Got Your Goat

Photos by Sherri Bryant

Franklin Mountains State Park Superintendent, Cesar Mendez, tells us:

"Over the past two months we have received numerous calls and emails about the white goat seen roaming the side slopes of Trans Mountain Road in the area known as Smugglers Pass.  We are aware of the situation and through multiple observations and photographs, have confirmed that the animal in questions is in fact a domestic (now feral) goat, which could have escaped from a nearby farm or may have been intentionally released on the side of the road. We would like to ensure everyone that neither the goat, the public nor the state park are in any imminent harm or danger. The goat can survive in this area for quite a while and, if necessary, it will relocate on its own. Due to the feral state of the goat and the rugged conditions of the terrain, removing the goat from the area would be difficult and dangerous for both the animal and wildlife officials conducting the relocation."

He adds: "Based on these considerations, we will not be taking any action to actively capture, remove, or relocate the goat."

There are no wild goats in the Franklins. A few years ago, according to Dr. Mendez, two Barbary Sheep (Aoudad) were observed in the Franklins. They have not been seen in years and probably relocated.

Photo by Tony Thomas Photography in Lincoln, New Mexico, 2011

Aoudad are indigenous to Northern Africa. They were introduced to Texas and New Mexico as a game animal but have escaped the confines of game ranches and have thrived in the southwest ecosystems. In 2013 Elpasonaturally posted pictures of Barbary Sheep taken by Michael Romero  in the mountains around Alamogordo.

Cemex Has Much More Mountain to Destroy

Click on image to enlarge.

This past Monday I posted KTSM's outstanding news story from last Friday about the destruction of the eastern face of the Franklin Mountains by CEMEX. The big question that the story raised was just how much of the mountain can Cemex eat up. What is the limit?

If you look at the 2014 aerial above with the superimposed map, it looks like CEMEX has much more mountain that they can destroy. 

Here's a look at the damage that they have already done:

Click on image to enlarge.

I asked Dr. Cesar Mendez, the Superintendent of the Franklin Mountains State Park, about the boundaries between the park and CEMEX and whether there had been any encroachment that he was aware of. He replied that he is concerned about "any potential encroachment, as well as the changes in the landscape. But there is not much we can do if they are working legally and within their boundaries."  He added that "for now we are neighbors and respect each other." He and his team keep their focus on protecting the land within the State Park as well as potential land that they might annex.

CEMEX pays a royalty to the State of Texas General Land Office because the land that they own is "Mineral classified land" sometimes referred to as Relinquishment Act Land. Although the landowner may do whatever they like with the land, since the State owns the mineral rights, the landowner must pay a royalty to the GLO if they extract minerals such as sand, gravel, rock, oil, gas, etc. All of this is to say that no one should expect the State to buy back the land to give to the State Park. 

Cemex posts this statement about themselves: "CEMEX is a global building materials company that provides high-quality products and reliable service to customers and communities in more than 50 countries throughout the world, and we maintain trade relationships in over 100 nations. We work hard to develop and deliver the best solutions in cement, ready-mix, and aggregates...so we can transform ideas into reality."

Numbers Don't Lie: FMSP Entrance is a Major Traffic Safety Concern

First an email from TxDOT El Paso Regional Engineer, Bob Bielek. Afterwards, the numbers. [Red emphases are mine.)

Subject: Franklin State Park Entrance Environmental

All,

Based on our teleconference yesterday, and my review of the situation, I have reached the following conclusions:

1.      The purpose and need for the project have been inadequately defined.  It appears that the purpose and need to this point has been focused on some unspecified safety concerns from the public or stakeholders.  We need to subject the situation to a standard traffic engineering analysis taking into account the volumes on the main lanes, the volume on the entrance road, and the end state from the current project, i.e., no left turns exiting the park with eastbound traffic routed to the frontage road and the “Texas Turnaround” at the Paseo del Norte interchange.  We will gather historical information on accident data as well as current and projected traffic to support these analyses.

2.      The loss of funding for this fiscal year provides an opportunity to gather information from the stakeholders and the public on what additional factors, or substitute factors, should contribute to the purpose and need for the project.  For example, is the real purpose to provide a safe path to connect the two sides of the park for hikers?  For wildlife?

3.      For the public meeting, we will show the alternatives that have been developed so far and provide several blank aerials that depict the situation that will exist at the end of the current project to allow the stakeholders and public to offer their suggestions or additional alternatives that should be considered.

I appreciate the work that has gone into this so far and the work you have all done in developing and progressing the alternatives.  Given the scrutiny that projects are receiving today from other members of the public who, for example, question the wisdom of spending money on providing bike lanes on arterial roadways, we need to ensure that the purpose and need for the project are clearly stated and that we are solving a real, and not imagined, issue.

Bob Bielek, DPA, PE

District Engineer, El Paso District

Texas Department of Transportation

(915) 790-4203 Office

(915) 309-0482 Cell

Robert.Bielek@TXDOT.gov

Okay, here are the real numbers (not imagined) as gathered by Franklin Mountains State Park Superintendent, Dr. Cesar Mendez.  Dr. Mendez says that the numbers are: ". . . the estimated number of vehicles (ingress and egress) rather than the visitation, since we have other areas of the park that are accessed by visitors, as well as many times  there are more than one visitor per vehicle.  But also we will include park staff (personal vehicles and TPWD vehicles, community service, volunteers, TDCJ, special events, search and rescue training, search and rescue incidents, media, etc. etc.) that are not accounted for in the visitation numbers, but certainly have an impact in the vehicle traffic numbers."

Data on Entrance to Franklin Mountain State Park Entrance by jimhtolbert434

PSB Recommends Access and Animal Corridor into State Park

They've got to stop it. The PSB I mean. They are going to ruin my reputation - or theirs. We are agreeing too much. I was delighted when they endorsed a conservation easement. Today they recommended an access to the State Park that makes sense to me. 


Some background: With the widening of Transmountain, the current entrance and exit from the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park will become even more dangerous than it is today. Although the TxDOT plan to widen Transmountain does not address this danger, most people are reasonably concerned. Some alternative plans have been proposed.


Dr. Richard Bonart DVM, a member of the PSB recently gave a presentation with his suggestions:
Bonart Plan for Access to Tom Mays

His suggestion puts an access road alongside Transmountain to the north and takes into account planned hike and bike trails. (Slide 4) It also makes mention of existing culverts just to the east of the current entrance that could be retrofitted to become solely an animal corridor with use by hikers and mountain bikers as well. (Slide 5) The model for the corridor would be those used in Oregon (Slide 6). 

The alternative proposed today in a presentation given by Pat Adauto is similar to Dr. Bonart's. It provides an access road off of Paseo del Norte (as does Dr. Bonart's) and enters the park a bit to the north of Bonart's - using an existing trail that is the beginning of the southern route of the current Lower Sunset Trail. That alternative also has the advantage of following a road to be built to a "resort" as approved earlier by City Council. Indeed this route was also mentioned years ago by Dr. Bonart to TxDOT.


Too often some people see those of us in the conservation/environmental community as in lock-step singular agreement on all things. For example, I don't always agree with the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coaltion and vice versa. I don't write for the Open Space Board nor am I affiliated in any fashion with Frontera Land Alliance, a non-political/non-profit land trust organization. I recently encouraged members of a neighborhood association to oppose a recommendation for a zoning change given by OSAB to the City Plan Commission. I was one of only two votes against this egregious recommendation - enough said at least for now. Obviously some in the conservation community take quite an exception to my views about the ballpark (more on that later). And the recent election put many of us in the O'Rourke camp and many in the Reyes camp. We have our differences and we aren't all the same though we share common goals.


One proposal from the conservation community for access to the State Park would build an interchange off of Transmountain about where there is an existing runnaway lane. That interchange would provide an underpass for safe entrance to and exit from the park. It could also be utilized by animals for nocturnal passage. Although this plan would provide safe access and egress for motorized vehicles and human beings, I have two serious reservations about it. First, the interchange would be a mini-spaghetti bowl blocking the view shed of the mountain. Second, I really don't want to mix vehicles with animals even if you expect no cars after 10 p.m. and animals only from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. (Animals can be rather sloppy about their time keeping.) I've seen Mule Deer out during the day - many in those parts.

Dr. Rick Bonart (in red) explains his plan to (counter-clockwise from foreground) Dave Wilson, Borderland Mountain Bike Association, Ed Escudero, Chairman of the PSB, Brent Sanders, BMBA, and Dr. Cesar Mendez, Park Superintendent standing in culvert.

The PSB's Alternative 1 also means that a resort can become a grand entryway into the park - an encouragement to get people outdoors and an opportunity for eco-tourism and eco-tourist dollars for the City as well as places for retreats, strategic planning, museum space. Think of a place like Indian  Lodge in the Davis Mountains State Park. A mini-spaghetti bowl only eats up more natural open space. A simple access road tied into an Indian Lodge-type resort provides an opening into natural open space.


Not only did the PSB recommend Alterantive 1 but they recommended the Bonart animal corridor at the place where the culverts are now.


So stop it, PSB! You're ruining my reputation!


Actually, keep it up!