Thanks, Folks!

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This bar chart says it all. Thanks, folks!

Winton Homes Sees Multiple Benefits

The author of this blog and candidate for City Council District 2, Jim Tolbert, holds up the sign "Save Castner"

[The following op-ed piece appeared in yesterday's El Paso Times. It is written by Mr. Scott Winton, the Vice-President of Business Development for Winton Homes in El Paso. Scott is also a board member of the Frontera Land Alliance.]

Winton Homes recognizes that a healthy environment makes for a healthy city and people want to live in healthy cities.  Much of Texan identity can be attributed to the state’s diverse landscape. We are proud of our heritage, both cultural and natural. Our lands make up the special fabric of our home state. We have regional differences – lakes in the Dallas area; deserts in the Far West; beaches along the Gulf Coast and rolling Hill Country in between – but it is all these features that combined make our state unique.

El Paso is diligently working to attract new businesses to the region and part of that appeal is the wealth of outdoor activities.  A Castner Range National Monument within the City limits would be a major attraction to businesses thinking of setting up shop in the Sun City. Research on the economic contribution of national monuments in the West created in the last generation found that adjacent economies grew, adding new jobs, and per capita income increased, in real terms, in every case after the creation of these national monuments. Headwaterseconomics.org, Winter 2012

Simultaneously, within the last five years, 88% of Texas experienced an exceptional drought. While the drought conditions have eased for many of us, the drought of 2010-2015 was the second worst in the history of our state. And scientists have warned us that frequent droughts may become a permanent part of our lives. Nothing is more important for our lives – and livelihoods – than having clean water to drink. Conserving land will ensure that more of the precious little water that falls will soak into the ground and our aquifers, replenishing our water supply. 

We draw on lessons learned from landscape ecology, open-space development, and regional planning. Winton Homes weighs the biophysical, economic, and institutional evidence for and against conservation development. We have learned that conservation development offers many potential environmental and economic advantages. As we develop with conservation as a part of the process we have seen relatively high home values and appreciation rates and lower development costs. It is also wonderful to know that we have helped protect and actively work to use native desertscapes at our homes. It is not always easy to achieve conservation criteria since it may take longer to meet institutional regulations and regional planning, it is not always more profitable than conventional development. But to address the drop income would be to offer subsidies or incentives. Winton Homes believes that conservation development could be a viable strategy for sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services in changing landscapes.

Investing in the conservation of Castner Range is an investment in clean water, air and energy, all natural resources, and an investment in our community. Conserving Castner Range as a national monument will preserve the fragile lands at the urban fringe around the Franklin Mountains State Park. A national monument will address many needs and will provide benefits to public health, education, natural resource management and the El Paso area’s economy, and will preserve the breathtaking view-sheds of and from the Franklin Mountains. Dedicating these lands as a National Monument will safeguard cultural resources and a network of natural areas that enhance our community’s unique character, culture and sense of place. Conserving Castner Range as a National Monument will save hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure costs and maintenance, now and for scores of years to come.

Winton Homes is supportive of seeing natural areas and the opportunity to be physically connected to our natural and cultural heritage.  We can create opportunities for our local economies to grow by investing in land for outdoor recreation, for wildlife, and water. Such investments have a ripple effect. In addition, investment in a nature-based park, such as Castner Range National Monument, can create more jobs and lead to more visitor spending. Locally, in 2006, the Hueco Tanks State Park brought in $582,207 in county sales and $331,774 in county residents’ personal income.  In 2007 Hueco Tanks and Franklin Mountains State Park brought 72,644 visitors to El Paso County (Texas State Parks, Natural Economic Assets).

I'm Running!

Here was yesterday's press release:

For immediate release.
For more information, contact Jim Tolbert at 525-7364 or diegotolbert@gmail.com.

NEIGHBORHOOD ADVOCATE, JIM TOLBERT, ANNOUNCES RUN FOR CITY COUNCIL

El Paso -- March 8, 2016. Jim Tolbert announces that he is running for City Council, District 2. Election Day is scheduled for Saturday, May 7, 2016. Early voting starts Monday, April 25.

In deciding to run for city council representative, Jim Tolbert said, "Now more than ever, we need strong, ethical representation at City Hall. We need leaders committed to a common vision who are willing to put in the hard work to make good things happen for El Paso residents. I want to work with the voters of District 2 to restore integrity and decisive leadership to City Hall."

If elected, Jim Tolbert will

• Be a full-time Representative who will listen to his constituents, communicate, be open, honest and transparent.
• Represent all of the interests of District 2, and be a strong leader who will work to make City government functional and ethical again.
• Champion El Paso’s businesses and employees. Growing businesses and well-paid workers mean a prosperous community.
• Work toward ending government waste of your tax dollars.
• Preserve our natural and heritage resources. Improve our parks, senior centers and recreational facilities.

About Jim. Jim is a native El Pasoan who graduated from Austin High School, Texas Tech University and the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest.  Jim has a long record of public and community service.  He has helped open a shelter for battered women in the Texas Panhandle and served on an advisory committee for a center for troubled youth. He has a passion for preserving our environment, increasing the number and quality of parks in El Paso and strengthening and preserving great neighborhoods. He is the Director of El Paso’s Celebration of Our Mountains, Chair of the West Texas Urban Forestry Council, member of Senator Jose Rodriguez’s Sustainable Energy and Environmental Committees, the City of El Paso’s Open Space Advisory Board, former Co-Chair of the City’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, and former member of the Building Standards Commission. He ran a small business as a print broker and is now the southwest sales representative for a promotional products distributor. 

WTUFC Contributes Apple Tree to Community Garden

On hand were Jim Tolbert, President of WTUFC, El Paso City Council Representative Emma Acosta, Brent Pearson , Oscar Mestas and members of the Cielo Vista Neighborhood Association

The West Texas Urban Forestry Council (Los Tree Amigos) and the Cielo Vista Neighborhood Association celebrated Texas Arbor Day today by planting a tree in the Community Garden of the Cielo Vista Neighborhood Association. Oscar Mestas, Texas A&M Urban Forester, and Brent Pearson, City of El Paso Arborist, demonstrated the correct way to plant a tree. 

City Arborist, Brent Pearson, finishes planting the apple tree.

On hand to help plant the tree were City Council Representative, Emma Acosta, WTUFC Board President, Jim Tolbert, and WTUFC Treasurer, Joanne Burt.

Jim Tolbert, Brent Pearson, Emma Acosta

Arbor Day was founded in 1872 in  Nebraska. By the 1920s, each state in the United States had passed public laws that stipulated a certain day to be Arbor Day. In Texas, Arbor Day is celebrated every year on the first Friday in November, the best time of year to plant trees in our climate. The customary observance of Arbor Day is to plant a tree. On the first Arbor Day, an estimated one million trees were planted.

Trees produce oxygen and clean the air. A mature leafy tree produces as much oxygen in a season as 10 people inhale in a year. Trees act as a giant filter that cleans the air we breathe. Trees absorb carbon dioxide which promote climate change.

It is the mission of Arbor Day to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees.

The Friday Video: Texas Arbor Day 2015 [The proclamation is well worth listening to.]


For more information:

West Texas Urban Forestry Council (especially tree care page)

EPWU Desert Plant List

City of El Paso Tree Care Manual

EcoWise El Paso Recognizes JimTolbert

Okay - I'm bragging. Truth is I was honored and surprised when I was presented with yesterday's first EcoWise El Paso award at the annual Environmental Summit. 

My friend and the Master of Ceremony at yesterday's event, Rick LoBello read this commendation:

"Today we would like to honor with our first EcoWise El Paso Environmental Award one of the most respected environmental writers in El Paso.  For many years he has helped to inform the general public about a wide array of environmental issues.  His leadership is one of the main reasons why the City took action to protect nearly 800 acres of desert habitat near Franklin Mountains State Park along Loop 375 on the Trans Mountains Road. He consistently speaks out for the environment and helps to bring people together so that they can find consensus on important issues.   He has been very active as a member of the City's Open Space Board and over the past few years his leadership has helped to make El Paso's Celebration of our Mountains the city's number one "get outside and connect with nature" community event. He is one of El Paso's top conservation heroes and it is an honor for me to present this award to Jim Tolbert."

The award reads:

"EcoWise El Paso recognizes Jim Tolbert for invaluable dedication and commitment to preserving the Paso del Norte Environment. 2014"

Every now and then I am tempted to give up elpasonaturally. Well - not for awhile.

Jim Tolbert, Pat White and Judy Ackerman at the 2014 EcoWise Environmental Summit

Elect Jim Tolbert

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