Insights Should Give Dino-Track Land to Experts

Photo from www.geo.utep.edu

Once upon a time, Insights Science Museum was fairly successful. Since then, the Insights Museum has been torn down and most of its meager exhibits have gone to storage. In 2003, Stanley Jobe bought land in Sunland Park from American Eagle Brick Company and gave it to Insights because the land is a valuable paleontological asset. In 2002 a young geology student (now Ph.D.), Eric Kappus, discovered dinosaur tracks on it. Unfortunately, in spite of Eric's expertise and his building a hiking trail from one of the dino sites to Ardovino's Desert Crossing, Insights ended their relationship with him.

Insights board members are (we guess) volunteers. I'm sure that they are good and well-intentioned people who care about our community and have served it well. However, they are also amateurs who have little, if any, knowledge about managing land and, in particular, managing land with dinosaur tracks. Dino footprints at one site are slowly eroding because there is no protection from modern day footprints all over the site.

The President of Insights, Ellen Esposito, told me that they have had no success finding benefactors to help them provide free tours, for instance, with Celebration of Our Mountains. Apparently they have also reached out to 13 companies including Western Refinery. They have not had any success with sponsorships. 

Esposito told me that "liability insurance, expense of tour guides and taxes must be covered by program fees." Insights recently advertised through the Trans-Pecos Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists for people willing to be trained to be docents. Of course, there would be no expense for tour guides if they are volunteers. 

An owner of commercial property in Sunland Park pays significantly less tax on his 24 acres than on his house in El Paso. The approximately 200 acres on which there are dino tracks is not commercial nor is it any longer a quarry operation.
What exactly is Insights' business plan and their goals for this very valuable paleontolgocal treasure? If they truly cared about the preservation of this site, why not turn it over to the Bureau of Land Management and let the Las Cruces office of the BLM manage it? The BLM people are experts. 

In fact, turning over the land to New Mexico to make it part of a 500-mile Rio Grande trail has been proposed by Esposito and renowned UTEP geology professor, Phil Goodell. "The State Parks Division of New Mexico’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resource Department will facilitate discussions about the dinosaur tracks property," David Crowder of the El Paso Inc. recently reported.

Today one even wonders what the purpose of Insights is any longer. The City of El Paso will soon have a Children's Museum. Insights, more so then than now, will be a relic of the past. An indication that that is true is the fact that they cannot find any serious donors. 

It is time to admit what many have already realized: Insights has no business managing the Dino Tracks. They should turn it over to the BLM or another NM State agency that knows how to manage land and parks.

(I have reached out to Ellen Esposito for comment but have not heard back yet.)

Save the Stacks!

There are several items of special interest on tomorrow’s City Council agenda. Let’s take them one by one.

Item 20D on the agenda could simply be called the Save the Stacks resolution. There are back-up documents including the resolution, a response from the Trustee, Robert Puga, a map, and a “review” of the HKN study which disputes the HKN findings that the stacks are “strong, straight and solid.” However, the HKN document itself is not provided with back-ups.  You can read the HKN report and executive summary on elpasonaturally.  I doubt seriously whether City Council members will read it by tomorrow as it is not part of the agenda back-up materials unless, of course, they read elpasonaturally.

Both the El Paso Inc. and the El Paso Times have done stories about the resolution and the City’s consideration of purchasing the stacks in order to save them. Those stories can be found here and here.  The obstacle seems to be Trustee Robert Puga’s insistence that the stacks be torn down come hell or high water. When citizens first were asked about the stacks, a majority voiced a desire to save them. Then it was announced that saving them would mean a $14Million price tag plus ongoing maintenance, liability, yada, yada, yada. The thrust of the HKN report is that saving the stacks will not mean a $14Million fix but only a $4Million fix. $10Million is the amount that Mr. Puga insists the City pay for the entire site since he hopes to prevent the City from buying just the stacks and the area around the stacks for a monument. It is this $10Million price tag that Puga now threatens the City Council with in an effort to carry out the plan to demolish the chimneys.  Some of the stacks supporters on the Council are willing to save the stacks but not buy the entire land. Frankly, I don’t know why City Attorneys can’t compel Puga to sell just the area with the stacks if he is going to continue to change the rules of the game.

The stacks are safe. They are historically significant. They are and can be objects of art. And they can be much more.

Imagine a commercial area with shops and restaurants. Call it “The Stacks”. Beckoning El Pasoans and eager tourists are two very tall chimneys artistically repainted. These chimneys become beacons of economic opportunity and development for the City of El Paso. They attract not just shoppers but millions of dollars of tax revenue for the City. What better marketing can you have then attractively decorated chimneys? Puga is wrong. Any developer or investor with any amount of imagination can see the value of keeping those stacks.  Historic smokestacks in Baltimore, San Antonio and Cleveland “have been converted into attractions that have generated revenue for their owners,” according to Robert Ardovino of Save the Stacks.

What happens if Puga and company drop the stacks? Two things: First, even though the stacks would be collapsed into a ditches created for them and dropped while huge water sprayers attempt to keep down most (but not all) of the dust, there is still the possibility of contamination now contained within the strong, solid and straight walls of the chimneys. Second, as elpasonaturally previously surmised, the “evidence” of more insidious contamination will be destroyed. Some future law suit which would benefit all not just the victims will be impossible, because the evidence of insidious contamination will have been destroyed – the crime scene compromised – the evidence now locked away in the chimneys forever gone.

Bottom line – Save the Stacks.  They are monuments now and can never be used again industrially – never.  Ask your City Council member to save the stacks and to read the HKN reports:

Ann Morgan Lilly: district1@elpasotexas.gov
Susie Byrd: district2@elpasotexas.gov
Emma Acosta: district3@elpasotexas.gov
Carl Robinson: district4@elpasotexas.gov
Dr. Michael Noe: district5@elpasotexas.gov
Eddie Holguin Jr.: district6@elpasotexas.gov
Steve Ortega: district7@elpasotexas.gov
Cortney Niland: district8@elpasotexas.gov
Mayor John Cook: mayor@elpasotexas.gov

Item 18 asks Council to approve the same resolution already passed by the PSB to make the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park part of the PSB’s holdings. The plan means more water for the Bosque and millions of dollars of eco-tourist dollars for El Paso. Read the Chris Robert’s El Paso Times story.  Also read Water Prospects Brighten in this month’s Rio Bosque news.

An issue that probably won’t go away any time soon is considered in item 20E. The issue in short is this: Although the City owns the land (and it is part of the PSB inventory and part of the NE Master Plan), the mineral rights beneath a square mile of the land are owned by the General Land Office of the State of Texas. They have agreed to lease that land to Jobe to quarry. Jobe currently operates a quarry adjacent to and north of this land. The Chris Roberts story in the Times provides good summary and insight. See the Council’s back-up material on this agenda item. There is a significant archaeological site on the land which raises the concern that the Texas Historical Commission may still object. Jobe will have to remediate the land that has extensive archaeological materials – something which may take time and great expense. The lease impacts the NE Master Plan. Although asked how much revenue the City may lose, Ed Archuleta, so far has not responded. Another keen observer calculates that the 900 acres of land lost at $35Thousand an acre will be a loss of $31.5Million in  income. If $300Thousand can be recouped each year from royalties, it will take 100 years to make up the difference. Jobe is currently doing a survey to determine how much and what part of the land will be quarried.

Items 14A and 14B are simply an update on the NW Master Plan/petition process.  “We’re finalizing the survey, Low Impact Development, and Dover Kohl regulating plan,” Carlos Gallinar told me.  “The PSB is still finalizing the deal with Texas Parks and Wildlife but still needs an official survey,” he said.  Gallinar will ask Council for one more postponement and will get its final report to council in early 2013.

Finally, an estimated 200 people packed the Mecca Lounge at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing yesterday to celebrate and pay tribute to the life of Kevin Von Finger. See some pictures. Be sure you read the best online tribute to Kevin written by Kevin Bixby of the Southwest Environmental Center.

Walking on Air

Imagine sitting in a comfortable and magic chair that flies. You take the chair up and down beautiful arroyos and alluvial fans. You dance above stalks of sotol, limestone and rhyolite. You see trails you've been on and follow them to places you've never been. You see places your heart will always remember and where you are sure to return - on foot - on a hiking adventure good for soul and for sinew.

I sat in such a chair today. It was a seat in Stanley Jobe's yellow helicopter. He took me for a ride around the Franklins from Scenic Drive to Trans Mountain to Hitt Canyon to Hondo Pass over McKelligon Canyon to Cristo Rey and back to the airport. He piloted his craft all along the mountainside west and east and up and down arroyos. I now have a dozen or more hikes that I must take and some old hikes in order to look for new things.

He talked about the beauty of the mountain . . . his love for hiking and his hiking adventures . . . his deep appreciation of Mr. Bowen whose stewardship of the land that he leases for ranching has kept that land so pristine and so good for wildlife. He talked about mining in the Franklins and he seemed to know much about old prospectors and broken dreams.

I'm glad that I made the trip. Mr. Jobe's company gave some money to the West Texas Urban Forestry Council. As President of that organization this year, I thanked him and then came an invitation to ride in the magical chair. I told him that it reminded me of those dreams one has of flying when one is fast asleep and marvelous odysseys unfold timelessly before the eyes of the soul to see. After we landed, I thought that our whole trip had been less than thirty minutes. In reality we were gone for over an hour. One loses track of time while gazing on beauty - especially that which we have so much of in our Franklin Mountains.

It was good to get to know Mr. Jobe if even just a little and it was good to talk - guy talk. We didn't solve the problems of the world and wouldn't have wanted to waste our time that way. I'm increasingly realizing that finding shared values is the best way to go. "Environmentalism" and "business" doesn't have to be an us versus them. We may learn that we all love trees and mountains, and value the vast desert vista. Life is give and take - not just between folks but between us humans and the rest of creation. May we each and all together learn to be better stewards and better friends to each other and to the wonderful world which we share with so many fellow creatures.

Thank You, Stanley Jobe

The Public Service Board unanimously voted to allow CEO, Ed Archuleta, to sign an access easement with the Texas General Land Office for a portion of the land leased by Jobe Materials. That small area includes Arroyo 41A as it leaves the State Park. In essence, it preserves a very beautiful part of that arroyo. (There is one hitch: the GLO wants a $2 million dollar bond for insurance. The fact is that PSB has such protection and, the motion to accept the easement also asked Mr. Archuleta to negotiate with the GLO to waive that requirement. Let's hope that works out and we aren't back to some square one.)

Here's how the deal went down: Representative Ann Morgan Lilly (thank you, thank you, thank you) simply asked Mr. Jobe if he would grant such an easement. Mr. Jobe did not hesitate. He was not reticent. He did not have to be cajoled or offered a quid pro quo. He simply said "yes". His motivation could have been the price of doing business or corporate PR and good corporate citizenship - but it really seems to be the case that he did it because he too wanted to preserve that arroyo. He did not have to make such an agreement nor did he have to pay for the surveying to create the easement out of his own pocket - but he did.

What he did sets the standard and raises the bar for all of those who will be developing down stream. If Stanley Jobe can preserve the arroyo in its natural state, why can't everyone else?The Mountain to River Trail preserved in toto will be a huge asset to the City of El Paso.

But there is more to thank Mr. Jobe for. I don't know the exact current figures, but what I'm about ready to say I'm sure is consistent with any statistics. Jobe adds millions of dollars to the El Paso economy each year. He employs hundreds of people. I'm sure his sales figures must be in the hundreds of millions - which is a boost to our economy and a help to our government services through taxes he pays and sales and other taxes his customers and employees pay. Because he has strategically placed his mining operations in areas where El Paso is expanding, he can be competitive and offer materials at a reasonable price. (A large part of the price of rock, gravel, cement, etc. is transportation. He has minimized this.)

I will continue to write that tearing into the mountains at the rate that we are is not sustainable, desirable nor good. But, as I've said before, do we point a finger at Mr. Jobe who fills a demand, or do we do some sober reflection about our demands? Sustainable living isn't going to start with severely restricting quarrying. Sustainability begins with each and every one of us living, planning, deciding more sustainably. If I want the freedom to drive my own car on highways that are in good repair and can accommodate all of us who practice that same freedom . . . if I want to live in a bigger house or build better schools or more places to shop . . . then I had better accept the fact that my demand must be met in a free market economy.

I do think that we, as individuals, businesses and governments, can live more conservatively and that we should in order to be good stewards of our environment and ecosystem. I do think that there are wiser choices in building, developing, engineering, landscaping, etc. and that El Paso is only now beginning to become aware of these better practices.

If Mr. Jobe engages in unfair trade or violates environmental rules, then that is one thing. (I'm not saying that he is.) I do think that it is a huge stretch to raise money for a Commissioner whose agency grants his company leases - it's an ethical problem for Jobe and an ethical problem for Jerry Patterson no matter what the law says or permits. Perhaps that is the price of doing business - but it is also fodder for self-reflection and I say this knowing I have a plethora of things to do some soul searching about just on my own.

The main point is that Jobe Materials is creating wealth that benefits all of us. If we are willing to live with less (and, again, I think that we should personally contemplate the morality of our lifestyles), then the demand on our natural resources and the environmental cost will be less - not because we compelled someone to make it so for us, but because we were willing to make it so ourselves.

I often quote the 18th Century American Quaker, John Woolman: “May we look upon our treasures, the furniture of our houses, and our garments, and try whether the seeds of war have nourishment in these our possessions.” I could paraphrase that and say: "May we look upon our treasures, our houses, our cars, all of our throwaways, and try whether the seeds of environmental destruction have nourishment in these our possessions." Afterall, we are responsible for our own behavior. We don't need scapegoats.

This is also why I like the approach of Quaker Earthcare Witness. It is "a network of Friends (Quakers) in North America and other like-minded people who are taking spirit led action to address the ecological and social crises of the world from a spiritual perspective . . . While QEW supports reforms in laws, technology, education, and institutions, its primary calling is to facilitate transformation of humans' attitudes, values, identity, and worldview that underlie much of the environmental destruction going on in the world today."

One last word about today's PSB meeting. Board member, Dr. Rick Bonart, pointed out that 3 of the 7 principle agenda items were about open space. "El Paso," he said, "has come a long way."

PSB to Vote on Access Easement over Arroyo 41A

Arroyo 41A, Mountain to River Trail, with boundaries of Jobe lease in yellow

Click to enlarge

There are two important meetings tomorrow: the regular meeting of the Public Service Board and the general meeting of the local chapter of the Sierra Club.

Once Arroyo 41A leaves the mountain at the Franklin Mountains State Park, a small portion of it goes through the General Land Office area now leased to Jobe Materials for quarrying. Of course, 41A is the key mountain to river trail identified in the City of El Paso Open Space master plan. Through the efforts of El Paso City Council Representative, Ann Morgan Lilly, Mr. Jobe has agreed to preserve that portion of Arroyo 41A. The Public Service Board is scheduled to vote on signing an access easement from the General Land Office that will preserve the arroyo tomorrow (May 26) at its regular meeting at 9 a.m. in the Public Service Board Meeting Room at 1154 Hawkins Boulevard.

"Palisades Nature Preserve Park"

Click to enlarge

Another item on the PSB agenda tomorrow will be the development of a Joint Use Agreement with the City of El Paso for management of the Palisades Nature Preserve Park. This is the newly acquired property on the southwestern tip of the Franklins with an entrance off of Robinson as it curves toward Scenic Drive. Most of you know the place. The idea is to share the management with the City of El Paso Parks and Recreation Department. However, there is some concern that the Parks and Rec does not have the expertise and that PSB should manage it alone with the help of experienced hiker/mountain biker volunteers. The Billy Rogers Arroyo Park is adjacent to Palisades and is under Parks and Rec. However, if it weren’t for the Environmental Club at Loretto Academy and Keep El Paso Beautiful, nothing would be done to maintain and manage the park.

Parks and Recreation is strapped with a tight budget now. At best, they could merely add Palisades to their inventory and nothing more. Currently, the trails in the Palisades are well-established and could be maintained with the help from local bicycle and hiking groups.

PSB has a solid record of performance when it comes to management. There is no reason to share the management of the Palisades with the Parks and Recreation Department which can't handle that now or for the foreseeable future anyway.

Finally, the local El Paso chapter of the Sierra Club is meeting tomorrow in the auditorium at the Downtown Main Public Library. Texas Parks and Wildlife Superintendent John Moses will speak about the Franklin Mountains State Park - Present and Future.

Mayor Cook Meets with Jerry Patterson

So, while Texas Land Commissioner, Jerry Patterson, was in El Paso on Monday for his big fundraiser hosted by pal, Stanley Jobe, he met with Mayor John Cook and other El Paso officials. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss communication with the General Land Office. The context for the meeting was a suggestion made by the Open Space Advisory Board to write a letter to Commissioner Patterson encouraging better communication especially when it comes to leasing critical naturally-important property such as that leased by Jobe near Avispa Canyon and Arroyo 41 A next to the Franklin Mountains State Park.

Following that meeting, Mayor Cook sent this letter to Patterson:

Letter to Commissioner Patterson From Texas General Land Office - Scanned

The letter is a well-crafted, tactful and champions El Paso’s environmental interests. In very polite terms, the Mayor firmly suggests that Mr. Patterson would do himself and El Paso a huge disservice not to consider El Paso's interests and and advises the GLO to be more open and forthcoming.

That letter speaks volumes about Mayor Cook's leadership and stewardship.

Speaking of 41A, Representative Ann Lilly met with Mr. Jobe and Mr. Ed Archuleta of the PSB this past Monday and agreed on the survey conducted by Cutts Land Surveying Inc. that Jobe had paid for so that there can be a buffer between the quarry and the important mountain to river arroyo. Apparently Mr. Jobe spent some valuable time with Commissioner Patterson to get the document moved forward. Representative Lilly calls it a win.

The issue of accepting an easement designated by the survey will be on the Public Service Board's May 26th agenda.

Jobe To Host El Paso Fundraiser for Jerry Patterson

Tonight Stanley Jobe will host a fundraiser for pal, Jerry Patterson, the rootin' tootin' gun-totin' Texas Land Commissioner. It will be at the War Eagles Air Museum.

One industry insider told me that Jobe and Patterson are buddies and that is why Jobe doesn't have to go through the usual channels to get leases. I don't know if that is true but one wonders how ethical it is for Patterson to take money from the man who comes looking for State property to lease for quarrying. Certainly Jobe's raising money for Patterson and Patterson taking it is a big conflict at best. It's a win-win for these two folks. Meanwhile, our community has several of our greatest natural assets slowly taken from us.

This blog has recently pointed out that Jobe has been a big contributor to Patterson's campaigns and has even flown Patterson and an entourage to his ranch to discuss leases.

It is not surprising that Patterson's GLO leased property to Stanley Jobe's company that abuts the Franklin Mountains State Park and contains critical mountain to river corridors previously identified by the City of El Paso as part of its Open Space Master Plan. Patterson, along with Governor Rick Perry, continues to back offshore drilling even as the now infamous BP oil spill turns toward Texas. (Perry, by the way, packs a .380 pistol while jogging and recently killed a coyote within the Austin City Limits. He's rootin' tootin' gun totin' too.)

Patterson's opponent for Land Commissioner is Hector Uribe who has a solid record of public service and environmental advocacy. In fact, he wants the General Land Office to "become a major catalyst in moving Texas into the 21st Century renewable energy economy, by aggressively promoting wind and solar energy." He wants to provide incentives to private interests to lease state lands to develop renewable energy sources. Such a plan he suggests "will bring additional revenue to our cash-strapped neighborhood public schools, spur economic activity in Texas, and contribute to the production of more clean energy."

Apparently rootin' tootin' Jerry heard about Uribe's plan and adopted it as his own . . . sort of.

When I learn more about the fundraiser this evening, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I suggest that you go to Uribe's campaign web site, read through it, get on his e-mailing list and contribute.

Update on Arroyo 41A and the Lower Sunset Trail

Arroyo 41A from Picnic Area 39

Last week the Franklin Mountains Park Superintendent, Mr. Cesar Mendez, took me and several other people on a hike on those portions of the new Lower Sunset Trail that are now completed.

Our hike began at Picnic Area 39 in the Tom Mays Unit. That area overlooks Arroyo 41A. The new trail begins by going down toward the arroyo and then winding west and south to that portion of the Lower Sunset that is in the State Park. The other portion, of course, was destroyed by Jobe's bulldozers.

Click to enlarge image. You are looking west toward GLO land. The clear path was created by Jobe's bulldozer. You can see the Jobe "No Trespassing" sign. Arroyo 41A is to the left (south) of the picture. The buffer should run somewhere along here past the hill in the foreground. That hill and hundreds of other acres will be no more once the quarry operation begins. To the left (north) of the picture is where the old Lower Sunset Trail crossed Mile Marker 6 and Arroyo 42 back up to the trail to the entrance of Shaeffer Shuffle. Many mountain bikers and environmentalists would also like to see that area preserved as well. That path was actually the originally proposed Mountain to River Trail as these maps reveal. At this time, Mr. Jobe is adamant that he will not grant an easement of that area as well.

We then retraced our steps and some of the hikers continued on a different fork not far below the picnic area. That fork skirts some beautiful limestone cliffs above another arroyo. It eventually will hook up with the Avispa/Lower Sunset Trail and return to the park up the steep hill just past Schaeffer Shuffle.

Mark Johns walks a portion of the new Lower Sunset that will hook-up with the trail to Schaeffer Shuffle

All agreed that the new trail layout will make for a beautiful hike. Although disappointed by Mr. Jobe's planned destruction of the land leased to him by the Texas General Land Office, everyone agreed that the new trail would be even better than the older trail. Tommy Young exclaimed: "My overall impression was WOW! It will be fantastic when completed."

WOW!

So where do things stand with Arroyo 41A Go here and here to read about Jobe's plan to grant an easement to the Public Service Board and create a buffer between the arroyo and his future quarry. At his expense, Stanley Jobe agreed to survey the area to the north of the Arroyo where an the buffer will go. The GLO must approve the easement and the survey before it can be submitted to the PSB.

I asked Mr. Jobe whether the survey had been completed and whether I could see a copy of the survey. He replied by email and a phone call and told me that the survey had been done. Once the GLO approves the plan, he will submit it to Representative Ann Lilly who will take it to the PSB. He declined to show me a copy of the survey until after the GLO approves it. I did not push the matter but will ask him again in a month, if I hear nothing back from him.

More on Jobe's Proposal

There is not much more to say about the proposal beyond what Mr. Wakeem said in his email to members of the Open Space Advisory Board on Wednesday night.

Mr. Jobe proposes to turn over that portion of his leased land that contains Arroyo 41A to the PSB. He stated that he will leave a buffer between the quarry and the north rim of the arroyo thus preserving the arroyo from rim to rim. The GLO will have to agree to grant an easement to PSB and the PSB will have to agree to take it.

At his expense, Mr. Jobe will survey the area in question. That survey will take two to three months. Rim to rim with a buffer is critical. So, where the final stakes are laid is very important to those who want to see the Mountain to River Corridor preserved.

If the PSB agrees to take the land, then they will preserve it in its natural state.

Whether Mr. Jobe was motivated by a sense of public duty or pride (and he didn’t have to be) can not be known. Some have suggested that, by ceding 41A, he will not be required in the future to go through the kind of permitting that will involve public comment. Public scrutiny can be costly and he and his advisors may have thought that this proposal may be the least expense in the long run.

It might also be that there is nothing of great value to mine in and around 41A. Being magnanimous then would be an acceptable gesture. There is little chance of continuing a bike trail at Mile Marker 6 to Arroyo 42. Stanley Jobe intends to mine that area. Anyone who has hiked or biked this area knows the solid limestone bedrock that is there.

Whatever reasons Mr. Jobe may have for making his proposal, it doesn’t matter. That the Mountain to River corridor will be preserved does matter.

Of course, not all are happy and many want to see more land left unquarried or no land mined at all. I know that efforts to oppose quarrying on this piece of land owned by the People of Texas next to the Franklin Mountains State Park will continue.

Nevertheless, if Jobe truly grants an easement from rim to rim and provides a real buffer, then there ought to be cause for some celebration among conservationists.

There is much more here than Stanley Jobe. Our mountains (Franklins and Huecos) will continue to be eaten up as long as we demand “zero-scapes” of rock for our homes, our streets, our businesses and our commercial and public building landscapes. As long as the City fails to contain sprawl and encourages it by keeping all aspects of building cheap, there will be a demand for mined materials.

Few may know it, but GLO’s lease of the quarry now operated by Cemex at McKelligon Canyon goes all the way to the amphitheater in the canyon itself. Viva El Paso!

Until recently, the Open Space Advisory Board had little authority to accomplish the mission of preserving land. There are those who still resent the added duties given to OSAB by City Council and want to thwart OSAB’s efforts. Games were played with the last agenda. They will be played again.

Learning to live sustainably needs to become the norm. We live in a City whose landscapers are mostly rock spreaders and tree toppers. Sand is so cheap that we don’t even think about recycling glass when we should be.

Bottom line: if we want to preserve our mountains, if we want fewer quarries and less mining, than we had better change ourselves and how we relate to this still beautiful and sacred land here in the Chihuahuan Desert.

Jobe's Proposal for Arroyo 41 A

I will follow up with more later. For now, here is this communication by email from Charlie Wakeem, Chairman of the Open Space Advisory Board regarding a meeting this afternoon with Mr. Stanley Jobe. Mr. Jobe made his proposal regarding Arroyo 41A which must be agreed to by the General Land Office of the State of Texas and the Public Service Board. It was sent to the Board members with a copy to Parks and Recreation persons: Shamori Whitt, Nanette Smejkal and Rick Garcia; Gonzallo Cedillos of the El Paso Water Utilities who sits ex-officio on the OSAB; City Council Representatives Representatives Ann Lilly, Susie Byrd and Beto O'Rourke; Matt McElroy of the City of El Paso; Ed Archuleta, CEO of PSB; and Stanley Jobe:

Dear OSAB members,

Reps. Ann Morgan-Lilly, Susie Byrd, and Beto O'Rourke met with Stanley Jobe, Ed Archuleta, Mathew McElroy, OSAB co-chair Richard Thomas and me Wednesday afternoon to discuss Mr. Jobe's offer to vacate a portion of FEMA Arroyo 41A on his leased premises with the GLO. He is willing to vacate the 41A flowpath on that property up to the rim directly above it as recommended by the Open Space Advisory Board, and as I understood it, would include a buffer. He stated that the quarry operations will not affect the Mountain to River corridor in any way.

First, the GLO must agree to dedicate the land as an easement to the PSB and the PSB must be willing to accept it. Mr. Jobe will then survey the property. When the stakes are laid out, there will be an on site inspection by the PSB and others with interest in the property to deem it worthy of accepting.

I am very optimistic that an agreement will be reached for the good of the community and all concerned, and that Mr. Jobe should be commended for doing this. I also thank Rep. Ann Morgan-Lilly for working with Mr. Jobe during the past few weeks to help facilitate it.

Charlie Wakeem

Chairman

Open Space Advisory Board

A Christmas Miracle: Jobe To Turn Over 41A

Click to enlarge

I do not know all of the details yet. However, it appears that Stanley Jobe has agreed to turn over FEMA Flowpath 41A (Mountain to River Arroyo on the GLO land).

Here's the news from Charlie Wakeem:

Dear Friends,

We may have a wonderful Christmas present this year. First, I got a call from Rick Bonart, then Rep. Ann Morgan-Lilly this afternoon about great news for our city, the Open Space Plan, the Mountain to River Trail, and the Franklin Mountains. Stanley Jobe has agreed to turn over FEMA Flowpath 41A (Mountain to River Arroyo on the GLO leased premises) for preservation. However, Mr. Jobe must first get permission from the GLO, but Rep. Lilly said that should be no problem. She told me she's been in talks with Mr. Jobe for about a month, but that it's now OK for everyone to know about this positive turn of events.

Mr. Jobe will meet with key people and groups after the holidays to discuss the details of his offer. Rep. Lilly also told me he will repair and improve bike trails and wants to turn the property over to the PSB and not to the Parks Department, which I agree is the right thing to do.

We don't know exactly how much of the property will be dedicated at this time, and if it will include more than just the FEMA 41A stream bed. That will be determined in talks at a later date.

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy & Healthy New Year.

Charlie Wakeem

Of course, if Jobe does not mean rim to rim, this is an empty gesture. For now, the news sounds promising - a true Christmas miracle.

Jobe in Violation of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act

Jobe is in violation of section 404 of the Clean Water Act in his attempt to destroy Arroyo 41A, the Mountain to River Trail. Here is a report that I received yesterday:

The EPA Region 6 Wetlands Coordinator in Dallas has been out to Arroyo 41A (planned Mountain to River Trail). Jobe violated section 404 of the Clean Water Act by not having a permit to grade the arroyo. EPA won't fine Jobe since this is his first violation. However, the Army Corps of Engineers is requiring Jobe to mitigate the damage and he will likely have to obtain a 404 permit to quarry the arroyo. The city, county and public may be able to comment on the sufficiency of the mitigation and also comment on the permit process.

According to a local Corps official, if Jobe wants to remove fill from the arroyos he can without a permit, as long as he doesn't store fill in the arroyo. Also, according to the same official, commenting on mitigation may not be an option specifically allowed by statute (although statute does not prohibit such either).

The above should also pertain to the developer of Desert Springs who intends to fill in much of 41A. The goal would be to work with the Corps so the permit mandates the least environmentally destructive alternative be selected.

Go here to be notified by email about any public notices through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Media Begins to Wake up to Jobe Quarry Threat

Jobe bulldozer cut through arroyo next to Franklin Mountains State Park

Last Thursday Hector Montes had Master Naturalist Sal Quintanilla and environmentalist Maria Trunk on his talk show on KHRO, 1150 AM. I had been invited to call in and inform the audience about the planned quarrying next to the State Park. It would seem from the follow-up calls that we got some good coverage.

Prior to the talk show, Robert Gray wrote an article for El Paso, Inc. Quarry next to the state park? No problem! Hector Castro authored an enlightening piece in El Diario de El Paso: Genera polémica cantera de gravilla.

Since Castro's article is in Spanish, Franklin Mountain Wilderness Coalition newsletter editor, Kathy McConaghie, with Castro's help translated it. Both she and Castro gave me permission to print the translation:

Gravel Quarry Generates Controversy

A deposit of gravel located on the western slope of the Franklin Mountains is the center of controversy. Several city environmental groups point out that Jobe Material’s company practice of extracting minerals from the soil can create serious environmental and health problems in addition to the deterioration of the local landscape.

The quarry operation, property of the magnate Stanley Jobe, has a 20 year lease contract on a 480 acre area that belongs to the Texas Permanent School Fund. The property is administered by the General Land Office (GLO). According to GLO press secretary Jim Suydam, the principal motive for leasing to Jobe is simply economic: the purpose of the lease was to collect funds for the School Fund.

Nevertheless, several non-governmental organizations of El Paso expressed their dissatisfaction with Jobe Materials, among them the Sierra Club, headed by Laurence Gibson, who states that the principal problem with this quarry is that Jobe Materials is working on land that is a cultural bastion of the city, besides the fact that there are no guarantees that the environment will not be affected by the excavation.

“The only one responsible is the GLO since this entity does not have any sense of belonging within our habitat and little worries about the local environment”, Gibson declared.

Other organizations such as the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition are also opposed to the quarry and urge the local government and political leaders of the city to relocate Jobe Materials to an area where an important ecosystem will not be harmed.

“The GLO delivered an area that includes arroyo 41A, a treasure that links the Franklin Mountains to the Rio Grande which will logically be affected by the quarry. This property is part of the recreation and tourism plan of the city of El Paso, but now it is compromised for economic purposes,” said Jim Tolbert, a board member of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition, in a written statement.

El Diario of El Paso tried to obtain a statement from Stanley Jobe but received no response from his office up to the moment this edition closed.

Without Hope

Despite this disagreement with the location of the quarry, the possibility that it will be relocated are minimal at this time, and presently the only possible recourse is to exercise pressure on Jobe Materials to leave the area the way they found it after completing excavation.

“I am very disappointed by the location of the quarry, it is practically impossible that the area will remain intact, and little by little we are going to see pernicious consequences of this mistake. I believe that there is nothing which can be done and it is lamentable that our environment suffers because of the economic interests of a few”, stated Susie Byrd, District 2 representative of the city, in a telephone conversation.

Stanley Jobe met recently with some members of the Borderland Mountain Bike Association and offered to pay the costs to build new bike trails in the vicinity of the quarry, a move that generated disagreement among participants who think that moving the trail would turn into an ecological fault difficult to correct.

“The impact of this quarry to the environment and the landscape of El Paso is huge. Soon we will begin to see rock accumulation in the sector which will damage the image of our mountains. There is no benefit for the residents of the city. Jobe Materials is destroying the ecological system and nobody is doing anything to prevent it”, stated Dave Wilson, president of the cyclist’s association.

SAVE EL PASO'S FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS - Sign the Petition

Quarry at McKelligon Canyon formerly operated by Jobe

Here's a picture of what the land next to the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park will look like if Jobe Materials quarries on land owned by the People of the State of Texas. The picture is the Cemex Quarry at McKelligon Canyon just off of Alabama Street. It was previously owned by Jobe.

Don't let this happen again on our mountains! Sign the petition sponsored by the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. There is a link to that petition in the upper right hand column of this blog.

Here is how the petition reads:

"The City of El Paso's Open Space Master Plan calls for a mountain to river trail using Arroyo 41A, the last unobstructed arroyo connecting the Franklin Mountains to the Rio Grande. This arroyo can provide a unique setting for recreational activities for El Pasoans and visitors as well as maintain important wildlife habitat. Quarrying activities planned on General Land Office leased land adjacent to and including parts of Arroyo 41A threaten the integrity and viability of that trail and a portion of Franklin Mountains State Park. We the undersigned urge our political leaders to work with the quarry operator to prevent quarrying from occurring on land in or adjacent to the planned mountain to river trail and to maintain the original design of this valuable recreational and wildlife corridor."

Sign the petition because here is what we want to see:

Beautiful Arroyo 41A

We also want to see:

Javelina in the Franklin Mountains

Mule Deer in the Franklin Mountains

Why do we want to save javelina and mule deer (not to mention foxes, coyotes, horned toads, ring tail cats, bobcats, snakes and more as well as the plant life native to our Chihuahuan Desert)? A wildlife and environmental expert answered the question this way:

"We as humans are connected to the ecosystem. All parts of the ecosystem have a role to play in the bigger scheme of things. If we eliminate the natural world from our lives and try to survive on an earth dominated by buildings and concrete we simply will not be able to survive. Our connections with nature are too many and too great. And, if the world becomes unsafe for animals and plants, it will not be a safe place for people."

He suggested that we all take time to read the Living Planet Report 2008.

Please sign the petition to help save El Paso's Franklin Mountains.

Is Sustainability a Goal or Just Words?

The City Council of El Paso recently approved a sustainability plan. The mission plan is:

"By 2014, El Paso will be a model of sustainability and smart growth by building on its roots as an international hub, promoting sustainable enterprises and wisely using natural resources."

2014 may be too far away. Judging by the overuse of rock and gravel in private and public landscapes all over the City, the possible overbuilding of public facilities and Jobe's plan to quarry next to the largest intra-urban State Park in the country, El Paso is far from wisely using natural resources.

One wonders whether master plans such as the Sustainability document are not just words. After all, Arroyo 41A was designated to be preserved as the Mountain to River corridor. Once the General Land Office leased property containing a portion of that arroyo to Jobe Materials, public officials acted much like ostriches with their heads in the ground. Now that Stanley Jobe has made it abundantly clear that he intends to quarry all 480 acres, City officials say that there is nothing that they can do - City zoning laws apparently do not apply to State of Texas land managed by the GLO even if that land is within the city's limits.

Recently, Public Service Board/EPWU officials proposed an Alternative route for the Mountain to River Trail. One of the top officials of the EPWU told me that they had decided on the route once they realized that Jobe intended to mine limestone in Arroyo 41A. The implication was that the realization was fairly recent. However, they must have known that he would do so when they gave him access to the land. By law you can't landlock someone else and so El Paso Water Utilities had to grant Jobe an easement through their property to the GLO land and did so on May 20, 2005.

It would appear that EPWU/PSB officials have known for a number of years now that a portion of the proposed Mountain to River corridor could very well be mined. If they knew, then shouldn't the City Council also have known? After all, Mayor Cook is a board member of the PSB. If City Council knew so early on, what was the point of accepting in its entirety the January 2007 Open Space plan ("Towards a Bright Future: A Green Infrastructure Plan for El Paso, Texas") that called for preserving all of Arroyo 41A?

Click on image to enlarge

The alternative route is the light blue line on the map above. Note that only a small - yet critical - portion of 41A goes through the very bottom of the GLO land leased to Jobe. One wonders why pressure cannot be applied from elected and other officials and the public at large to make Jobe forsake that small portion of land. If sustainability and the wise use of resources is the goal, why not start right here?

Of course, there is yet another threat to Arroyo 41A a bit west of the GLO/Jobe Quarry: the Desert Springs development currently plans reducing the 1200 foot arroyo to just 120 feet, concreting the sides and building some roads over it in several places. To say that the developer's plans may be grandfathered so that he doesn't have to comply to codes requiring keeping the arroyo to at least 300 feet, is still missing the larger point that El Paso envisions one thing and does another.

An insider recently informed me:

"Individual City staff may or may not be in favor of "economic development" as exemplified by Jobe and the homebuilders' style of growth. The staff is mainly concerned with staying out of trouble, and the developers can make big trouble if any legal boundaries are crossed.

"The zoning and subdivision codes are the legal tools that have to be followed. The developers worked very hard to ensure that those codes were "vetted" by their own lawyers, lobbyists and friends before they were adopted by the City. If the land is zoned for whatever the developer wants, the law allows them to do it. If it's not zoned for what they want the law allows them to request a zone change and the Council can grant it.

"The Open Space plan and the General Land Use Plan are legally just "guides" to decision making by the Council, so they can approve zoning that is not in conformity with the Plans. (There is actually some legal precedent for holding Councils more accountable to such plans, but it is rare in Texas. There may be some precedent on the GLO immunity issue as well, but of course not from Texas.)

"Botttom line- the developers have the law on their side in most cases and there is too much apathy to try to change the laws again. (Look at the all the fighting over the subdivision code rewrite last year that resulted in nothing more than some very minor changes.)"

If El Paso wants to make sustainability and the wise use of resources its goal, it must begin to stand up and, at the very least, use the bully pulpit, or even more, grow a backbone and start standing up legally to those who would destroy riparian corridors and thus cheapen all of our lives and fortunes.

Jobe Destroys the Mountain to River Corridor

The Lower Sunset Trail destroyed

Stanley Pruet Jobe has destroyed the Lower Sunset Trail and with it the cherished mountain to river corridor. With bulldozed trails he has marked his territory much like many male mammal beasts mark theirs with their odorous urine. His No Trespassing signs are aligned like a barbed wire fence over and around the hills above Arroyo 42 and dip down into what was once scenic walkways of sedimentary rock and animal habitat.

Just this past Monday evening Jobe met with the Borderland Mountain Bike Association who first discovered his clandestine slashings of huge swaths of desert. He told them pointedly that he intends to quarry 480 acres of the land that the State of Texas General Land Office leased to him. He is in the right place where transporting mountainsides of dirt and gravel to developers, road builders and landscapers will be cheap and easy and very profitable.

He did promise to build a new trail for the mountain bikers. He has after all proven himself adept at the art of public relations, the price of doing business. Convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud, Stanley Pruet Jobe served time, was paroled and then pardoned by President Clinton on his last day in office - the same day that the former President pardoned the notorious Marc Rich. Jobe has learned how to curry favor with charities, contribute to politicians and political organizations (including Mayor John Cook) and advertise well with local news publishers.

The Lower Sunset Trail is one of the best loved, often frequented trails with trailheads in the Franklin Mountain States Parks. It has utilized bike trails through beautiful arroyos that begin in the park and flow toward the Rio Grande.

Jobe's extensive bulldozing from the air

A recent aerial surveillance of the destruction by Jobe revealed that Jobe cut into FEMA #42 at Trail Marker #6, the Mountain to River trailhead. At the time of my first post about Jobe's full frontal assault on the arroyos, an effort was being made to convince him to leave alone a portion of Arroyo 41A that straddles the southern General Land Office property line with the Public Service Board. Jobe wouldn't deal.

Of course, the General Land Office is probably just as complicit as Jobe. They leased their land with Planned Mountain Development Zoning on it - the toughest zoning in the City of El Paso. This parcel of land is one of the most pristine in the City and it will now be subjected to the worst possible land use. Arroyos and mountainsides will disappear as Jobe's No Tresspassing markers and bulldozed roads foreshadow. The GLO is exempt from local zoning ordinances and they knew that when they leased the land to Jobe. The right thing would have been to sell the land to State Parks or even a developer. The land then would have come under tight development restrictions which would have enabled the City to regulate the mountain to river corridor on that land.

Jobe had told public officials that he would not do anything with the land next to the State Park for five years. It is not certain why he changed his mind. However, his actions have destroyed the mountain to river corridor.

He currently operates a quarry to the northwest of the area.

GLO leased land owned by the People of the State of Texas

Throughout the summer, my hiking group (the Sunrise Hikers) often enjoyed treks on the Lower Sunset Trail. The beauty of the rock, the hills, the plants and animals added to our adventures. Soon, very soon, unless something is done - Stanley Pruet Jobe will decimate this land as he has done and is still doing around the City.