Makes You Wonder

Alamo Drafthouse Parking Lot. Erosion is coming from the Arroyo side.

Yesterday I mentioned TxDOT Regional Engineer Robert Bielek's concern about the development at the Top Golf site. It seems that the developer has underestimated how much run-off the development will cause and, thus, in Bielek's words, "compromise the stability of the embankment upon which I-10 sits." Although alerted to the problem, the City continues to "permit" EPT to develop the land. Bielek has told the City that TxDOT "will consider the City equally responsible for any damage to to the I-10 embankment or our [TxDOT's] drainage structure because of this oversight." 

Surely our city leaders care more about the safety of people and the integrity of our freeways and less about whether they could win a legal battle with TxDOT. Surely our city leaders want to do the right thing by satisfying TxDOT with an acceptable plan. I sent a link to yesterday's blog post to Mayor Margo, City Manager Tommy Gonzalez and Khalil Zaied. I asked for responses. As expected, there have been no responses. (One possible good note: Mr. Bielek just now told me that "[the TxDOT] staff has been meeting with the developer but no final resolution as yet." Sounds as if yesterday's post has had impact.)

I am aware that EPT also did the Alamo Drafthouse project. Many of us watched in horror as an arroyo was destroyed and an entire hillside dug out. The destruction of this open space was justified by the fact that is would be a "new urban" project. 

I went by the Alamo Drafthouse today and noticed an inordinate amount of sand/dirt in the parking lot. I asked the manager about it and was told that they get the erosion every time that it rains. I'm not an engineer, nor do I play one on televsion and I don't really know about the drainage solutions that I saw. However, what I saw does concern me. Over time, judging from the dirt in the lot, there will be a considerable amount of erosion. 

This picture and the one below are from the retaining wall between the entrance to the theater parking lot and the hillside topped by the apartments. Note the stain and rocks from erosion.

Apparently EPT's solution to the instability of the hill next to the theater, was to put some kind of fabric on top of the slope and drill horizontal pipes into the hillside. As the pictures show, the erosion doesn't come down the slope, it feeds through the pipes.

I do wonder whether similar drainage solutions are being used by EPT at the Top Golf site and, if so, I better understand what Bob Bielek is saying.

I certainly would not live in the apartments above Alamo Drafthouse. 

Will the City of El Paso Destroy Cement Lake?

Cement Lake

The City of El Paso's apparent failure to address a critical drainage issue at the Top Golf construction site might very well destroy one of El Paso's rare gems, Cement Lake. Moreover, according to TxDOT Regional Engineer, Bob Bielek, the failure of the City to address the matter with the developer of Top Golf, EPT Land Communities, might also "overload the structure and compromise the stability of the embankment upon which I-10 sits.  This could have additional effects on the lake such as excess siltation."

Bielek also says that "it does appear that the developer is underestimating the contribution of the development to the overall runoff, and there appears to be insufficient retention on the developer’s site to adequately meter the flows in a way that will protect the embankment and the drainage structure."

The City of El Paso has apparently provided the developer with a permit to construct Top Golf but has failed to consult with TxDOT regarding drainage requirements including not just the embankment of the freeway but Cement Lake. The developer has furnished no credible plan to TxDOT.

Bielek told City Council about this problem last March. Elpasonaturally has asked him three times since then whether they have recived a credible plan. Mr. Bielek's last reply came nine days ago on July 24th in an email: "Still waiting on an acceptable design."

Bielek did contact the City Manager, Tommy Gonzalez, months ago and yet there is still no "acceptable plan". It would seem that the City has permitted the developer to undermine the integrity of I-10 and destroy Cement Lake. Bielek says, "that we [TxDOT] will consider the City equally responsible for any damage to the I-10 embankment or our drainage structure because of this oversight."

El Paso Water, city environmental and open space activists have sought for many years to preserve El Paso's natural Cement Lake.

An Animal Corridor? Really?

Do these pictures . . . 

look like this:

Unless there is some magic left for TxDOT to do, it isn't even remotely the same as the plans shown for an animal corridor.

Lois Balin, our Urban Wildlife Biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department had this to say after visiting the site:

"I inspected the wildlife crossing with Rick Bonart on Friday afternoon.  I am sincerely hoping that they are not finished with it yet.  Currently, there are many shortfalls.  It looks more like a new entrance to FMSP than a wildlife crossing.  There are wide graded roads along 375 on the south side as well as continuing on through the underpass into the park on the north side.  It currently does not look very wildlife friendly.  There is a very steep enormous drop off on the south side of the crossing that does not encourage the use of wildlife.  I see no significant difference in grades for the humans and wildlife.  I thought there would be a narrow surfaced section for the hikers and bikers and a wide natural and soft earthen section for the wildlife.  I had suggested using a barrier between the two sections.  I see no difference whatsoever at this point. The surface is hard and compacted.  Of course, they are not finished.  I can only hope they  will reduce the steep grade on the south and use natural surfaces and native vegetation to make it more attractive to wildlife.  Also, I didn’t see a funneling fence into the corridor as yet."

As to Ms. Balin's observation that "[i]t looks more like a new entrance to FMSP" - it does. I too have inspected it and the "road" not corridor ends where eastbound Transmountain is. Another entrance for vehicles to the park? Is it in anticipation of the new FMSP Visitor's Center? That Center was to have been built on the eastside of the mountain near the current Archaeological Museum. Concerns about water and electrical utilities have dictated a change to the opposite side near the entrance of the Tom Mays Unit.

Something is very wrong here.

TxDOT Contractor Violates City Ordinance

The image above and all images in this post were taken by Dr. Rick Bonart.

The picture above is what the O'Rourke hike/bike trail should look like all along Transmountain. Instead, the pictures of uprooted trees below are more descriptive:

Instead of trees, TxDOT is now planting cacti and ocotillos:

So, what's the story? Although there is an irrigation line including bubblers to the trees, the area is above any local water tank. It seems that no pumps were provided so the trees went without water and died. To remedy the situation, TxDOT directed the contractor to plant cacti and ocotillos. Tim Twomey of TxDOT explained:

"Most of the trees died in the Paseo to Plexxar section.  This was due to the fact that there was no water service in the area and the proposed irrigation system could not feed this area due to the steep grade.  We attempted to establish the trees by change order with an installed pump system followed by hand-watering efforts.  As we only have 6-months remaining on the two-year plant maintenance period, we directed the Contractor to remove the dead vegetation and replace them with native landscaping (cactus).  We plan on continuing hand-watering for the remaining six-months that should be sufficient to establish the new vegetation."

Removing the trees and planting with something other than trees is a violation of the development ordinance which clearly states planting native evergreens at 12 feet apart.

The contractor is obligated to water the vegetation for only six more months when the care of the landscape is turned over to the City of El Paso. It is doubtful that the City will follow its own ordinance. Instead expect it to merely keep the cacti and forget about the trees. John Balliew of El Paso Water (formerly EPWU) has offered to help but will he be asked is the question.

Hikers and bicyclists were counting on the shade - something neither TxDOT nor its contractor seems to be willing to provide in violation of the terms of the development.

Arroyos Safe Near Cement Lake

Cement Lake

Recently on social media there has been some concern expressed about what TxDOT might be doing to some arroyos. Is TxDOT filling in the arroyos as it continues its massive freeway building project, Go 10 El Paso? The answer is "NO".

TxDOT Regional Engineer, Bob Bielek, says that he is unaware of any arroyos being filled in. Doing so, he said, "would violate the environmental finding for either project."

I asked the Dean of Open Space, Charlie Wakeem, why are natural arroyos so important. Charlie cited an essay by Rex Funk: "Albuquerque's Environmental Story, Educating for a Sustainable Community, Environmental Topic: Arroyos" He paraphrased Funk in order to make the topic relevant to El Paso. Charlie used these words as an argument to preserve Resler Canyon, a natural arroyo. He says that they are the "best reason I've used for arguing for the importance of natural arroyos."

"El Paso is a unique place in many ways.  One contributing element is the natural drainage system of arroyos.  Most of these arroyos carry runoff from the Franklin Mountains and escarpments to the Rio Grande and are dry most of the year.  They flow most heavily from mid-summer to early fall, during a period we call our monsoon season.

"Originally these arroyos meandered freely across the land responding to the volume and velocity of storm water runoff, thereby creating large flood plains and alluvial fans.


"Natural arroyos are rich in plant life due to the soil moisture that remains after runoff events.  The abundant vegetation attracts a concentration of native wildlife in search of food and shelter."

Lights on Transmountain?

There has been some email chatter today about the possiblity that TxDOT is planning to "light up" Transmountain with a string of light poles. I'm not sure how this rumor got started, but here is the response from TxDOT's Regional Engineer, Bob Bielek:

"There is no lighting included as part of the current project and we currently have no plans to install lighting along TransMountain.  In the future, if there were a drastic increase in the number and severity of nighttime accidents along the roadway we might consider continuous lighting; however, given the lack of electric service and the cost of such an installation I expect we would look for other options first.  Let me be clear however, I don't expect there to be a sudden increase in accidents along TransMountain so any discussion of what might happen is just speculation."

Rest easy.

Tom Mays Underpass, Solar Energy, New Council and Glass Recycling

Rather than doing several posts, I decided to just bring you up to date about several items.

Photo by Rick Bonart

At long last the work has begun to construct a hike/bike/animal corridor underneath Transmountain to connect the FMSP land to the south to the FMSP’s Tom Mays Unit to the north. I had been made aware of this several weeks ago from a friend of mine and also a friend of TxDOT Regional Engineer Bob Bielek. Now the buzz has begun via email as some have passed by the construction site.

__________

On the solar front, a potential settlement on EPEC's rate case before the PUC may happen tomorrow. Some are saying that it is the best proposal, which means that nobody will be happy. Who may be the unhappiest: (1) all the folks who will lose their jobs when EPEC kills the solar industry in El Paso, (2) all current solar users and (3) all El Pasoans who will lose a chance to have a clean, sustainable energy future.

Take a look at what France is doing. Imagine roads of solar panels that you can drive on. 

Check out the Bloomberg Business Report Who Owns the Sun. Be sure to watch the video.

Also read New Report Reveals Electric Utility Industry's Influence at Universities. (Note that NMSU is part of the cabal.) It is clear that the fossil fuel and electric utility companies are "out to get" the distributed solar energy industry. 

Read Senator José Rodríguez's op-ed piece in yesterday's El Paso Times as well as his piece in the Rio Grande Guardian. HERE is what he wrote to the PUC. 

__________

Good news from last week's regular City Council meeting. An ordinance establishing a Regional Renewable Energy Advisory Council passed. Many thanks go to Rep. Peter Svarzbein for being proactive on Council rather than playing politics and being reactive.

__________

Finally, it seems like glass recycling in El Paso is off to a good start. Marshall Carter-Tripp reports: "I went to the Northwest Collection Center today.  As promised, no water bill was required.  What they had was four recycle bins along a wall.  They had different color tops.  You put the glass in the bins yourself.  Unfortunately the bin with the blue top had been pretty much filled with brown bottles, so I put my blue bottle in with the green bottle and hoped for the best.   The clear glass went in a bin with a grey top. Hope they will refine it a bit but it went well."

For the glass recycling pilot program to succeed, we not only should recycle bottles but use the end products for mulch and more.

Improve Connectivity at FMSP Soon To Start

TxDOT calls it simply "Improve Connectivity at FMSP". It's an animal corridor and a separate hike and bike trail. It is the means to connect the south and north sides of Franklin Mountains State Park at Tom Mays Park now cut off by Transmountain Road. 

The project has been a possibility for a long time. The problem has been funding but it looks like the funds are now there.

TxDOT opened bids yesterday and there were six. Three of them came within the acceptable 10% range above estimate. The lowest was 1.07% over estimate. Regional Engineer Bob Bielek reports: "Without doing a complete review for an unbalanced bid, 1.07% over is very close to the estimate.  Absent any abnormalities with the bid I would think that a contract will be awarded to the low bidder at the next Commission meeting.  In fact, the three lowest bids are all within, or close to, the 10% that we typically look for.  That said, given the time to get the contracts signed, etc. and the upcoming holidays, I would expect a construction start shortly after the first of the year."

Former PSB member, avid mountain bike rider and a major driver throughout the years for this project responded: "Very Cool! Woohoo!"

Very cool indeed.

FMSP Corridor Project Lets!

It's official. TxDOT is now calling for bids for the FMSP connectivity project (animal corridor with a hike and bike trail). The corridor will be constructed near the entrance to the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park. The El Paso conservation community has long awaited for TxDOT to ask for bids and then begin and complete the project. Here we go.

Click image to enlarge.

To see the bid online go to http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/cmd/lettingschedule/2016/current-month.pdf and scroll to page 68.

Rio Bosque Wetlands Threatened - Again

Click image to enlarge.

Our Rio Bosque Wetlands Park is threatened once again. This in spite of new sources of water for almost the entire year. If done in its preferred route by TxDOT, the planned Border East Highway means bad news for the Bosque.

The El Paso Times reported recently: Officials: Border Highway East project to cost $711.6M. Item 7 on tomorrow's 9AM Transportation Policy Board for the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization (EPMPO) reads: "Discussion and action to allow the Transportation Policy Board Chairperson to execute a Resolution in support of the Border Highway East (BHE) Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study." Do see the full proposal and presentation HERE.

TxDOT's preferred route for the Border East Highway would go from the Zaragoza International Port of Entry to the future Tornillo-Guadalupe International Port of Entry following the Rio Grande. There would also be an extension from Tornillo to Interstate 10. 

The Rio Bosque hugs the Rio Grande on its western border. The Riverside Canal sets the eastern boundary of the park. The El Paso County Water Improvement District plans to cement the Riverside Canal. That by itself will negatively impact the wildlife at the Rio Bosque. A border highway hugging the concreted canal will certainly be harmful to the wildlife of the park according to John Sproul the park's manager.

In addition to threatening the Rio Bosque, the planned border highway will upset the primarily rural towns from Socorro through Clint and San Elizario to Tornillo. San Elizario and Clint already face having a dangerous pipeline running near homes and schools. For more, go HERE and HERE.

Now is a very good time to become a Friend of the Rio Bosque. Also visit and like The Friends of the Rio Bosque Facebook page.

The EPMPO meets tomorrow at 9AM at 211 N. Florence, Suite 103. MAP

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"green".

State Park Animal Corridor to Let in September?

Although it's pretty certain that the City of El Paso's priorities and not TxDOT nor regional engineer, Bob Bielek, are to blame, the process for actually building the wildlife corridor with a hike and bike trail at the Tom Mays Unit of the FMSP has been a lengthy one.

In a July 30, 2015 email to Rep. Joe Pickett, Bob Bielek wrote: "I discussed how we are going to fund this project with staff today and we came to the conclusion that it makes the most sense to fund the project out of Category 11, which is essentially District discretionary funds.  We will likely have enough to fund this project with FY 16 funds and should be able to let in September or October. The reason for this is that we would not need to get the project into the TIP, STIP or have to go through all of the paperwork associated with conformity, etc. Depending on final estimates this could change, but as of right now we believe this is the fastest and cleanest approach."

Let in September or October? Let's hope it's finally true.

Invest in FMSP and Animal Hiking Corridor OR the Trolley Folly?

Racetrack Drive to Spur 1966

Neighborhood Development Services sent out a pdf of a recent issue of the Border West Expressway newsletter showing how 1-10 and Spur 1966 will look once the job is completed. You can read that letter and see the pictures HERE. A prominent El Paso environmentalist commented: "Cement everywhere! How about some animal/hike/bike crossings?" She was referring to the long anticipated project at the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountain State Park - one that will benefit the park and spark ecotourism dollars for the city.

But the "cement" and the I-10/Spur 1966 projects are just really a part of the story. 

One wonders how much TxDOT Regional Engineer Bob Bielek's hands are tied when it comes to funding. We can interpret his delayed promises as deceit or we can interpret them as agony. Let's get to what is truly agonizing.

The mega projects such as I-10, the Spur, 375, 601, yada, yada, yada (not to mention the much less expensive animal corridor with a hike and bike trail that will connect the north and south parts of the FMSP at Transmountain) are not the first priority of the backroom movers and shakers of El Paso. What is? The trolley folly. Bielek has pointed out that El Paso may have the worst highways in the state. Yet, the priority is the $97 Million unnecessary trolley folly that will enrich a few, cost a bundle and will probably fail in a few years. (Or maybe it won't fail because "enlightened" city leaders like Niland, Romero and Noe will just vote to borrow more money and raise our property taxes more. We will subsidize the fat cats and a trolley system to nowhere.)

A trolley system (even with the expense of refurbishing our old Presidents’ Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars) might have had tourist attraction if built from the downtown historic district to the Magoffin House. However, you can forget that because there won't be a downtown historic district, there will be an arena taking over 12 blocks and paying lots of money to building owners who have never intended to renovate their buildings. That's my bet.

A trolley system at the airport could have been a tourist attraction or one through Segundo Barrio or one to the zoo. But no.

More people are leaving El Paso than other major cities in the nation. Passenger traffic at our airport is down 20%. And, according to Scientific American, our toxic air is harming our school children's progress. Yet, what's our priority? The trolley folly. It is this "priority" of our city policy makers that complicates funds for an animal corridor at Tom Mays.

So, my green friends, we can all blame Bob Bielek for the delay with the animal corridor, or we can blame the colonialism of our backroom wheelers and dealers who wield the power and bank the bucks in El Paso. As a linguist friend told me: "It isn't vox populi, it's hoax populi."


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The Friday Video: Double Feature about Animal Highway Crossings

[If you receive elpasonaturally by email, the videos won't display. Go to www.elpasonaturally.com to view them. You can sign up to get elpasonaturally by email in the box in the column next to this post. Also, please help us become the "Newspaper Tree" of El Paso. Your contribution will help us turn the El Paso Southwest "green".]

First of all, hat tip to Tami Gandt who sent this Seattle Times story about an ambitious animal crossing program in the State of Washington. Washington is a state that values its natural beauty and wildlife. The natural El Paso southwest is a beautiful part of the Chihuahuan Desert and it teems with wildlife. Is it too much to ask TxDOT and Bob Bielek to keep their promise for an animal passageway at the Tom Mays Unit? This passageway could also be used by hikers and bicyclists and will serve to connect the north and south sides of the park. Simple question, Bob: When will you do as you promised?

First a video from the Commonwealth of Virginia:




Here's one from Utah:

Remember that FMSP Hike-Bike-Wildlife Corridor and Entrance at Tom Mays?

In March TxDOT presented a report to City Council that included the hiking/biking/animal corridor into the Tom Mays unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park. The corridor is the key connection between the north and south sides of the State Park west of the mountains. It sounded like good news. But where are we now?

On April 7th of this year in an email, TxDOT District Engineer, Bob Bielek, said that he would like to accelerate the project and start sometime in the first quarter of the next fiscal year. (It begins in September 2015.) Acceleration is necessary because of all of the work beginning on I-10 from downtown to Executive. More demand will be put on Loop 375 (the Transmountain Highway.) 

In an email on the same day, Bielek stated that TxDOT workers pick up about 4 dead deer in a year and about 4 dead smaller animals a month. He didn't think that the death toll was too high. His opinion, of course; and the opinions of wildlife experts don't register with him or TxDOT.

Now let's review the record of broken promises and shifting predictions. Judy Ackerman passed some detailed notes about the corridor/connectivity project to me. Her notes begin in January 2013.

January 24, 2013 - the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission considers a proposed transfer of 8 acres of park land to TxDOT for the purpose of a new entrance into the Tom Mays Unit.

November 19, 2013 - at the Border Highway East Public meeting, Bielek stated in a conversation that Dr. Rick Bonart's idea for an animal crossing was a good one , that the project might cost $2 Million, and that TxDOT might start working on it in the Fall of 2014.

December 11, 2013 - plan unveiled to public and is warmly received.

April 10, 2013 - TxDOT holds a public meeting about the corridor/connection/new park entrance. Plans get a positive response.

April 15, 2013 - at a special meeting of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Transportation Policy Board (TPB), Bob Bielek announces that he is committed to the project in 2014.

February 20, 2014 - at an El Paso League of Women Voters meeting, Bielek gives a Fall 2014 date for the beginning of a corridor between the north and south portions of the park that have lost direct access. He gives a date of Fall 2014 for the beginning of such a project.

April 11, 2014 - at a breakfast meeting sponsored by NE El Paso City Council Representative, Carl Robinson, Bielek says that the project will begin in Fall 2014, take 3 months and cost $1 Million.

October 3, 2014 - Bielek says that the project is still in design.

March 17, 2015 - in a presentation to City Council it is announced that the project will cost $3 Million and that the estimated let date is 2016.

May 15, 2015 - again at a Carl Robinson breakfast, Bielek announces that the project will let in 2 to 3 months and that funding will be from Proposition 1 Funds. (Previously it had been from his discretionary account and then "Denial of Access" funds.)

As you can see, dates keep moving up, estimated costs keep changing as well as funding sources. It's June 2015, when will this corridor, which should have begun in Fall of 2014, really begin - if at all?

We Must Put an End to the Asphalt-Industrial Machine

I missed something the other day. I was so happy to see that the connectivity project for the Franklin Mountains State Park (the access and animal corridor to Tom Mays) was still a "GO", that I overlooked the rest of the report. The rest can be summarized easily: miles and miles and miles of concrete and asphalt.

Project after project widens freeways and highways and spurs. Project after project eats up more land. There is no mention by the Texas Department of Transportation of mixed used roads. There is no mention of narrowing roads and reducing speed limits to make livable, walkable places, promote communities and neighborhoods and health. 

It's a vicious circle. We create asphalt corridors for traffic. The added highways increase traffic which we must accomodate by widening roads, creating more spurs, laying more asphalt, etc. ad nauseum.

Please read a Better Cities & Towns blog post by Robert Steuteville: They paved paradise, put up a parking lot . . . “Big Asphalt” has compromised our health, safety, and welfare — but we can defeat it if we try. Don't just skim or scan it. Read it. Learn all the ways that asphalt harms us. 

Steuteville tells us that it's time to fight the asphalt-industrial machine and take back our communities and countrysides.

He's right.

TxDOT Reports Plans for Tom May Access

TxDOT is presenting to City Council today its Quarterly Update for El Paso. The update includes plans for the Franklin Mountain[s] State Park Connectivity. Although the project will have taken a long time to start (as most governmental projects do), it's inclusion in the report is great news. 

No changes from the original plan are expected.

Good news is always welcome and great!

If they can't handle a tree, how can they handle a lake?

If they can't handle a tree, how can you expect the City of El Paso to handle a lake - Cement Lake in fact? That was the rhetorical question that a friend posed to me earlier today. His point is well taken seeing the city's negligence with the beloved Holiday Christmas Tree in San Jacinto Plaza.

When TxDOT purchased the land on which Cement Lake lies, there was still the possibility of the City taking possession and preserving it as a wildlife area. TxDOT Engineer, Bob Bielek, told Dr. Rick Bonart that, if the City wanted to discuss the lake, just send him a letter saying so. The letter could have come from anyone - the Mayor, a City Council Rep, Tommy Gonzalez, anyone. Dr. Bonart even went before Council and informed them about Bielek's offer. The City's response? The perfect vacuum - something that no one thought existed in nature. Thus, the inspiration to lease it to the Boy Scouts.

The lease agreement between the Boy Scouts and TxDOT is now I understand a done deal. I have two friends who have persisted in their defense of the Scouts and their ability to preserve the land. I have my doubts and I certainly would never get any pleasure out of saying "I told you so". We will just have to see and I hope that I have to eat my words.

I don't trust the people behind the deal. On the other hand, I do admire their committment to Scouts and the fact that some of them were Eagle Scouts especially Ted Houghton who has three sons all of whom are Eagle Scouts. That's something to be very proud of.

Time will tell. I still hope that the Scouts (and TxDOT) will, at the least, make a good faith effort to use local wildlife and ecology experts when developing a conservation plan for their Cement Lake camp. At the most, they could enter into a conservation easement agreement with a third party ensuring that the land is preserved and well managed rather than merely mining and exploiting the land's resources.

Boy Scouts Land Conservation Far from Good

In my post about the Boy Scouts possibly taking over Cement Lake, I wrote: "BSA has an excellent reputation for land conservation." But do they? In fact, are they not better land developers and tree farmers than conservationists or preservationists?  Read the NBC/Bay Area Report: Dispute Between Boy Scouts, Whistle Blower Rooted in Rare Plant's Destruction.  That report states: 

"While the Boy Scouts have drawn national attention for their intolerance toward gays, the organization also has compiled a poor record on environmental protection. In 2009, Hearst Newspapers reported that the Scouts clear-cut tens of thousands of acres of forestland across the country and operated a dam at Camp Pico Blanco that killed at least 30 federally protected steelhead trout. The camp installed a fish ladder as part of a no-fault settlement."

The NBC Report discusses not only the destruction of the endangered lousewart by the Boy Scouts, but their clear-cutting old growth trees including redwoods.

The Parks and Recreation Management Program of Northern Arizona University revealed how some scouts tossed a 190 million-year-old set of dinosaur tracks into a reservoir, leaving deep scars in the fossil beds.

Now take a look at this video of scout leaders destroying a 200 million year-old rock formation. Let's call this elpasonaturally's Friday video: 



Read and view a commentary about this Boy Scout vandalism HERE and further story HERE.

After I published the blog post about Cement Lake mentioned above, a friend emailed to say: "Activities with lots of young people wandering around, as children are wont to do even when they are supervised, would do a lot of damage.  Campsites for overnight stays, activity areas, trails, restroom facilities, kitchen and dining halls, etc, all adds up to a lot of impact which goes beyond the definition of open space. I imagine this and possibly more would be in the plan."

And what about the issue that BSA bans gay scoutmasters and what does that have to do with conservation? I find that there is a direct correlation between people who discriminate against other people and those who oppose conservation. Those who disrespect human rights will invariably disrespect the environment also. Hate people. Hate Mother Earth. Or love people and love the planet. Simple as that. The question must be raised as a good reason to oppose a lease agreement between the Texas Transportation Commission and the Boy Scouts of America for Cement Lake and the surrounding area - 222 acres in all. There should first be a conservation easement along with a statement by the Yucca Council of El Paso that it is okay to be a scout leader and to be gay.

The Boy Scouts may have an excellent reputation for land conservation - at least if never examined. No one dares speak badly about this American shibboleth. But who was it who said that sacred cows make great hamburger?

Boy Scouts to Take Over Cement Lake?

In case you missed the story in last week's EP Times, the Texas Transportation Commission okayed leasing 222 acres of public land to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for what might be the largest urban BSA camp in the country. The land between Executive Blvd. and Sunland Park and I-10 and Paisano includes Cement Lake, one of the priorities for preservation by El Paso's Open Space Advisory Board.

Marty Schladen, who wrote the Times article, included the angle that the International AIDS Empowerment of El Paso and Las Cruces opposes the lease because the BSA discriminates against gay men. Openly gay youth may join the scouts but a ban on gay scoutmasters persists. (If you are a gay Eagle Scout and want to continue in the organization as a volunteer leader, you are suddenly unworthy.) The BSA policy may be based on the irrational fear that gay men are sexual predators - a notion that is easily dismissed by the facts and statistics. There may also be something akin to "don't ask/don't tell" at work here.

Skip Rosenthal, the Executive Director of International AIDS Empowerment of EP and Las Cruces, points out that El Paso has a policy of non-discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. The municipal code reads:

"The City shall afford equal employment and benefit opportunities to all qualified individuals in compliance with all applicable laws, without regard to their race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, color, religion, ethnic background or national origin, age, disability, or any other characteristic or status that is protected by federal, state, or local law."

Putting aside the issue of discrimination for a moment, there is the matter of preserving this spring-fed lake and the land around it.  The proposed lease is for 25 years with an option to go another 25 years after that. How well can we expect the Boy Scouts to preserve and conserve Cement Lake? 

BSA has an excellent reputation for land conservation. They even have an "idea sheet" about conservation planning for boy scout properties. The "sheet" mentions that land will not be abused but it also discusses resource management and it does suggest land development and the use of "heavy equipment". So can the local Yucca Council of BSA be trusted to be good stewards of Cement Lake and its pristine surroundings?

If the Texas Transportation Commission truly cares about the preservation of this land, one way to ensure it is to place the land under a conservation easement. That way there would be precise preservation language in the lease agreement and a third party overseeing the easement to make sure that neither TxDOT nor the Boy Scouts violates that language. A conservation manager can be a land management organization such as Frontera Land Alliance or even the City of El Paso.

Something tells me that the Transportation Commission will never enter into any kind of conservation agreement. So, no matter how good the reputation of Scouts may be, without solid assurances that the land will be carefully conserved and preserved, there is good reason to oppose any kind of lease especially if there are no non-discrimination assurances by BSA. 

elpasonaturally will keep an eye on this one.

Bielek Backpedaling on State Park Entrance?

TxDOT Regional Engineer, Bob Bielek, appears to be backpedaling on his promises about a Franklin Mountains State Park entrance. A plan to connect the southern and northern sides of the park dissected by Transmountain Road was set to begin this fall. On April 11, 2014 at City Council Rep. Carl Robinson's breakfast meeting, Bielek said regarding the connectivity project: "Expect to start in Fall 2014.  Will take 3 – 4 months to complete.  Not a difficult project, because it is a short-span bridge.  Costs a bit over $1,000,000." His statement was not much different from what he indicated in November of last year to a group of park advocates prior to a public meeting in December. Bielek told the public that his discretionary funds would pay for the project.

Now Bielek is saying, as elpasonaturally has learned, that the project might begin in January and that he is looking for money for it.

The plan called for a new park entrance with a corridor under the Transmountain highway for animals, mountain bicyclists, hikers and other pedestrians. Conceptual drawings may be viewed at this post. The TxDOT page of the drawings is not loading well currently.

It seems that Bielek is backpedaling on the project which suggests that he was never serious about it before. "He often tells people what they want to hear," one observer mentioned. 

What's next? Perhaps like so many public projects the actual start date is actually much later than originally estimated. It may be prudent to wait until December to see what, if anything, happens. If nothing, then it will be obvious that once again TxDOT has been less than honest with Texas citizens they are supposed to be serving.