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.
[Sorry. If you receive these posts as an email, the videos will not embed. Please go to www.elpasonaturally.blogspot.com.) In a previous post I said that painting your roof white is debatable. It reflects heat in the summer but how does it do with keeping the house warm in the winter? The people I know who have done it are happy in the summer and the winter. A Mother Jones article Cool It on the AC Already: How air conditioning is making us hotter supports using white reflective paint on your rooftop. Their point: "We spend $11 billion on cooling each year and release roughly 100 million tons of carbon dioxide in the process—the same as 19 million cars." The article gives the usual recommendations: turning up the thermostat, using fans . . . painting your roof white. This first video should have been edited to cut to the chase: the difference between the temperature of an unpainted roof and a painted one. The difference is dramatic!
This next video is a how to and the how to is pretty simple. The example is that of a flat top roof but painting a pitched roof is the same. (BTW, it takes a lot of water to wash a roof so this may also be a good time to put in some gutters and use rain barrels to water your yard or garden.)
Right now this strikes me as an early morning project or one that can best be done in the cooler late Fall. And btw, the Mother Jones article says that evaporative coolers are best in drier climates. Most of us in El Paso know that if we own an evaporative cooler. The concern is the amount of water that is lost when cooling this way. I use a bleeder hose that I can move and water different parts of my yard and garden. Just saying.
From l. to r., Joyce Ford, Armando Villaverde, Christina Gurrola, Jim Tolbert, Judy Ackerman, Rosario Rivera, Rick Bonart
Christina Gurrola is getting some well deserved praise and recognition now. Kristopher Rivera writes about her in today's El Paso Times Tiempo: El Paso singer-songwriter perseveres, launches debut EP. She was a finalist on "Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento", Mexico's "American Idol". A very beautiful and a lovely woman, she has the voice of an angel. I've known Chrissy since 2010 when she helped collect petition signatures which ultimately led to the new Northwest Master Plan which preserved 800 acres of natural open space and saved arroyos from development. Christina was one of the top petition gatherers. She also invited me to a couple of her gigs so I could speak to the audience about preserving our mountains. It's only fitting that today's Friday video be one of her recordings. You can subscribe to her channel on You Tube and follow her on Facebook.
[Janae' Reneaud Field, the Executive Director of Frontera Land Alliance introduced a new conservation initiative yesterday at the Open Space Advisory Board. The initiative leverages funds and partnerships. Below is the initiative. Do become familiar with Frontera. Support it with your tax-free donations.]
Introduction of Frontera Land Alliance and why it started this initiative
The Frontera Land Alliance (Frontera), a local 501(c) (3) non-profit focuses on the conservation of water, land and open space. We work in Hudspth, Culberson El Paso, and may work in southern NM counties. We focus our efforts on: 1) Enhance the protection of the Franklin Mountains with additional buffer lands; 2) Protect water resources—rivers, streams and wetlands, watershed, aquifers; 3) Protect species diversity, rare species habitat and other significant habitat, and enhance the protection of these ecosystems; 4) protect working farms and ranches; 5) Preserve scenic views, critical open space and historic character of the built and unbuilt environment; 6) Link protected lands and promote existing greenways, trails and provide opportunity for new trail development, or other recreational opportunities and; One way to achieve the above goals is with an initiative Frontera is investigating, which is a collaborative project that will leverage funds and partnerships. Examples of the types of grants available 1)Types of support that possibly could be provided by foundations and government agencies include the purchase of conservation easements or acquire fee simple lands. a.Lands of conservation interest could include natural arroyos, recreational lands, connector trails for wildlife and people b.Conservation easements allow funds to go further & landowner stays on tax roll and they are the managers of their lands. 2)Address flooding in low income neighborhoods by conserving lands around them to allow a place for the water to flow naturally away from low income neighborhoods 3)Conservation of large animals and their habitat such as the mountain lion 4)Address the mental and physical health of people by getting people outside and allowing them the places to become active or just be in nature Frontera has relationships with several foundations that have interest in conservation, but we need matching funds before we can approach them for additional grant funds. Example of how this process might work:
To be able to approach the foundations we need to know who is participating, what the parties and individuals can bring to the table (land or matching funds). Need to know details such as the number of acers to be conserved and what method (fee simple, conservation, donations of land or conservation easements), and the amount of matching funds we have and what amount of grant funds we are asking from them, and finally a map of the lands. We will summarize this information and present it to the identified foundations asking for permission to submit a full proposal.
"We the People" begin to gather for yesterday's Open Space Advisory Board meeting.
To all of you great people who attended the Open Space Board meeting yesterday and spoke out during the call to the public: I've said it before and I'll say it again: "Leadership for real change must begin with We the People. We cannot afford to be complacent and disorganized any longer." I wrote that in a blog post apologizing to the Knapps and saying that they have every right to develop their land and have no choice but to do so since they have found no accommodation with the city after six years of trying. The land has value and it is taxable. On the other hand, I hope that they don't develop. They like you and me value our mountainsides. It's not them. It's the city and the politics of the city. Money for open space is drained for pork barrel projects, the park ponds. Money evaporates because of bureaucratic failures. Money protects the monied interests and not the interests of the public. Who pays for it? You and me. Just look at your ridiculous property taxes. If you are a business person, just look at all the waste caused by onerous city rules and regulations. If our city politicians had the will to do what is right and not what is in the interest of their big contributors, we could do more with improving our infrastructure, preserving our natural treasures of mountains, desert and wetlands, and restoring our historic buildings.
[The following is a press release from the Southwest Environmental Center. Dr. Paul Hyder is actively involved in Celebration of Our Mountains, Master Naturalists, and frequently speaks to a number of El Paso's outdoors and natural history groups. Hyder's presentation is well-worth the trip to Las Cruces.]
Herpetofauna of the Northern Chihuahuan desert
Did you know that the Chihuahuan Desert is home to over 170 herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians within a specific region) species? Though conditions in the desert can be harsh, that doesn’t stop a diverse array of species from flourishing. Join us for a special presentation at the Southwest Environmental Center (MAP) on August 11th at 7:00 pm as Dr. Paul Hyder explores the various aspects relating to the ecology and biology of these animals within Dona Aña and Otero Counties in New Mexico and Hudspeth County in Texas. The presentation is part of SWEC’s monthly Tuesday Talks series, and is free and open to the public. For more information, call (575) 522-5552. Established in 1992, the Southwest Environmental Center works to protect and restore native wildlife and their habitats in the southwestern borderlands. Visit wildmesquite.org to learn more. Contact Tricia Snyder, 575-522-5552; tricia@wildmesquite.org.
