El Paso Celebrates National Bike Month

El Paso Bike Month Activities

1.     El Paso Bike Month Proclamation

Friday, May at 7 p.m. - San Jacinto Plaza

2.     Downtown Redevelopment Tour on Two Wheels  

Friday, May 4 @ 8 p.m. – San Jacinto Plaza. Tour Downtown El Paso on a bike and hear the latest on redevelopment efforts!

3.     Meet & Greet with the Bike Community

Friday, May 4 @ 10:00 PM – Bowie Feathers

4.     Bike to School Day

Wednesday, May 9 - Upload your picture to our Facebook page to win a prize!

5.     Bike Movie Night

Wednesday, May 9 at 8 p.m. - Glasbox

6.     Mustache Ride

Friday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m. - San Jacinto Plaza

Bring your mustache and ride from San Jacinto Plaza to Ascarate Park.

7.     Kids Ride

Saturday, May 12 at 10 a.m. - Ascarate Park (6900 Delta   

Drive). Free classes, games and prizes!

8.     Kids Ride

Saturday, May 12 at 10 a.m. - Veterans Park (5301 Salem Drive). Free classes, games and prizes!

9.     Upper Valley Ride

Sunday, May 13 at 9 a.m. - 6215 Upper Valley Road. Enjoy a nice and peaceful ride around Upper Valley.

10.Bike Clinics

Sunday, May 13 at 1 p.m. – El Paso Co-op (5509 Will Ruth Ave). Don’t know how to change a tire? Tune up? Change a wheel? Come and learn from the experts! FREE workshop!

11.Ride to Work Day

Friday, May 18. Upload your picture to our Facebook page and win a prize!

12.Parks Ride

Friday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. - Memorial Park Library (3200 Copper Avenue). Ride from Memorial Park to Album Park.

13.Bike Clinics

Sunday, May 20 at 1 p.m. – Mercado Mayapan (2101 Myrtle Avenue). Don’t know how to change a tire? Tune up? Change a wheel? Come and learn from the experts! FREE workshop.

14.Cash Free Bike Swap

Sunday, May 20 at 1 p.m. – Mercado Mayapan (2101 Myrtle Avenue). Bring any used bike accessories and exchange with other bike riders.

15.Public Art Tour

Wednesday, May 23 at 7 p.m. - San Jacinto Plaza. Learn more about public art in the downtown area.

16.Wig Ride

Thursday, May 24 at 7 p.m. - San Jacinto Plaza. Bring your best wig to this ride!

17.Critical Mass Ride

Friday, May 25 @ 7 PM -San Jacinto Plaza. Bring your best and unique bike design and win a prize!

18.Bike ON El Paso

Friday, May 25 at 10 p.m. - The Mix at Union Plaza (518 W San Antonio). Closing festival with music, art, bike show & food!

19.End of Bike Month - Celebration

Thursday, May 31 at 7 p.m. - Loft light Studio Art Market. Join us for a final celebration and El Paso Bike Month closing remarks.

 *Bicycle lights and helmets are highly encouraged for all rides.  

National Bike Month is the inspiration of the League of American Bicyclists. 

Input Sought on Salt Basin Dunes Area

National Park Service               

Guadalupe Mountains National Park               

400 Pine Canyon Drive

U.S. Department of the Interior           

Salt Flat, TX 79847

915-828-3251 phone

                                                          

Guadalupe Mountains News Release

Release date:   Immediate

Contact(s):       Karl M. Pierce

Phone number:  915-828-3251 x 2300

Email:              Karl_Pierce@nps.gov

Date:               May 8, 2012

Guadalupe Mountains National Park Invites Public Input on Proposal to Enhance Visitor Use at Salt Basin Dunes Area

(Pine Springs, TX) Guadalupe Mountains National Park Superintendent Dennis A. Vásquez announced that the National Park Service (NPS) is initiating a plan to enhance visitor use at the Salt Basin Dunes area on the west side of the park. The NPS is seeking public input on a proposal to improve trail head facilities in an area of the park that includes the second largest gypsum dune field in the United States, as well as cultural sites, wildlife and plant life.

The area was added to the national park in 1998 and has been accessible to the public on a limited basis. The NPS proposes to improve public access by improving road access and providing facilities to include parking for up to 10 vehicles, restrooms, and a shaded picnic shelter. The public is invited to review a draft document, which outlines the background and possible alternatives. The document can be found at the NPS planning site < http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/>.

The NPS will complete an environmental analysis consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). It is anticipated that this process will take approximately 90 days to complete and this is the first of two points in the process where public comments will be invited. The plan and environmental assessment will take into consideration ideas, issues, concerns and visions of park staff and the public for the Salt Basin Dunes. Visitor access to the Salt Basin Dunes has been addressed in the park’s Draft General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (February 2008).

Vásquez stated, “We would like to hear from the public about our proposal to improve the visitor access and experience in the Salt Basin Dunes area. Once we have a complete list of issues, we will define planning alternatives and prepare a Development Concept Plan/Environmental Assessment for public review and comment.”

Public comments may be submitted from May 9, 2012 through June 7, 2012, via the electronic public comment form on the National Park Service Planning, Environment and Public Comment

(PEPC) System at http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/, which is the preferred method, however comments may also be hand-delivered or mailed to Superintendent, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, 400 Pine Canyon Drive, Salt Flat, Texas 79847.

Notice Regarding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) It is the practice of the NPS to make all comments, including names and addresses of respondents who provide that information, available for public review following the conclusion of the environmental assessment process. Individuals may request that the NPS withhold their name and/or address from public disclosure. If you wish to do this, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. Commentators using the website can make such a request by checking the box “keep my contact information private.” NPS will honor such request to the extent allowable by law, but you should be aware that the NPS may still be required to disclose your name and address pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

We will make all submissions from organizations, businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses available for public inspection in their entirety.

                                   -NPS-

EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA™

The National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage.

Community Garden to Open this Saturday

Click on image to enlarge.

A new community garden will open this Saturday, May 12th, at Vista Valle Park just off Viscount Blvd. in east El Paso. (Map) Rep. Emma Acosta and Cielo Vista Neighborhood Association President Mark Benitez will be on-hand for the ribbon cutting just after 9 a.m.  The park is the result of the tremendous efforts of Virginia Galarza with the City Parks and Recreation Department. Virginia is also the President of the Trans-Pecos Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists.

Super Athletes of the Sierra Madre to Show at UTEP

Click image to enlarge.


Photo-journalist Diana Molina says:"The book and film are in partnership with the Centennial and the Penn Museum in Philadelphia showing my new exhibit.

Kid's Summer Fit Club - Sign Up Now!

Click image to enlarge.

Here's a great program for your kids. The instructor, Marilyn, has been described as "awesome".

Glad Beto Is Running

Most of you probably followed the excellent series in the El Paso Times about public corruption. You don’t even have to read between the lines to see the hand of current U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes in the midst of it. It’s good that Beto O’Rourke is running for that seat. Beto recently said how his support for conservation and environmental protection in our City and region is personal to him in an elpasonaturally blog post, Caring for the Environment and Conservation is Personal with Beto O'Rourke. Be sure to check out the Beto for Congress media page.

Silvestre’s brother is, of course, Chuy Reyes, the General Manager of the El Paso County Water Improvement District #1 that elpasonaturally has begun saying more about. The Reyes boys were behind a recent successful effort to pass a bill which disenfranchised 75,000 El Paso voters in the WID and placed the control of El Paso water into the hands of a few powerful farmers. Note the recent big donors to Silvestre Reyes: Skov and Stubbs.  Now see who is on the Board of Directors of the Water Improvement District: Skov and Stubbs. 

I recently was able to see a voting certificate of a member of the WID. This person registered late and yet has a low certificate number which probably means that no more than a thousand or less persons can now vote in the Water Improvement District as the result of Sen. Jose Rodriguez’s infamous bill. The voting card is valid for only one year and, after that, the voter will need to furnish ID and proof of ownership (water) in order to vote again. There are only two places for early voting. In short, the WID with the help of Sen. Jose Rodriguez and others has made it very difficult for the remaining voters to vote. I have emailed Mr. Jesus “Chuy” Reyes an open records request under the laws of the State of Texas asking for the current voting registration rolls. He has acknowledged receipt of my email.

Stay tuned to elpasonaturally for more on the large farmers who run EPWID and why your Public Service Board needs to be far more accountable to all of you – citizens of El Paso – the Public.

Still no word about the Sierra Club petition for an injunction to stop construction on the TxDOT Transmountain project. I say this with a bit of trepidation because, just as I say this, something might happen. I re-published the El Paso’s Sierra Club Chairman’s request for donations for the legal battle. What may have held up U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel from making a decision on this injunction is a ruling that he just made on a Planned Parenthood request for a preliminary injunction to allow it to continue serving women under a State of Texas program for low-income women.  Now that that decision has been made, perhaps action on the Sierra petition will come more quickly.

Also, no news to report about the NW Master Plan, methods to preserve the arroyos and a “conservation easement” to preserve the natural open space in perpetuity. Carlos Gallinar of City of El Paso Planning has been upfront always when reporting to the Open Space Advisory Board and when answering questions from the public. He has been very interested in Low Impact Development (LID) solutions for preserving arroyos. His interest and the Planning Department’s research about LIDs is just another good side benefit of the petition that seeks to preserve land in the Scenic Corridor of Transmountain.

In case you didn’t know, the City’s Environmental Services has a free mulch program. Mulch is a great way to conserve water by preserving soil moisture in your garden and with your landscape plants, shrubs and trees. Mulch is a great ground cover and will help control weeds. Also, over time as it breaks down, mulch will add nutrients back into the soil. Each of the Citizen Collection stations has mulch that you may pick-up. (Bring a shovel.) Environmental Services Director, Ellen Smyth, says that the mulch is free and that you do not need to show a water bill to get it. Environmental Services also has a great Mulching and Composting guide online. Be sure to read it.

Speaking about water conservation, there is still time to get a free water-efficient showerhead from EPWU. Details here. You must fill out the coupon sent with your water bill or download one from online.  Do visit, bookmark and surf EPWU’s Less is the New More water conservation tips page. There is great information here and a number of ways to save money.

I wish that I could visit the PSB/EPWU website and not find anything too egregious. Unfortunately, the current first entry on the home page describes land in the NW Master Plan/Scenic Transmountain Corridor as “PSB-owned land”. No sugar coating – it’s a lie and one they just can’t stop telling. It’s City of El Paso owned land – your land as a City – not the PSB’s but only managed by the PSB. Some of us hope that the day will come when managing City of El Paso land will be the prerogative of Planning and Development. Some of us hope that the day will come when we citizens stop subsidizing developers and sprawl by turning $500/acre desert land without water into $10,000/acre land with plumbed water and sewer.

Finally, congratulations to Judy Ackerman, this year’s recipient of the Frontera Land Alliance “Rock Award”.

Congratulations to Judy Ackerman the 2012 Recipient of the Rock Award

Frontera President, Michael Gaglio, presenting the 2012 Rock Award to Judy Ackerman

At last week's Taste of Frontera, the Board of Directors of the Frontera Land Alliance presented Judy Ackerman with their "Rock Award" in honor of her hard work to promote conservation. 

". . . the activist's activist"

In his presentation of the award, Frontera President, Michael Gaglio, many of the organizations that have been enriched by Ackerman: the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition and its Castner Conservation Conveyance Committee, Master Naturalists, the El Paso Cactus and Rock Club, the El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society, the Friends of the Rio Bosqye, the Poppies Fest Steering Committee, the West Texas Transmountain Scenic Corridor Petition Group, League of Women Voters and the Toastmasters. Whew!


Gaglio called her "the activist's activist". He concluded by saying that "she is an inspiration to me and a great big part of the reason I am standing here tonight."


John Sproul, manager of the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, was the recipient last year.