Defense and Interior Departments Commit to Castner

The following was published as an op-ed piece by Dr. Richard Teschner in the El Paso Times. Richard Teschner, a retired UTEP linguistics professor, has been working since 2003 to conserve El Paso land, including Castner Range.

Thanks to the Department of Defense and the Department of Interior for signing a letter of joint commitment to the community of El Paso. This letter goes a long way toward advancing the process to conserve El Paso’s Castner Range in perpetuity.

Since November of 2015, we’ve been putting forth a very full-court press, working to show the nation—especially the departments of Defense and Interior as well as former President Obama—the value of the Castner Range and why it should be conserved.

Those of us who have lived in El Paso for 50 years or more are fully aware that the Franklin Mountains (of which Castner is a part) have long been the objects of development; as the landscape changes value, mountain land is being lost.

The fact that Castner Range is close to and owned by Fort Bliss, and that the land is in an urban setting, has always brought demands for development as opposed to open-space preservation.

This is why this joint commitment by the Department of Defense and the Department of Interior to the El Paso community is so important in our decades-long campaign to conserve the range in perpetuity.

We hear from other major urban areas that they wish they had never developed their scenic lands, keeping them open for hiking, recreational opportunities and unbroken views.

Thanks to our campaign to conserve Castneer Range (a campaign that became especially intense these last 16 months, with over 35,000 El Pasoans signing letters of support), El Paso is now fully aware that the range’s historic and cultural treasures are irreplaceable.

The uniqueness of the ecosystem, the connectivity to the state park and the alluvial fans all make this a very special and unique part of our Chihuahuan desert and its mountains.

We are especially thankful that the joint Defense/Interior commitment, prepared by Congressman Beto O’Rourke, has made it clear that the Army will now investigate the feasibility of designating portions of Castner Range for varying levels of public access.

Allowing access to certain areas—especially at the range’s higher elevations—will promote eco-tourism and enhance El Paso’s economy. The phasing-in of public-access parcels will begin once the Army has completed its required process.

In sum, the joint letter makes it clear that it will be many years before we are absolutely certain that the range will be left open and natural, ideally as a national monument. But at least this commitment now exists, and it points out the path that lies ahead.

We, the El Paso Community, will continue to actively monitor the process. One of many ways we can do so is to attend all Army meetings to ensure that the partnership continues.

The next one, the Restoration Advisory Board, is Tuesday, March 28, at 6:30 p.m. in Room 1005 of the El Paso Community College Transmountain campus, just across U.S. 54 from Castner Range.

All El Pasoans will want to thank these two federal departments for committing, for the first time, to play an active role in the future of Castner Range.

Like Saving Money? Make Castner Range a National Monument!

Dr. Teschner is an annual volunteer as a server at the annual Southside Neighborhood Association’s free Thanksgiving Dinner, always held at the Centro de Trabajadores Agrícolas on Ninth Avenue.

[Below is an op-ed piece by my friend, Dr. Richard Teschner. It appeared in this morning's El Paso Times under the title "Status Change Is Best Solution". The Times also edited the piece. What appears below is the unedited original by Dr. Teschner. The title of this blog post is likewise his title. We are now T-12 days until the end of the Obama presidency. That is also T-12 days for Castner Range to be designated as a national monument.]


Castner Range has something in common with the 1970’s TV show “All in the Family.” As Archie Bunker might have said, “You can have your cake and Edith too.” Along those lines, Castner Range can become a national monument without undergoing the clearance changes that would alter the landscape and cost many millions. Everyone knows that Castner—even now a part of Fort Bliss—was an active Army artillery range from 1926-1966, and though the Range was closed in ‘66 it still contains a lot of the OE (‘ordnance and explosives’) shot there by soldiers training for active duty. Since closure, some OE has been removed in surface sweeps but it wasn’t until the 2000’s that the Department of the Army included Castner in a “Wide Area Assessment” (WAA) that applied a Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) to the Range. (The MMRP’s main goal: To identify—by LIDAR and other techniques—which parts of the Range were most heavily seeded with OE and which were largely free of it.) Over the last ten years, dozens of WAA/MMRP meetings were held in El Paso, along with the annual RAB (‘Restoration Advisory Board’). We Castner conservationists attended them all and now largely know where OE ended up.

In years gone by, two assumptions were made. The first was that all OE could be removed from Castner Range and that this would be good. The second was that once the Range was totally cleared, it could be incorporated into the adjacent Franklin Mountains State Park to make the nation’s largest urban park—40 square miles—even bigger by adding Castner’s eleven. But then came Sam’s Club. In late 2012 as a member of the Castner Heights Neighborhood Association I learned that Wal-Mart Stores sought to build a “Club” on the southeast corner of Diana Drive and the US 54 Patriot Freeway. The land was zoned commercial and the store was wanted by most neighbors. The land was also part of the 1,248 acres of the original Castner Range that the City of El Paso acquired in 1971 and that now must meet stricter federal standards before development can occur. Once a week I drove by the Club site. First the land—off-limits to the public—was stripped of all vegetation. Next, ca. foot-deep holes were dug at foot-wide intervals throughout the entire property. When the job was completed, the surface of Mars looked lovely by comparison—but that didn’t matter, since a large store, a gas station, a parking lot and a loading dock would permanently cover it all within months.

Not so Castner Range. Stripping then digging the Range would leave permanent scars plus a surface that would quickly erode in the summer monsoons and blow away in the spring dust storms. Vegetation would need years to take root and fully grow. All of a sudden, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s offer to annex the Range to the Franklin Mountains State Park “provided the land is cleared of all OE” looked very unattractive, quite apart from what that operation would cost—at least $75 million, as we learned at the MMRP. But then we heard about California’s Fort Ord National Monument, dedicated in 2012 and similar to Castner Range in all ways except luck. (The Fort Ord Army Post was closed in 1993 by the second BRAC.) The eastern half of the FONM is open to the public if it stays on marked trails, all of which are cleared of OE; the FONM’s western half—home to much OE—is off-limits. The Army maintains a presence on the FONM, and participates in decisions involving it.

“But why not sell those parts of Castner Range that are flat enough for development?” as some El Pasoans proposed in late 2005. “Think of the money the Army would make!” But think of the money the Army Corps of Engineers would spend on dams located up-arroyo from the flatter turf. Completed in 1973 on Castner was the Northgate Dam, which protects from flooding the TxDOT maintenance yard on Hondo Pass in the Range’s far southeastern corner (and—more recently—the adjacent Border Patrol station). If further development took place throughout flatter Castner, four more dams would have to be built and paid for. Since the Department of Defense is responsible in perpetuity for all OE-generated mishaps on Castner and any formerly-used artillery range, the dam-site lands and their access roads and equipment parks must be cleared of OE before construction could begin. That too would cost millions.

In sum, a Castner Range National Monument modeled on Fort Ord’s is the most cost-effective solution to the “problem” that is Castner Range. It is also the only way to preserve, in perpetuity, a tract of land that all El Paso loves—the Jewel of Far West Texas.

Castner Range Conservation Clears First Hurdle

Please ask President Obama to designate Castner Range as a National Monument.

David Soules gives a presentation about the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.
Photo by John R Miller, Happy Destiny Photography

Frontera Land Alliance Executive Director,  Janae' Reneaud-Field, announced at a joint annual dinner last evening that her office has now received well over 1,000 letters addressed to President Obama asking him to designate Castner Range as a National Monument. Of course, many more letters will need to be signed; but the first deadline has been reached.

The dinner at the elegant El Paso Club was a joint meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition and the Friends of the Rio Bosque. Richard Teschner, President of the Friends of the Rio Bosque, made arrangements for the event. 

Scott Cutler, President of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coaltion, spoke about FMWC and Castner Range and introduced the guest-speaker, David Soules, who was instrumental in having the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks designated as a National Monument.

John Sproul, the Manager of the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, then spoke about the huge difference that year-round water has made at the Rio Bosque. The park is truly beginning to be a sustainable wetland thanks to the PSB/EPWU which constructed a pipeline from its Bustamante Water Treatment Plant to the Bosque.

Scott Cutler speaks with Congressman (and future President) Beto O'Rourke.
Photo by John R Miller, Happy Destiny Photography

Of course, what really generated enthusiasm last evening was the buzz about Castner Range. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who has introduced legislation for its preservation, greeted members of both prominent El Paso environmental groups.

Again, more letters - many more letters - are needed. Please go HERE to download a letter to President Obama asking him to designate Castner Range as a National Monument. Then print and mail your letter to Janae' Reneaud-Field, Executive Director, Frontera Land Alliance, 3800 N. Mesa St., Suite A2-258. El Paso, TX 79902. You can also scan and email your letter to her at Janae@Fronteralandalliance.org. Don't mail your letter to President Obama. Janae' will do that.

Destruction in Arroyo Park

Dr. Billy Rogers must be spinning in his grave. A big fading sign by the tennis club reads "Billy Rogers Nature Preserve". It was installed by the Friends of the Arroyo. Along Robinson is another sign which is the official park sign. It reads "Billy Rogers Nature Preserve".

Nature Preserve? Not according to Joel M. Ehler who is adding a big structure on the bottom of the arroyo below his Rim Road property. To do the construction, the contractor carved a road straight down the hillside. A city official told me that "the conservation overlay for the neighborhood does not regulate viewshed/arroyo side." The question remains why Ehler does not have the sense of civic duty to preserve the arroyo. How will he remediate?

Nature Preserve? Not according to the El Paso Parks and Recreation Department. Also not according to the EPWU before they were confronted by neighbors. Here's the story:

EPWU has a right-of-way in the arroyo to work on a water line which supplies Upper Rim. Not only did they plow through their rightaway, they plowed a new road inside of the park destroying plants, the biocrust and wildlife. Rim Road Neighborhood Association leaders, Bob Brannon and Richard Teschner, protested and demanded at a meeting with the head of engineering at EPWU, Alan Shubert, that the land be put back the way that it was. EPWU agreed and has hired Mike Gaglio to remediate. Of course it will take generations to restore the biocrust, but at least the road can be erased and new vegetation planted all at EPWU's expense. One wonders, however, whether EPWU would have done anything to remediate had the neighborhood association not acted.

The ultimate culprit seems to be the Parks and Recreation Department which never came to the Rim Road Association (or any other stakeholders) about any work inside of the park in spite of a park partnership agreement which had been renewed by former President Richard Teschner. Parks and Rec ignored that agreement. Dr. Teschner, who is now the President of the Neighborhood Coalition Council, said: "This whole affair shows just how important neighborhood associations are." 

EPWU has agreed to to remediate since being confronted. Parks and Rec was negligent by not informing and working with the neighborhood association with whom they have an agreement. 

Again, will the City of El Paso and far too many El Pasoans ever come to value nature preserves, open spaces and our living, breathing, natural Chihuahuan Desert? Will they ever really care?

Dr. Richard Teschner Receives Star on the Mountain Award

Dr. Richard Teschner, recipient of the Star on the Mountain Award

At today's El Paso City Council meeting, the Mayor and Council presented the Star on the Mountain Award to Dr. Richard V. Teschner. The inscription reads:

Star on the Mountain Award

Presented to

Dr. Richard Teschner

The City of El Paso applauds your advocacy and

commitment to build the Franklin Mountains

State Park Headquarters and Visitor Center.

Your contributions and generosity continue to improve

the quality of life for the El Paso community.

Mayor Oscar Leeser - September 15, 2015

Charlie Wakeem and Richard Teschner at Resler Canyon

Dr. Teschner, Professor-Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of Texas at El Paso, has been a preeminent figure in the conservation community. Because of his generosity and the efforts of fellow preservationist, Charlie Wakeem, a beautiful arroyo known as Resler Canyon was preserved in 2005. He is a current member of the Open Space Advisory Board, President of the Friends of the Rio Bosque, a member and past chair of State Senator Rodriguez's Environmental Commitee and a Legacy member of the Nature Conservancy. Recipient of other environmental awards, he is also a Rim Road neighborhood leader and the newly elected President of the El Paso Neighborhood Coalition.

Dr. Teschner advocating for the preservation of Castner Range

Probably his biggest quest is still to be realized: the preservation of Castner Range for which Dr. Teschner has made multiple trips to Washington D.C., spent hours on a conservation committee, given public talks and pursued avidly for years.

To say that he is an extraordinary conservationist is quite the understatement. Congratulations, Dr. Teschner.

New Franklin Mountains State Park Center To Be Built

[This will be a very special occasion so I hope all elpasonaturally readers can go. Just as an FYI, the new headquarters and visitors center is pretty much the single-handed work of Dr. Richard Teschner. Way to go, Richard!]

Click on image to enlarge

HERE is a map to the ceremony.

Memorandum of Understanding Shortchanges Rio Bosque Wetlands Park

Click image to enlarge.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU) and the El Paso County Water Improvement District #1 (EPWID) shortchanged the amount of water promised to the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park. Because the EPWU built a pipeline over EPWID land (rather than using its own right-of-way), they had to cut a deal with the water district that will deny water to the wetlands. When Johnny Stubbs, the President of the EPWID, told conservationists and Friends of the Rio Bosque that the Board was their best friend, it seems that he may have been exaggerating just a bit. Earlier enthusiasm over the water district's permitting EPWU to build a pipeline over its land, has now been dampened. That permission has come with a cost to the EPWU and most especially to the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park.

Of interest is the fact that the water district's permission for EPWU to build the pipeline was granted on January 28, 2015. The details of the Memorandum dated January 15, 2015 is only now coming to light. 

In a report, the President of the Friends of the Rio Bosque, Richard Teschner, wrote:

The reduced water availability under the MOU means there will still be four months each year (February, March, April and October) when the Park’s wetland cells are dry. Habitat will be lacking in the cells for wintering and migrating water birds during those months, and groundwater recharge will not take place. Due to work on the pipeline, the cells were dry for most of this past fall and winter, and groundwater levels at the Park are currently the lowest they have been in March since groundwater monitoring began in 2001. (The Park’s wells do not contribute to net groundwater recharge. They deplete vicinity groundwater and redistribute it in the Park but bring no new water into the system.) [Emphases mine.]

Dr.Teschner's full report can be seen HERE.

Former PSB member, Dr. Rick Bonart, a candidate for District 1 City Council Representative, was outraged:

"I am absolutely livid about this! 

"Completely not what was suppose to happen. That pipeline should have been built over our [PSB/EPWU] right-of-way. That would have given EPWU/PSB control over 15K acre feet of water. Then the Citizens of El Paso would have had an asset to sell and give to Rio Bosque as well.

"This thing was to be $400k and 6 months to design and build in house. If done properly it would have been profitable in the first 6 months.

"This IMO was an expensive squandered opportunity to benefit the Bosque and the rate payers!"

Take Military Land Use Study Survey

Currently there is a Joint Land Use Study being conducted by the military. They are seeking public comment regarding the impact of local military facilities and communities. They recently gave a presentation to interested persons in El Paso. However, that meeting was not well publicized.

Richard Teschner, the President of the Friends of the Rio Bosque, sent out the following email this morning. It well summarizes the purpose of the Land Use Study:

"The Southern New Mexico/El Paso, Texas Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) is a cooperative process among city, county and state governments, state and federal agencies, Fort Bliss, Holloman Air Force Base, White Sands Missile Range, and the public in general. The JLUS seeks to create a long-term planning partnership that protects quality of life in local communities and enhances the military missions of the three installations. The study emphasizes ways to promote coordination, understand the economic impact of the installations, and preserve critical civilian and Department of Defense capabilities. The JLUS looks at various compatibility factors including aviation and range noise, airspace, safety, renewable energy and frequency spectrum management.

"The Draft JLUS report contains strategies to promote compatibility between civilian growth, development decisions and military missions. The report is available at http://snmepjointlanduse.com . When you click on that link you will also find a survey, which I encourage you to take. Comments/Survey completions are welcome through November 6, 2014."

Go to the JLUS site where you will find a link to the survey. There is a place where you can add a comment. I mentioned my concern that military exercises are destroying desert ecosystems. I hope others will mention the same issue.

You can see the slide show from the JLUS public meeting HERE.

Download the Environmental App Please Mayor Leeser

Mayor Leeser is a great guy but he has got to begin valuing environmentalism more.

Environmental Committee Invites Archuleta

I previously reported that PSB Chairman, Ed Escudero, will be meeting tomorrow (Thursday, August 9) with Senator José Rodriguez's Environmental Committee. That meeting will take place at 2 p.m. at 100 N. Ochoa. Members of the Committee voted unanimously to invite PSB/EPWU CEO Ed Archuleta as well. The vote was held after Mr. Escudero urged the Committee to include Mr. Archuleta. The Environmental Committee wishes to be updated about the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Committee and attempts to speed-up the process of selling City land managed by the PSB for development. (See post.)

Environmental Committee Chairman Richard Teschner has said that, although he will not go along with the Committee recommending any particular land management plan, he will allow the forum. According to Teschner, ". . . while as chair of the committee I will not go along with our supporting or opposing a particular committee-structure plan, I nonetheless see no harm in our providing a private forum for discussing these vital, water-related concerns."

Unfortunately, he seems to be limiting the forum to the membership of the Committee while attempting not to publicize the event to the general public even though he admits his committee is the only "envirocentric" committee currently meeting to discuss this topic.

This meeting is a good opportunity to encourage the PSB/EPWU to declare land as "inexpedient" to water/stormwater/sewage needs in order to preserve that land in perpetuity as natural open space as part of a water management strategy in light of drought, global warming and water shortage. Removing more acreage from development will only make the market value of developable land more expensive and, thus, more profitable for the water utility and City.

Meetings such as the Senator's Enviromental Community are by law open to the public.

Democratic Nominee for U.S. Congress Beto O’Rourke has written Zia Engineering of Las Cruces expressing his support for a continuation of the Fort Bliss RAB (Restoration Advisory Board) and his opposition to its adjournment. The Ft. Bliss RAB is key to keeping the drive to conserve Castner Range on track.

Here is an image of O'Rourke's letter to Zia:

Click on image to enlarge.

Previously elpasonaturally posted a letter by Richard Teschner to Zia urging the same thing. Teschner is the V-President of Frontera Land Management and  has been personally involved with efforts to conserve Castner as a member of the Castner Conservation Conveyance Committee and RAB delegate.  In an email to others in the environmental/conservation community, he writes: "If you yourselves have not yet written Zia Engineering & Environmental Consultants (755 S. Telshor Blvd., Suite F-201, Las Cruces, NM 88011), please do so right away. The public-input period comes to an end by the Fourth of July. Let’s all support (and thank) Beto for his willingness to stand up for the RAB!"

Don't Adjourn Fort Bliss RAB

In an email this past Monday to conservationists, Dr. Richard Teschner urged people to write the Zia Corporation in an effort to stop the adjournment of the Fort Bliss RAB (Restoration Advisory Board) whose main concern is Castner Range and its clean-up. Dr. Teschner wrote:

Dear everyone— This is a strictly information-only mailing. No organizational action or even consideration of the fate of the Fort Bliss RAB (Restoration Advisory Board) is being solicited here. Instead, I am simply letting you know what’s now going on anent the Fort Bliss RAB, whose main concern is Castner Range. In a nutshell, the Fort Bliss Environmental Division and the Fort Bliss Garrison Commander are recommending that the RAB be “adjourned” for at least the next two years, i.e., no more RAB meetings until the post decides to start them up again. I oppose this. See my letter attached. Justification of the “adjournment” recommendation appears in an April 23, 2012 e-mail from Joel Reyes, Restoration Program Manager etc., Environmental Division, Fort Bliss: the Garrison Commander will “consult the Environmental Protection Agency, state, tribes, Fort Bliss RAB members and the local community to recommend the adjournment of the fort Bliss RAB. At this moment, Fort Bliss does not have any restoration projects to justify the need of the RAB … [T]his does not mean the RAB will be permanently dissolved. … As required, Fort Bliss will continue to move forward with the Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP) process at the two sites currently under investigation [including Castner Range], as required under … CERCLA, and support the Technical Project Planning and public meetings that are an important component of this process.” And indeed, a few TPP meetings have been held since 2008. All public meetings however have been held under the aegis of the RAB. No other venues have been realized or proposed. What exactly is “the RAB”? The following comes from the first page of www.epa.gov/fedfac/documents/rab.htm : “Department of Defense (DoD) policy calls for Restoration Advisory Boards (RABs) to be formed at all closing installations and at non-closing installations where the local community expresses interest. RABs are an expansion of DoD’s Technical Review committee (TRC) concept. The boards are a forum for exchange of information and partnership among citizens, the installation, the EPA and the state. Most importantly, they offer an opportunity for communities to provide input to the cleanup process. It is our view that RABs will improve DoD’s cleanup program by increasing community understanding and support for cleanup efforts, improving the soundness of government decision, and ensuring cleanups are responsive to community needs.” If you personally support my opposition to the adjournment of the RAB, please write Zia Engineering (see attachment) as I myself have done. (I was elected to the RAB in early 2011 and my term of office runs into 2014.)
 Best regards, Richard Teschner

Here is Teschner's letter to Zia Engineering:

Click image to enlarge.

Why a Conservation Easement Still Makes Sense

Frontera Hugs Its Cactuses but Also Lugs Its Load

Many people think of the Frontera Land Alliance as just another little cactus-hugging group. “Oh those people mean well, but …” It’s true of course that the current members of the Frontera Board of Directors—Mike Gaglio (president), Richard Teschner (vice president), Scott Winton (secretary), Charlie Wakeem (treasurer), Scott Cutler (at large), Doug Echlin, John Moses and Kevin von Finger, and our Executive Director Janaé Reneaud Field—never forget to hug their front-yard ocotillos as they head for work each day. But Frontera itself is somewhat more than passing prickly hugs. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the wisdom of our investments, with $100,000 in the bank we are not “broke” (as our critics have contended). Thanks to on-going supplementary donations we routinely consult with our traditional law firm and also hire attorneys from smaller firms as the need arises. We are engaging in partnership with the Texas Land Conservancy for “back-up” and continuity in the hyper-unlikely event that Frontera blows away in the winds of April. Our fees for managing a conservation easement are not “exorbitant”; in fact, and as Janaé pointed out at one of the meetings of the Joint City-PSB Committee she was invited to speak and interact at, easement management costs depend entirely on the details of the easement, which she is asking the City to provide—such things as appraisal, survey, title, Environmental Phase One and so forth. To quote Janaé, “the direct cost to Frontera to hold a conservation easement is just the annual site visit, which on the average is $500. And if any violations occur then we’re also dealing with legal fees and staff time.” Janaé continues: “If Frontera were to manage the Scenic Corridor as a park for public use, the City must tell us what it wants—restrooms? Parking? Trails? Campgrounds? Picnic sites? Barbeque grills? Swings and slides, sandboxes and teeter totters? The City hasn’t told us that. That is why a partnership with Texas Parks and Wildlife is best: Frontera holds the conservation easement (thus guaranteeing that the 837-acre Scenic Corridor property remains conserved in perpetuity), while the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) manages and/or owns the land.”

And in light of the report (presented to OSAB just yesterday—June 6—by staffer Carlos Gallinar of the City Development Department) from the Joint City-PSB Committee, that’s what Frontera supports: a combination of Plan One (whereby the City enters into a partnership with the TPWD, dedicating and/or selling the 837 acres to TPWD for incorporation into the Franklin Mountains State Park) and Plan Four, which deploys a conservation easement to Frontera [the El Paso area’s only 501(c)3 non-profit land trust] so the land can be conserved in perpetuity. The problem with not deploying a conservation easement is that TPWD has sometimes sold its park land to private concerns, and this would set a bad precedent for the 837 acres. The problem with the Joint City-PSB Committee’s fall-back recommendation—that the land be dedicated as a city park—can be summed up in just two words: “Blackie Chesher.” That city park’s history is well known. Gifted to the City in the early 1960s with several deed restrictions, the Blackie Chesher Regional Park (of the City of El Paso) is now the home to several uses that the deed restrictions don’t permit. Had a conservation easement been applied to Blackie Chesher, none of that would have happened. Instead, the land would be preserved in perpetuity. As we insist the 837 acres be.

--Richard Teschner

Reyes Attempt to Grandstand Gets Just a Yawn

A thin crowd gathers and awaits Reyes to arrive

It was politics pure and simple and it read like an El Paso Times headline with words like "may" or "could". Last Thursday, Rep. Reyes' office issued a press release entitled "Silvestre Reyes Announces Passage of Legislation to Add Castner Range to the Franklin Mountains State Park". Problem is there was no passage by either the House or the Senate and no Presidential siganture. 


It is true that the House Armed Services Committee did vote to approve the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that included language that Castner Range may be conveyed to the Department of Parks and Wildlife of the State of Texas for inclusion into the State Park. "May" is pretty squirmy and not firm like the words "will" and "must" that Silvestre's opponent, Beto O'Rourke, wants to see used in the language of the bill. 

Dr. Richard Teschner along with other members of the Castner Conservation Conveyance Committee are really to be thanked for their efforts to conserve and convey the Range to the State Park.

The land may be conveyed as long as unexploded ordnance is cleaned-up first. What land is clean may be conveyed. What land awaits cleaning will have to be done with State or private money - as high as $65 Million possibly according to Dr. Richard Teschner, a key player in conservation efforts through the Castner (Range) Conservation Committee, a joint effort of the Frontera Land Alliance (Dr. Teschner is Vice-President) and the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition.


El Paso Times reporters, Aaron Bracamontes and Alex Hinojosa, in stories on Saturday and Sunday both saw the Emperor unclad. Reyes was not exactly upfront with this pre-mature announcement the weekend before early voting was set to begin. Also in his Thursday press release his office states: "Reyes also secured $300,000 for a study to determine how best to apply a conservation conveyance to the Range." That $300,000 was done in 2010 but the press release made it sound like just one more goodie Reyes has brought home to voters in recent days.


It is true that Reyes has helped conservation efforts and persons in his office such as Julie Merberg, according to Teschner, have been "extremely helpful". But the real credit should go to the Castner (Range) Conservation Conveyance Committee and thousands of jet miles by Teschner and others back and forth between El Paso and Washington D.C. Clearly environmentalist, Beto O'Rourke, favors preserving the land. So, even if he is elected over Reyes, the efforts will continue and probably will do so as "musts" and not "mays". 


The language inserted in the bill is a step forward. But, as another hard worker for Castner conservation, Judy Ackerman, says: "The news is a very big step in the right direction, but we are not done yet. There is much more work to do before Castner belongs to the Park."