New Proposal for Entrance to State Park

Altenative 4. Click on image to enlarge.

Last July, the PSB proposed and recommended to City Council an alternative route into the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park.  I published a blog post about this. There was another alternative entrance which the environmental community seemed to favor – an underpass with exchanges near the current park entrance. I voiced two concerns about that proposal: what it might do to the view shed and whether animals would really use a trafficked road for a corridor.  It turns out that that proposal (#4 in the TxDOT menu of options) was the one preferred by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department although that endorsement was not apparent at the time.

Last Friday, Special Parks and Wildlife Assistant Kevin Good was in El Paso to promote the alternative (#4) preferred by his department. He presented a proposal to gift 8 acres of Franklin Mountains State Park to TxDOT.  This land runs along Transmountain Road and includes the current entrance into the park.  The transfer will allow TxDOT to build an underpass with exchanges into the park.  It does not compromise the view shed and the underpass will be wide enough for traffic, bicyclists and, yes, animals. In addition, the 3 existing culverts just east of the park entrance will be preserved and the 8 foot drop-off on the south end of the culverts will be fixed so that there will be yet another corridor for animals.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission will consider an action item (number 18 on the agenda) transferring the land at its January 24, 2013 meeting in Austin. 

The proposal by Texas Parks and Wildlife seemed to catch everyone off guard. PSB representatives at the Good presentation were concerned that this alternative proposal would mean changing how they are envisioning development north of Transmountain (an interesting but not surprising revelation.) I asked if a road to the planned resort could still be constructed and keep a trail from there into the park. (The trail already exists as part of the Lower Sunset hiking trail.) There seemed to be no objection. Alternative #4 would not prevent plans for development above Transmountain.  Note that one of the disadvantages of paving an alternative entrance from a future Paseo del Norte into the park is the fact that valuable archaeological sites would be destroyed or damaged. Parks is reluctant to say much about the existence, whereabouts or artifacts of the site. However, I have learned that there may be a burial site making preservation a must.

Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition Board member, Judy Ackerman, is sending out the following to FMWC members to encourage them to voice their approval to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission no later than January 23^rd:

The entrance to the Tom May’s Section of the Franklin Mountains State Park (FMSP) desperately needs improvement! 

Please support TX Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) desire to transfer 8 acres to TxDOT so that TxDOT can build a safe, entrance, with a wildlife crossing and minimal environmental and view shed destruction.  Send your comments in support of this transfer to:  Corky Kuhlmann, Land Conservation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas  78744 or corky.kuhlmann@tpwd.state.tx.us, not later than 23 Jan 2013.  

A direct entrance to FMSP from Transmountain Rd with an underpass under Transmountain Rd is the best option.  Unfortunately, in July 2012, several El Paso institutions voted to support a Back Door entrance that is NOT supported by TPWD.  The Back Door requires building many miles of roads through pristine Chihuahuan Desert terrain, causes massive habitat destruction and fragmentation, damages archaeological sites and creates NO wildlife corridor. 

Reasons to support TPWD transfer of  8 acres to TxDOT for a new FMSP Entrance:

#1.  Who knows what is best for the Park?  TPWD and FMSP personnel!  What they support, we should support.

#2.  Ensures SAFE access to FMSP for vehicles, pedestrians, bikes and wildlife. 

#3.  Leaves FMSP’s richest archaeological site undisturbed.

#4.  We need a world class entrance to a world class Park, NOT a Back Door.

Finally, keep up with the water wars. Texas has now filed a complaint against New Mexico regarding how New Mexico is tapping into Rio Grande water north of El Paso. We are affected. So are our friends and families in Mexico.