After Tuesday's vote, I sent an email to the Mayor and City Council and issued a statement for the next Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. Here they are:
Mayor and Members of Council,
Thank you so much for your vote to preserve the land in the
NW Master Plan. Given all of the circumstances, I believe that you took the
wisest and most prudent action. It has become very apparent that you and staff
(both City and PSB) were trying very hard to respond to the citizens of El Paso
who signed the petition. As the author of the petition and the coordinator of
the petition drive, I am sincerely touched by your caring and your solid
efforts in favor of conservation.
I also strongly support the PSB recommendation of
Alternative 1 as a new access into the State Park. I very much appreciate your
added endorsement of a separate animal corridor near the current entrance.
All of us in the conservation/environmental community look
forward to working with you collaboratively in the future. We have more land
than water and no land without water is or will be of any value. Therefore,
preserving land as natural open space maximizes the economic value of the
remaining land. May we as El Pasoans be as prudent, judicious, deliberate and
conservative with our land and water management as you were with your decision
about the preservation of land in the NW Master Plan. May we be faithful
stewards of our land for our grandchildren’s grandchildren and may we not ever
be lured by any need for instant profit and gratification.
Sincerely,
Jim H. Tolbert
Proud El Paso Citizen and
Publisher, elpasonaturally
As the author of the petition and the coordinator of the
petition drive, I hope we all see the tremendous achievement which came from
our dedicated work. On July 17, 2012 City Council voted unanimously
to preserve land in the NW Master Plan in perpetuity by deeding and
donating the land to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to become part of
the Franklin Mountains State Park. Language in the deed will contain very
strict covenants that will forbid the property from ever being used other than
as recreational natural open space. If for any reason the land comes back to
the City, a conservation easement will be created and the land will be
dedicated as Parkland. The conservation of this land in perpetuity is just one
of many benefits created by our successful petition drive. The NW Master
Plan was redone as Smart Growth/Smart Code. Moreover, City Planners are
now seeking to incorporate Green Infrastructure/Low Impact Development into the
engineering tools and building codes of the City. Also, conservation and
smart growth have become the goals of the City of El Paso rather than
conventional growth and sprawl. The City’s Planning Department is now led by
progressive, Smart Growth, New Urban, conservation advocates. Finally, a better
working relationship between the conservation/environmental community and the
PSB/EPWU has begun and needs nurturing.
The way is clear for all of us to begin wrestling with the
bigger issue of scarcity of water as we face more years of drought and global
warming/climate change. As El Pasoans we need to realize that we have
more land than water and no land without water is or will be of any value.
Therefore, preserving land as natural open space maximizes the economic value
of the remaining land. Much of City-owned land managed by the PSB should
be declared inexpedient not to sell to developers but to preserve as natural
open space. May we as El Pasoans be as prudent, judicious, deliberate and
conservative with our land and water management as City Council was with its
conservation strategy to preserve land in the NW Master Plan. May we be
faithful stewards of our land for our grandchildren’s grandchildren and may we
not ever be lured by any need for instant profit and gratification.
Publisher, elpasonaturally
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