ACTION ALERT! Protect Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

Travel-National Geographic image

The designation of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument could be in danger of being Trumped. Back in April, President Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of the Interior to conduct a review of all national monuments designated since 1996. The Southwest Environmental Center writes: "The intent behind this order is clear: to reduce or eliminate monuments to make way for more mining, logging, and extraction."

SWEC tells you where to go online to make a comment. It even gives you some tips for making an effective comment. Go HERE.

Tomorrow (June 27) at 9AM the Doña Ana County Commissioners will consider a resolution to save Organ Mountains-Desert Peak. If you want to attend, follow this Action Alert from the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition:

Creation of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in 2014 inspired Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition’s efforts to make Castner Range a National Monument (these efforts continue).

This Tuesday, the Doña Ana County Commission will be voting on two Resolutions that will potentially impact the future of our Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument.

We urge you to attend the County Commission meeting on Tuesday and contact the Commissioners now asking them to pass the Resolution supporting the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, and oppose any anti-Monument resolution or amendments.

The stakes couldn't be higher-it's crucial that the County Commission take a strong stand of support of our National Monument. YOUR voice is critically needed on Tuesday to make this stand.
Help Protect Public Lands
What:  Dona Ana County Commission Meeting
Date:  Tuesday June 27th
Time:  9 AM
Location:  845 N. Motel Blvd. Las Cruces, NM  88007
Agenda:  HERE

Urge Doña Ana County Commission to protect our public lands and oppose any anti-Monument resolution or amendments.
Here are the Commissioners Email Addresses and office phone numbers:


District 1
BILLY G. GARRETT
Office:      (575) 525-5808
E-mail: bgarrett@donaanacounty.org

District 2
RAMON S. GONZALEZ
Office:      (575) 525-5804
E-mail: rgonzalez@donaanacounty.org

District 3
BENJAMIN L. RAWSON
Office:     (575) 525-5807  Cell:  575-649-4153
E-mail: brawson@donaanacounty.org or brawson@rawson-inc.com

District 4
ISABELLA SOLIS - CHAIR
Offfice:     (575) 525-5810
E-mail: isolis@donaanacounty.org

District 5
JOHN L. VASQUEZ - VICE CHAIR
Office:      (575) 525-5809
E-mail: jvasquez@donaanacounty.org
Additional Background Information

Join the Facebook Event HERE.
Article: "Pearce urges Zinke to shrink Organ Mountains monument" HERE.
Friends of Organ Mountains Desert Peaks Information HERE.
Monument Official Site HERE.

Sierra Club has more information HERE.

From the Albuquerque Journal. Click on image to enlarge.

Defense and Interior Departments Commit to Castner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What Now?

Photo by Shane C. Canada

In less than two hours Donald Trump will become the 45th President of the United States which means, of course, that the presidency of Barak Obama will be history. The chances of Castner Range becoming a national monument are now zero. So, what now? 

One of the leading activists behind preserving Castner, Judy Ackerman, told me that efforts will now be in the direction of making Castner part of the State Park. "There were too many complications," she said about Obama's decision not to make it a national monument mainly the unexploded ordnance. However, she assured me, no one is stopping in the drive to preserve Castner. Work has been going on since 1978, she said, and will continue. There is an "outpouring of support" from over 35,000 El Pasoans who signed letters. Judy also said that Beto O'Rourke has made it known that he will pursue other avenues.

So the cause to preserve Castner is not over. In some ways, it has really just begun.

Hope was one of President Obama's themes. It is now ours as the community pursues the preservation of the beautiful Castner Range.

Like Saving Money? Make Castner Range a National Monument!

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

The Countdown Begins

Poppies on Castner Range. Picture by Mark Clune

Will a Castner Range National Monument be set to launch in the next two weeks or is it down for the count? President Obama now only has 19 days left as President. Will he declare Castner Range a National Monument . . . or not?

Recently Mr. Obama made Bears Ears in Utah and Gold Butte in Neveda national monuments. 

According to the Portland Press Herald: "Administration officials are eyeing an expansion of the California Coastal National Monument and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument as well as the establishment of one monument in South Carolina and two in Alabama to commemorate the Reconstruction and civil rights eras, respectively."

No mention has been made about Castner Range.

However, Congressman Beto O'Rourke told this anecdote in public:

"Amy and I were waiting in line to greet the President at the White House’s annual Christmas reception. I said to Amy: 'I just can’t bring up Castner Range to the President on an occasion like this. I’ll just shake his hand and wish him a Merry Christmas.' But Amy said: 'You have GOT to bring up Castner Range! This may be your last face-to-face with President Obama!!' So when I shook the President’s hand I said: 'I really want you to declare Castner Range a National Monument.' To which he responded with one word: 'Okay.'"

Nineteen days to find out. Nineteen days.

The Friday Video: Interview with Janae' Reneaud Field and Judy Ackerman

This is a must see video of an interview of two people who have done much toward making Castner Range a National Monument. I asked Judy Ackerman what was next and she told me that people should keep sending in letters. The clock is ticking. Obama will leave office and Trump will become President. President Obama is the last great chance that we have. Now is the time to help make Castner Range a National Monument. Please help. Go HERE.

If you can't see the video on your device, go to elpasonaturally.blogspot.com.

Castner Range Public Meeting: A Must Attend Event

Courtesy of Mark Clune

elpasonaturally cannot emphasize enough the importance of tomorrow's public meeting to make Castner Range a National Monument. In order to become a National Monument, Castner will need the approval of Congress or the President. Do not count on Congress and, once Mr. Trump is inaugurated, do not count on the President. President Obama is our last, best hope. We must show his administration our overwhelming support. Please attend Rep. O'Rourke's meeeting tomorrow at EPCC Transmountain Campus Forum Theater. (MAP) Here is Rep. O'Rourke's message and more details: 


Castner Range is one of the cultural, historical, and ecological treasures of our region that should be protected for future generations.

I want to invite you to join me for a public meeting that I am hosting about the future of Castner Range on Saturday, November 19, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. 

The event will take place at the El Paso Community College Transmountain Campus Forum Theater (9570 Gateway N Blvd). There will be experts, public officials, music, and culture. 

This is your chance to make your voice heard. I hope to see you on November 19th! 

RSVP here: https://www.facebook.com/BetoORourkeTX16/events/ 

Thank you,

Beto


Congressman Beto O’Rourke announced he will hold a public meeting to discuss why the President should designate Castner Range a national monument. This public meeting will be the community’s chance to speak directly with public officials and experts about why this land should be protected in perpetuity. 

Join us Saturday, November 19, for a family friendly event to show your support for Castner Range as a National Monument! 
Enjoy music, performers, food trucks, kids free activities and much more!  Please do not forget to walk inside to view the beautiful art work by our local school children ranging in ages from pre-k to high school, all telling through their art why Castner Range should be forever.

Inside Venue (Forum Auditorium): 
9:00 to 9:50 a.m.: Castner Range Video, and Live Performances by Brass Quintet and Viva El Paso.
10:00 – 12:00: Public Meeting on Castner Range

Outside Venue: 
10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Live Entertainment, Music, Food Trucks, Free Activities (Obstacle Course, Rock Wall, Bouncy House)
11:30 a.m. Awards Ceremony Recognizing Participation of Schools


Let us hear your voice Saturday on why you want to see Castner Range as a National Monument!

Save the Date: A Special Plea from Frontera's Director

Click on image to enlarge.

The Director of Frontera Land Alliance, Janae' Reneaud Field, has sent out this plea to all of us who favor land conservation, especially the preservation of Castner Range:

Over 34,000 El Pasoans have signed the letter to make Castner Range a National Monument. Over 100 El Paso businesses also signed. The El Paso County Commissioners’ Court, the County Judge, the El Paso City Council, the Mayor, the City-affiliated Neighborhood Coalition, El Paso’s five Texas State Representatives and our State Senator have signed the Proclamation of Support, and the Times has published two dozen op-eds in support of a National Monument. And for the last 12 months, Congressman Beto O’Rourke and his staff have strongly backed our drive to conserve Castner Range, which began 50 years ago when the Range was closed down.

Yet Washington DC wants more. “Can we actually see the faces of these folks who say they support a Castner Range National Monument? Can you get these folks together so we can hear with our own ears that El Pasoans really want a Monument? Let’s see if you are up to that,” say the high-placed people in DC.

And so we’re going to do it! At 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19th a major Castner Range event will take place in the auditorium of the Transmountain Campus of the El Paso Community College, on the US 54 Freeway north of Diana Drive and just across from Castner Range itself. Viva El Paso and Ballet Folclórico will be on hand. Animals from the Zoo will howl upon command. The Brass Quartet will play to beat the band. A surprise VIP from old DC will be there to see us take a stand. And best of all (for the rest of the folks in DC) the event will be live-streamed.

But the biggest focus will be on you. The DC decision-makers need to hear why you want Castner Range to be a National Monument. They must hear why you support the drive to conserve the Range. So when you go to the open mic, you’ll have a chance to “speak Castner to power” and tell DC both loud and clear that the time for a Monument is now (and not another 50 years from now).

So let us know that you’ll be there at 10 a.m. on Sat., Nov. 19th. Please RSVP by emailing me at janae@fronteralandalliance.org or by phoning me at 915.351.8352. Leave a message if you wish.

We really hope to see you on Saturday the 19th. We need to see you there.


Janaé

Castner and Pipeline

Just want to catch you up on two stories: Castner Range and the pipeline to, through and under San Elizario.

Something big could be happening with Castner. Franklin Mountains Wilderness sent this plea to save Saturday, November 19th at 10 AM for a public meeting about Castner Range. When sending it, Secretary Judy Ackerman wrote: 

Dear Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition Organizational Members,

We need YOUR help NOW in order to make Castner Range a National Monument!

What:  !! Castner Range Public Meeting !!
Come so President Obama hears our community voice!
Date:  19 November, 2016
Time:  9:15 - noon
Location:  El Paso Community College, Transmountain Campus, 9570 Gateway N. Blvd

PLEASE share this event with your organization’s members and ask them to attend. 

We would dearly like to have an estimate of how many of your members will attend.

Individuals can RSVP via Facebook Event HERE, or directly to Janae' Reneaud Field Janae@fronteralandalliance.org, 915-351-8352.


Since 1978, we have been working to protect Castner Range from development. With the help of Congressman Beto O’Rourke, this is the closest we have ever been to conserving Castner. 

My inside sources tell me that an overflow crowd of 200, 300 or more people is hoped for. A grand poohpah from D.C. will be there and will be guaging support for preserving Castner Range. 

All of this year, Rep. O'Rourke's office has been driving a public relations campaign to convince one of the President's top advisers that Castner should be declared a National Monument. Convince this guy and you convince Obama.

I've also been told that it is a coin toss: a 50-50 chance that it can go either way. Expect an official White House decision before Christmas. So, elpasonaturally will continue to beat the drum between now and the 19th. Let's overflow the meeting hall.

There are two more events coming up:

A community forum in San Elizario tomorrow (Saturday, November 5th) at 2 PM will take on the issue of the pipeline going under and through San Elizario that is being built by the same company that is defiling Native American land in North Dakota. Thanks to activists such as Crystal Arrieta, Eric Stolz and others (some of whom I met at the Water Townhall Meeting on October 26th) more and more local active opposition to the San Elizario pipeline is forming.

The Academic Revival of Indigenous Studies & Education at UTEP is sponsoring another forum about the Comanche Pipeline in San Elizario on November 10th at 11:30 AM in Leech Grove on the campus.

What is encouraging is that there is now a strong grassroots movement by much younger people than you find in FMWC for example. They are far more savvy and activist than the older generations.

Castner Range National Monument will help to protect wildlife habitat

The Gambel's Quail is one of two species of quail living in the Castner Range.

by Rick LoBello

A growing number of people in El Paso are supporting a new conservation movement to protect the Castner Range area of the Franklin Mountains in northeast El Paso as a National Monument.  The Castner Range is home to more than 650 species of Chihuahuan Desert plants, 33 species of reptiles, over a 100 species of birds and nearly 30 species of mammals.  There also maybe hundreds if not thousands of species of invertebrates and microorganisms yet to be discovered.   Supporting local conservation efforts is a high priority and many people in El Paso are involved with groups like the Sierra Club, Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition and the Audubon Society.

Last year El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke proposed legislation in concert with a current letter campaign asking President Obama to use his authority under the Antiquities Act to protect the Castner Range landscape in western Texas as a national monument.  The national monument would honor the cultural, historical, scientific and environmental connections to the region.   Over 16,000 people have already signed letters to the President (sign the e-letter at castner4ever.com) 

Support for the monument is coming from across the community and is growing by the day.   This past January El Paso’s City Council unanimously approved a resolution urging that Castner Range be dedicated as a National Monument.  School children are also getting involved and over a 1000 people attending the Poppies Fest this past April signed letters to the President.

One question that is often asked is why should the United States designate a Castner Range National Monument in El Paso?  The answer is pretty simple.  A national monument will help protect this large area of the Franklin Mountains and the wildlife that lives there for the enjoyment of current and future generations. It will ensure that the public can continue to enjoy these lands forever, and it will help the El Paso region maintain and build a strong, diverse economy by protecting important open space that creates new opportunities for economic development through tourism and recreation.

The Friday Video: Castner Range Video with Mr. Lopez

Mr. Pablo Lopez teaches at hillside Elementary. He was born, raised and still lives in the Segundo Barrio. A graduate of Bowie High School and UTEP, he is the President of the Southside Neighborhood Association.

Please help make Castner Range a National Monument. Visit castnerrangenationalmonument.org to find out how.




Remember: if you receive elpasonaturally as an email, you won't see the video. Go to elpasonaturally.blogspot.com to view.

The Friday Video: El Paso Speaks out - Proposed Castner Range National Monument

Castner Range Celebration

Click on image to enlarge.

Winton Homes Sees Multiple Benefits

The author of this blog and candidate for City Council District 2, Jim Tolbert, holds up the sign "Save Castner"

[The following op-ed piece appeared in yesterday's El Paso Times. It is written by Mr. Scott Winton, the Vice-President of Business Development for Winton Homes in El Paso. Scott is also a board member of the Frontera Land Alliance.]

Winton Homes recognizes that a healthy environment makes for a healthy city and people want to live in healthy cities.  Much of Texan identity can be attributed to the state’s diverse landscape. We are proud of our heritage, both cultural and natural. Our lands make up the special fabric of our home state. We have regional differences – lakes in the Dallas area; deserts in the Far West; beaches along the Gulf Coast and rolling Hill Country in between – but it is all these features that combined make our state unique.

El Paso is diligently working to attract new businesses to the region and part of that appeal is the wealth of outdoor activities.  A Castner Range National Monument within the City limits would be a major attraction to businesses thinking of setting up shop in the Sun City. Research on the economic contribution of national monuments in the West created in the last generation found that adjacent economies grew, adding new jobs, and per capita income increased, in real terms, in every case after the creation of these national monuments. Headwaterseconomics.org, Winter 2012

Simultaneously, within the last five years, 88% of Texas experienced an exceptional drought. While the drought conditions have eased for many of us, the drought of 2010-2015 was the second worst in the history of our state. And scientists have warned us that frequent droughts may become a permanent part of our lives. Nothing is more important for our lives – and livelihoods – than having clean water to drink. Conserving land will ensure that more of the precious little water that falls will soak into the ground and our aquifers, replenishing our water supply. 

We draw on lessons learned from landscape ecology, open-space development, and regional planning. Winton Homes weighs the biophysical, economic, and institutional evidence for and against conservation development. We have learned that conservation development offers many potential environmental and economic advantages. As we develop with conservation as a part of the process we have seen relatively high home values and appreciation rates and lower development costs. It is also wonderful to know that we have helped protect and actively work to use native desertscapes at our homes. It is not always easy to achieve conservation criteria since it may take longer to meet institutional regulations and regional planning, it is not always more profitable than conventional development. But to address the drop income would be to offer subsidies or incentives. Winton Homes believes that conservation development could be a viable strategy for sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services in changing landscapes.

Investing in the conservation of Castner Range is an investment in clean water, air and energy, all natural resources, and an investment in our community. Conserving Castner Range as a national monument will preserve the fragile lands at the urban fringe around the Franklin Mountains State Park. A national monument will address many needs and will provide benefits to public health, education, natural resource management and the El Paso area’s economy, and will preserve the breathtaking view-sheds of and from the Franklin Mountains. Dedicating these lands as a National Monument will safeguard cultural resources and a network of natural areas that enhance our community’s unique character, culture and sense of place. Conserving Castner Range as a National Monument will save hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure costs and maintenance, now and for scores of years to come.

Winton Homes is supportive of seeing natural areas and the opportunity to be physically connected to our natural and cultural heritage.  We can create opportunities for our local economies to grow by investing in land for outdoor recreation, for wildlife, and water. Such investments have a ripple effect. In addition, investment in a nature-based park, such as Castner Range National Monument, can create more jobs and lead to more visitor spending. Locally, in 2006, the Hueco Tanks State Park brought in $582,207 in county sales and $331,774 in county residents’ personal income.  In 2007 Hueco Tanks and Franklin Mountains State Park brought 72,644 visitors to El Paso County (Texas State Parks, Natural Economic Assets).

Three Important City Council Items Tomorrow

On tomorrow's City Council agenda there are three very important items that should concern the "green" community:

First and foremost - Discussion and action on a resolution supporting the designation of Castner Range as a National Monument. You can see the resolution HERE. It is Item 21.2 on the agenda.

Next - Presentation on 2016 Glass Recycling Pilot Program. It is Item 21.3. Read more about the pilot program HERE. 

Finally and very importantly - Discussion and action on a Resolution establishing a Regional Renewable Energy Advisory Council for the purpose of advising the City of El Paso on matters related to renewable energy strategy and industry development. Item 28.1. You can view the summary, resolution and presentation HERE. The one defect in the proposed composition of the Council is the inclusion of "a single technical advisor from the local electric utility as a non-voting member." Given the fact that the El Paso Electric Company wants to destroy the solar rooftop industry in El Paso, they should have no part in a Regional Renewable Energy Advisory Council. Elpasopolitically comments further.

Castner Range Conservation Clears First Hurdle

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Help Preserve Castner Range with Letter to President Obama

Mexican Poppies on Castner Range. Photo by Chuck Kooshian

Sample Letter to Presdident Obama

Earlier today I went to the Frontera Land Alliance Office to turn in some letters to the Executive Director, Janae' Reneaud Field. She told me that we have until January 20, 2016 to get the first 1,000 letters to President Obama asking him to designate Castner Range as a National Monument.

You can download a sample letter (above) by clicking on the title. Download, print, fill out (you can hand print), sign and mail or email the letter  to Janaé Reneaud Field, Frontera Land Alliance, 3800 N. Mesa St., Suite A2-258. El Paso, TX 79902. E-mail: Janae@Fronteralandalliance.org.

Please don't return to the President. We want to collect all the letters first and then send them.

You can learn more about the effort to preserve Castner Range as a National Monument by visiting:

https://www.facebook.com/castnerrange/?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/CastnerRange

http://castnerrangenationalmonument.org/

http://fronteralandalliance.org/

O'Rourke Seeks National Monument Designation for Castner Range

The office of Beto O'Rourke announced just a few minutes ago that Rep. O'Rourke has introduced legislation to preserve Castner Range. The proposed legislation is in concert with a current letter campaign which asks President Obama to use his "authority under the Antiquities Act to protect the Castner Range landscape in western Texas as a national monument that honors the cultural, historical, scientific and environmental connections to the region."

You can download the letter from HERE. After printing it and signing, send to Janaé Reneaud Field, Executive Director, Frontera Land Alliance, 3800 N. Mesa St., Suite A2-258, El Paso, TX 79902 or email Janae@Fronteralandalliance.org.

Congressman O'Rourke's office issued this press release:

"Today Congressman Beto O'Rourke introduced the Castner Range National Monument Act. Castner Range is a 7,081-acre mountain range surrounded by the Franklin Mountains State Park in Northeast El Paso. This bill would protect Castner Range in perpetuity by making it a national monument.

The bill is the result of a community effort led by the Frontera Land Alliance, the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition and other environmental community leaders who have been working to protect Castner Range since the 1970s.

O’Rourke’s legislation will ensure that the public can continue to enjoy these lands forever while shining a national spotlight on El Paso. Castner Range would become the first national monument in West Texas and also the largest in any major metropolitan U.S. city. A national monument designation would also help El Paso realize new opportunities for economic development through tourism and outdoor recreation.

This legislation eventually transfers the mountain range from the Department of Defense (DoD) to the Department of Interior.

Congressman Beto O’Rourke said, “Castner Range is the crown jewel of West Texas. It deserves to be protected and preserved in its natural state. This legislation is written to do just that. I am grateful to the Frontera Land Alliance, the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition and our environmental and community partners for helping me write this legislation.”


For more information:
The Frontera Land Alliance's Castner Range Facebook page and Twitter page. 

Castnerrangenationalmonument.org should soon be live.

O'Rourke to Lead Campaign for Preservation of Castner Range

Click on image to enlarge.

I just got this from the Director of Frontera Land Alliance, Janae' Reneaud-Field:

Important announcement from Congressman Beto O’Rourke: He will lead the campaign to make Castner Range a National Monument, preserving it forever! 

On Nov. 12 we met with Congressman Beto O’Rourke and five members of his senior staff at the El Paso Community Foundation’s “Foundation Room.” There, Beto announced that he himself will lead the campaign to make Castner Range a National Monument, thus preserving it forever!

And now we’ve got our marching orders: “Work harder than ever to conserve Castner Range!!!” Since Nov. 12 we’ve been collecting letters of support, with the goal to get 1,000 letters by January 6, 2016, 5,000 by April and 10,000 by September. We’re also seeking City of El Paso and El Paso County resolutions. We are setting up a Castner Range National Monument webpage, twitter, and Facebook site. Until the sites are up and running you can learn more about Castner Range by watching a 10-minute summary: http://fronteralandalliance.org/castner/.

As all of you know, Castner Range occupies 11 square miles on the eastern slopes of El Paso’s Franklin Mountains, just east of the state park. The Range is in nearly pristine condition thanks to the stewardship of the US Army that owns the land, and the unexploded ordnance that possibly lies thereon. But commercial development of Castner has been a constant threat for decades and is still a threat today. 

Anyway, please send us your letter of support to designate Castner Range as a National Monument. Mail or email the letter to Janaé Reneaud Field, Frontera Land Alliance, 3800 N. Mesa St., Suite A2-258. El Paso, TX 79902. E-mail: Janae@Fronteralandalliance.org

If you’d like to help in these efforts or if you want additional information, please call Janaé at 915-351-8352 or send her an e-mail.

One way to sign the letter is to visit Santa at the El Paso Zoo December 12-13. Go see Santa, the Meerkats, the other animals, and stop by the Frontera booth to sign the letter.

Below is the letter. Click on the title above it, then download and print. Please sign, print name, address, etc. underneath your signature. Send to Janae' at the address above and NOT the President.

Letter to President Obama to Preserve Castner Range as National Monument

Former Congressman Silvestre Reyes laid a foundation for the Castner preservation. He arranged for "a $300,000 grant to the Castner Conservation Conveyance Committee, which from early 2010 through September 2015 did a ton of background work (including two book-length publications and a ten-minute video) and truly prepared the way for O’Rourke’s current effort," according to CCCC member, Dr. Richard Teschner.

O'Rourke made the announcement that he would lead the preservation effort this past Saturday, November 21st, at a town hall meeting at Fire Station #5 in South Central El Paso.

Dr. Richard Teschner Receives Star on the Mountain Award

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

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

Star on the Mountain Award

Presented to

Dr. Richard Teschner

The City of El Paso applauds your advocacy and

commitment to build the Franklin Mountains

State Park Headquarters and Visitor Center.

Your contributions and generosity continue to improve

the quality of life for the El Paso community.

Mayor Oscar Leeser - September 15, 2015

Charlie Wakeem and Richard Teschner at Resler Canyon

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

Dr. Teschner advocating for the preservation of Castner Range

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

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