood accelerates in my slow completion of a hundred, priceless hikes along and throughout the range. I am told that the United States military establishment from far away Washington district, or various government functionaries, elected and appointed by a small fraction of citizens, determine the future of the Franklins. The thought angers me—until I laugh softly—because even mighty Rome continues to crumble, until nothing is left but the atoms collected randomly in its assemblage. As a former pragmatist, I empathize with the pain of temporal loss; as a natural idealist and mortal man, I hike less these days, but I gaze at the fathomless stars, extending like an endless crown above my beloved Franklins.
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
March, 2006
Next Meeting: March 15, 2006
The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, March 15th at 7 p.m. It takes place in Room 411, Burgess Hall on the UTEP campus. Burgess Hall is at the intersection of Sun Bowl Drive and University Ave. on the west side of the campus. Please be prompt. The building entrance locks automatically in the evenings. If you arrive late and no one is at the door, call 861-4361 and someone will come to let you in. For more information contact Scott Cutler (581-6071).
CASTNER RANGE FORUM
On February 22, over 100 people attended the Castner Range Forum put on by the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. Fort Bliss provided a short presentation about cleanup efforts to date and found archeological sites. Fort Bliss personnel were unable to attend so a coalition member read their prepared statement. This was followed by Mr. Bob Cook, who presented REDCO’s (El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation, part of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce) proposed vision for Castner Range. The concept presented included parts of the range going to the Park, a swath of poppy fields set aside, and a technology park along the eastern boundary with Hwy. 54. The third and final presenter was John Sproul, who gave an enlightening historical review of Castner Range since the Army labeled it as surplus to their needs. The review showed how many proposals have been put forth over the years and how completely viable alternatives have been found to allow the development to take place somewhere other than Castner Range.
The question and answer period followed with many impassioned pleas to leave Castner as it is and add it to the State Park. The Coalition will continue working to have Castner Range saved in its entirety. Your support, through your financial support and your time, will be most helpful as we move forward to protect Castner Range. Please try to attend the FMWC bimonthly meetings.
Many thanks to all who volunteered their time to make this event happen.
Scott Cutler
FMWC Interim President
CASTNER RANGE UPDATE
by John Sproul
Castner Range remains a hot topic. Here’s what’s happened in the past two months:
To keep the public informed about the issue of future use of the range, the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition decided to hold a community educational forum. We invited a representative from Fort Bliss to speak about the status of clean-up of unexploded ordnance and Bob Cook, president of the El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDCO), to present REDCO’s concept for an office park for high-tech defense contractors on Castner Range.
The forum took place February 22 at Chapin High School. Nick Miller of KTSM-TV moderated. Fort Bliss declined to participate but did provide information on ordnance clean-up and archaeological-survey work that we shared with the audience. Bob Cook presented REDCO’s technology-park concept, and John Sproul gave an overview of the different recommendations put forward over the past 35 years for future use of Castner Range. Following these presentations, the audience had an opportunity to offer comments or questions for the speakers.
The forum was well attended, and the audience took full advantage of the time allotted for comments and questions. Most questions concerned REDCO and its
proposal. Thanks go to Nick Miller for keeping the evening running smoothly, Bob Cook for giving us a better understanding of REDCO’s proposal, and Chapin High School for providing the venue and logistical support.
A week later, on March 1, the City Council’s ad hoc committee on Castner Range met. This is the committee City Council asked on January 10 to develop a conservation alternative for Castner Range to present to Fort Bliss. The committee (Reps. Susie Byrd, Melina Castro, Beto O’Rourke and Steve Ortega) decided to recommend that the City:
1 Lobby Congress for funding for Fort Bliss to continue clean-up of unexploded ordnance on the range.
2 Ask the Department of the Army to initiate the process for having the range declared surplus property.
3 Ask the Army to consider either a conservation conveyance or public-benefit conveyance of all of Castner Range to ensure its permanent protection.
These recommendations are scheduled to go before the City Council for action on Tuesday, March 14. Needless to say, we fully support them and hope the Council will approve them.
Back on September 26, we submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to Fort Bliss in an effort to learn more about its land-use planning for Castner Range. On October 21, Fort Bliss provided us a summary of documents within the scope of our request. We then narrowed our request to just documents related to “enhanced-use leasing” (the mechanism REDCO proposes using to secure land for the technology park) and to preparation of a land-use plan.
Fort Bliss’s summary indicated there were 731 pages of material on enhanced-use leasing of Castner Range and 240 pages on land-use-plan preparation. Evidently a lot has been done in both areas. On February 7, Fort Bliss provided us the documents it found to be “releasable”. We received no enhanced-use-lease documents and just 10 pages related to land-use planning (with the most substantive information “redacted”, i.e. whited out). The rest? “Exempt from disclosure.” The work Fort Bliss has been doing in these areas remains hidden from public view.
Fort Bliss has not yet announced a date for the public meeting to gather initial community input for its Castner Range land-use plan but has indicated it will be in early April. Stay tuned.
The obvious versus the inconspicuous
By Gertrud D. Konings
While hiking through the Franklins we focus often too much on the most obvious plants and easily forget to take a closer look at what is hidden amongst the lechugillas, sotols, yuccas, agaves, ocotillos, and creosote bushes. And when thinking about cacti we visualize the big Barrel cactus that we are familiar with as desert landscape decoration for front yards and also those unloved green or purple shrubs with the spiny pads, the opuntias that despite our dislike for them sometimes greet us with a heart.
The most common opuntias in our area are the Engelmann’s Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii) and the Long-Spined Purplish Prickly Pear (Opuntia macrocentra) which during the winter acquires a purple color of the pads that give the landscape a nice tint.
Once we take our time to stop and take a closer look at what grows around us, we will detect a different set of plants that are more inconspicuous and too easily overlooked but very worthy to study more carefully; among them are the smaller cacti of our region. The bees and butterflies will guide us to their site! They are grateful for the generous supply of nectar in the very early spring days. Now is the time of the Early Bloomer (Echinomastus intertextus), a small cactus with an intricately twisted spination and a grayish-green to brown earth color that helps hide it from the view of the passer-by. It deserves its name, since it already flowers when everything else is still looking pretty dry and in winter-sleep. With its crown of white flowers it is now a little easier to spot.
Take the West Cottonwood trail that passes along Cory’s Cove up to a little hill overlooking the area. On your way up you will find several specimens of this little cactus that will be in bloom now, and you will come across several of our indigenous small cacti. The most common among them are whitish clumps of the Corn Cob Cactus (Coryphantha tuberculosa) that looks like a Corn Cob when it loses its spines on the stem and flowers end of May to beginning of June.
The Eagle Claw (Echinocactus horizonthalonius) and the Cat Claw Cactus (Glandulicactus uncinatus var. wrightii) are also to see. Especially the Eagle Claw cactus is easy to spot and sometimes even grows on the path, and you have to be careful to not step on it.
When it flowers in the summer, starting in June, it produces 1-3 large purple flowers and all members of the species in the area will bloom at the same day. The flowers only last for one day and open around noon. You will have to be lucky to catch this cactus flowering, but they do so several times during the summer, usually three to four days after a rain. In bloom this cactus is a special treat for the eyes.
The Eagle Claw is easily recognized by its very long, extending upper central spines that bend into a threatening claw. Its spines are usually yellow and the cactus resembles dry grass bushels, but on this trail I found some specimens with a dark red spination. They were sitting on rocks, and the sun lit them up to give them a beautiful red glare. Their dark brown-red flowers appear in April at the tip of the plant, and when the fruits ripen they will be bright red and easy to spot.
The yellow flowering Texas Rainbow (Echinocereus dasyacanthus) is less common on this trail and often replaced by the New Mexico Rainbow (Echinocereus viridiflorus var. chloranthus) with its beautiful red and white spines. They will catch your eye when the sun is shining on them. Its flowers appear at the side of the stem in April and are relatively small and brown to brown-green in color.
Once you reach the top of the hill you will find a seat to rest and enjoy the great view over the desert around you. When you continue walking a little further to the southeast on the plateau, you will spot many specimens of the little Early Bloomer that just started to bloom in the beginning of this month and will continue flowering all through March and into early April. The petals of the flowers often have a pinkish mid-vein and the color of the stigma varies from a soft pink to an obvious dark red.
While you are watching the plants you will experience the busy search for nectar of the bees and how much they enjoy minding their business. They dive all the way into the flower, roll over in between the stamens and cover themselves completely with the yellow pollen. They often do not mind the company of another bee, but sometimes they sit in the flower and defend “their” plant. They will make you forget the time.
Here on the top of the hill I was surprised to find a big clump of the Long Mamma cactus (Coryphantha macromeris) which is usually restricted to arroyos and loves the shade of the mesquites and creosote bushes. But here it stood completely in the open, fully exposed to the sun and seemed happy with it. This cactus flowers several times in the summer, for the first time usually in June, and its fine, pink flowers are plentiful and last over several days.
Descending the trail, take a stroll over the rocks of Cory’s Cove where the climbers have a place to practice their hobby. There you will find some beautiful ferns, lichens, and mosses and occasionally a small specimen of the Tree Cholla (Opuntia imbricate var. arborescens), a slender-stemmed Opuntia that will decorate itself with big purple flowers in April. Its yellow fruits look like dried parts of the stem and often last all through the winter into spring. On the red boulders you will spot some lizards bathing in the sun and after a rain some butterflies coming to drink from the water that got trapped in between the rocks. Happy hiking!
Franklin Mountains State Park Update
by Danny Contreras, PRII, ADSO
Greetings, from the Franklin Mountains State Park. The great weather we have been having lately has increased our visitation and is keeping us very busy we hope you’ll take advantage of the weather and come out to visit the Park.
We also would like to welcome Michael Hill as our new Regional Director for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
We are looking forward to “The Coyote Classic Mountain Bike Race” coming up on Sunday April 2, 2006, which will be held at The Franklin Mountains State Park. Mike Rosson along with the Borderland Mountain Bike Association, Robert Newman and the Texas Youth Commission (Schaffer House) and other Volunteer’s have been doing trail work in preparation for the race.
Also coming up on Saturday April 8, 2006 at the Tom May’s Unit will be “The Canutillo School District Walk-A-Thon”. We look forward to seeing you all for these exciting events.
On Saturday, February 18, 2006 the “5th Annual Far West Texas Jack Rabbit Rally”, was held at The Franklin Mountains State Park. Mark Dorian worked very hard to make this race a success, rarely does a week go by that Mark is not out working on trails along with his wife Helen. We would like to thank Mark and Helen for their support and hard work.
On March 4, 2006, I was given the opportunity to participate in an outreach program held at the Botanical Gardens. The response from the community was great. On the same day Rick LoBello of the El Paso Zoo was kind enough to allow me to speak during one of his programs to students from Hornedo Middle School. I encouraged them to plan and develop a garden using native plants to attract butterflies and hummingbirds by adopting an area next to the Franklin Mountains States Park Headquarters.
Robert Pichardo, Lead Ranger of The Franklin Mountains State Park was interviewed by Channel 7 regarding current drought conditions.
We have been incredibly busy with the different programs, our regular tours, and the day-to-day operations of the Park none of which would be possible if it wasn’t for the great staff of Volunteers who are always willing to go above and beyond. Thank you all from the Park’s staff.
Mountain Memories
Thank you, Steve Vinson, for the following essay :
I won’t be shy; the Franklin Mountains are epochly beautiful, ecologically important and self-supporting, and a continuing resource for the El Paso region. Conversely, the aspirations and struggles of men and women, including both those who scheme for personal profit and those who cry to protect the land, are minuscule and plain, an insignificant blip in the earth’s timeline, a dust into dust reality. I study the geologic folds along the Transmountain Road cuts, each a million- of- years wrinkle; from atop North Franklin Mountain, I take in the expanse of the basin and range, splayed out eastward in my tiny field of view; I note the change in complex plant communities on either side of the ridgeline, ever following the sun; my blood accelerates in my slow completion of a hundred, priceless hikes along and throughout the range. I am told that the United States military establishment from far away Washington district, or various government functionaries, elected and appointed by a small fraction of citizens, determine the future of the Franklins. The thought angers me—until I laugh softly—because even mighty Rome continues to crumble, until nothing is left but the atoms collected randomly in its assemblage. As a former pragmatist, I empathize with the pain of temporal loss; as a natural idealist and mortal man, I hike less these days, but I gaze at the fathomless stars, extending like an endless crown above my beloved Franklins.
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
