Public Meetings on Parks Master Plan Update + Breaking News on NW Master Plan

Elpasonaturally readers, please pay close attention: The City of El Paso is updating the Department of Parks & Recreation’s Master Plan, which is their main guide for what they do. The current leadership at Parks and Recreation is narrowly focused primarily on turf, club sports and senior citizen bingo.  These are good things BUT conservation, preservation of eco-systems, learning about nature and using natural open space are nether regions of monsters and abyss beyond their flat earth thinking.  There will be two meetings to present recommendations and receive public input on the Parks Master Plan. Please make plans to attend either meeting and provided your input for parks in El Paso.  Meetings are this Thursday, June 7^th at 6 p.m. and Saturday, June 9^th at 10 a.m. Both will be held at the El Paso Museum of Art, 1 Arts Festival Plaza, off Santa Fe Street downtown. (Map) Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition President Scott Cutler says, “In addition to more natural open space parks for people to participate in and learn about nature, there are a number of other new concepts for parks that the Parks and Recreation Department should consider.”  Dave Wilson of the Borderland Mountain Bike Association wrote: “I'll be attending the one on Thursday evening.  Hopefully I'll be able to present some ideas for Chuck Heinrich Park in regards to safe access, more parking, etc. for the mountain bikers and hikers trying to access the state park.” Please read some thoughts about the Master Plan at elpasonaturally.  Also read a great article from the April 2012 Parks and Recreation magazine and a great article about planting more trees. You can see the current Master Plan online.

Sample questions to ask and/or things to look for in the updated Master Plan: How much focus is there on conservation and conservation education? How well does the new plan connect people with Nature? Is bicycling, walking and hiking main considerations? What kind of connections are made between parks, neighborhoods and natural open space? What is being done to build the urban tree canopy? Do birds and other animals have a place in the plan? Are natural open space parks being given proper attention? (There are actually several of these properties in the Parks inventory and most are ignored.) How are Seniors and others connected with the outdoors and plant and animal studies? Any mention of parks programs with emphasis on the natural sciences? What about organic maintenance of our parks and recreational facilities, the use of rainwater harvesting? BTW, the Department of General Services now maintains our parks, ball fields and recreational facilities. What role have they played in shaping the new Master Plan? How will our parks program participate in the City’s new comprehensive plan, Plan El Paso? Will it help promote Smart Growth and Green Infrastructure/Low Impact Development? Will it seek to protect the environment, ecosystems and habitats?

Please make an effort to attend at least one of these meetings.

BREAKING NEWS: The City/PSB Committee charged with making final recommendations for the NW Master Plan has unanimously decided that the best way to preserve land in the NW Master Plan in perpetuity is through a partnership with the Franklin Mountains State Park. Their fallback position is to dedicate that land as a City Park. Mr. Carlos Gallinar of City Planning gave the presentation just this afternoon to the Open Space Advisory Board on behalf of a joint City-PSB Committee that has been charged to make recommendations to City Council regarding the NW Master Plan especially in the light of a successful petition drive that calls for preserving land in its natural state in perpetuity.  When asked about the “negatives” for choosing a conservation easement, Mr. Gallinar would not elaborate.

There have been recent attempts to undermine conservation easements based on falsehoodsabout Frontera Land Alliance: Frontera is broke, their fees for managing a conservation easement are exorbitant, and that there is no back-up should Frontera not be able to fulfill its duties as land trustees. All of these statements are false as an email from Frontera Treasurer Charlie Wakeem explains. (Link directly above.) 

No matter the committee has unanimously recommended a partnership with the State Park. You can see the presentation to OSAB.  I will post more at elpasonaturally and through this e-letter as I learn more.

Charlie Wakeem gave an excellent Annual Report about the Open Space Advisory Board to City Council yesterday. See the presentation.

Now that O’Rourke has ousted eight-term Representative Silvestre Reyes, what is next for the conservation of Castner Range?  This is an important question since Reyes’ office had worked closely with the Castner Conservation Conveyance Committee (“4-C’s” crafted from Frontera Land Alliance and the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition) and had engineered a $300,000 earmark that funded a critical study essential for conveyance and a work in progress, the Castner CLUP (Conceptual Land Use Plan). It will take anywhere from 32 to 64 million dollars to clean up unexploded ordnance (UXO) on the Range. However, it isn’t all just a matter of money. Castner is somewhere in the middle of a Department of Defense list of properties that not only need this kind of clean-up but are actively seeking it. O’Rourke has made it clear that he supports the clean-up and preservation of Castner Range so that the natural open space can be enjoyed by all. A political-insider has said that O’Rourke “understands the wonders of the Chihuahua Desert ecosystem.”

Finally, if you have an interest in weather and would like to help your local community as well as scientists and others interested in precipitation, then there is a fun program for you: CoCoRaHS (the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network). Learn how you can get involved by becoming part of the backyard rain gauge brigade.

Public Meetings for El Paso Parks and Recreation Master Plan Update

Public Meetings on

El Paso Parks and Recreation

Master Plan Update

Meetings to be held at Museum of Art

El Paso, Texas - The City of El Paso will host two public meetings to present the recommendations for the ongoing Parks and Recreation Master Plan Update.

The first meeting will be at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 7th with the second meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 9th. Both meetings will be at the El Paso Museum of Art, One Arts Festival Plaza. (1st Floor in Contemporary Exhibit Space). (Map) Free parking is available at the City Hall parking lot after 6:00 p.m. for the first meeting or Saturday morning. Parking is also available either day for $5 across the street from the Museum under the Convention Center.

The city is updating the master plan for the parks and recreation system. Once the update is completed it will help the City set priorities for parks and recreation facilities for the next 5 to 10 years. As the City strives to improve the

quality of life in El Paso, plans of this nature are critical.

This process is being coordinated by the El Paso Parks and Recreation Department and a team of professional consultants. A primary goal of the planning process is to find out what park and recreation needs are desired by citizens of El Paso. In the previous months a telephone survey was conducted, and several stakeholder/interest groups were interviewed. All the opinions and desires were cumulated, and recommendations of the master plan update that were derived from the surveys are now available for public review.

Residents of El Paso will be able to review and comment on these recommendations at the two public meetings. Residents are encouraged to attend the public meetings as the information derived will be invaluable to the master planning process.

Information – (915) 541-4020

Connecting People to Nature Should Be a Key Goal in Any City Parks Master Plan

Currently Jim Carrillo of Halff Associates, Inc. is assisting the City's Parks and Recreation Department with its updating of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan. I just emailed Jim the following ideas:

We tend to think about parks and recreation in very two-dimensional, traditional ways: green spaces for playing and picnics and sports fields and facilities for organized games and senior and community activities which are carefully planned and directed. All of this is good and as it should be but then we set our goals based on this two-dimensional model only. Perhaps a model that adds a dimension of relating us to our natural world can open us up to some new possibilities.

You may already know about the Green Gym program in Great Britain. If not, you can get acquainted here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ81ToYh3Cc.  There’s a longer clip but with more explanation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT3xJO4lSqs&feature=related. The btcv green gym web page: http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/greengym. Green Gym is just one example of many ways in which to involve people in the outdoors with conservation by tackling a wide-range of projects. It need not be limited to a municipal parks and recreation department – but such a department is a good place for this kind of program. Also this kind of program suggests others and is merely a “manifestation” of many ways in which people are re-connecting with nature: community and neighborhood gardens, permaculture and so forth.

There must be a number of ways in which people can become more involved in animal habitat. This weekend our local Audubon group will visit two El Paso parks: Memorial and Billy Rogers Arroyo Park. Imagine if there could be more birdhouse programs, bat houses built, citizens planting trees. Even simple storm water management programs with “rain barrel” technology would be good.

I suggest that we involve more people in more nature-oriented projects most of which would be grass-root generated by citizens and their organizations.

Obviously the City of El Paso has set a goal to have healthier, less obese people. There is even a new walking program in the downtown area. It’s a bit tame – but a start. Many of our parks can be “connected” merely by defining walkways that people can use between and among neighborhoods with signage similar or not to that used for the downtown walking program. This same kind of park to park path-finding can be utilized to connect parks with natural open space. From our nice neighborhood park (Newman) we are easily connected on Sunday mornings to the natural open space that leads into the Franklin Mountains State Park at the other end of Scenic Drive. The City should identify other walkways to close on Sundays so that bicyclers, walkers, joggers and even Chihuahuas (on leashes of course) can wend their way from one point to another and even into a number of trailheads leading to the State Park without the presence of motorized vehicles. The use of GPS devices can be tied to City guided tours overseen by Parks and Recreation. Geocaches at various parks and at trailheads can encourage exploration and adventure.

Certainly where utility easements and other “paths” can be used as walkways, they should be.

One of our biggest natural assets in the City – one that holds tremendous potential as an eco-tourist and eco-tourist dollar magnet – is the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park. It is amazing that no dollars are dedicated to it and that it isn’t even mentioned in our Quality of Life Bond wish list. No effort is being made to solve its agonizing water problem and the current Parks and Recreation policy seems to be happy with letting UTEP manage the program on their own. The Park is part of our Parks and Recreation inventory and is a jewel of a place for relating people to nature.

And, of course, neighborhood and community gardens should be fostered. Tomorrow we open a new garden at Vista del Valle Park. It should be a prototype and the beginning of more such gardens around the City and an integral part of the Parks and Recreation program. Along with more community gardens should be an emphasis on ethnobotany – native plants that can be foraged for nutrition and medicinal purposes. I lived for 18 years in the Issaquah, Washington area. Along one boulevard were apple trees which people would pick from in the fall. Imagine re-connecting with mesquite beans, chokeberries and prickly pears. Imagine a “recreation” of milling and canning and not just bingo and dominoes.

Bottom line: I’m suggesting that the added dimension to any Parks and Recreation Plan be ways to connect people to Nature and get them involved with conservation, ecology and environmental protection. It would be a program that would help re-build the eco-system that we have so damaged or destroyed not just in El Paso but in cities and towns everywhere.

Parks & Recreation Gets a Progress Report

There is a Parks and Recreation Master Plan (adopted September 16, 2006) and an Open Space Master Plan (March 17, 2007). Today El Paso's Parks & Recreation Department got a progress report from Jim Carrillo of Halff Associates, Inc, the consulting firm that guided citizens through the master plan processes.

The El Paso Parks 2006-2009 Progress Report is well worth taking the time to read. Carrillo gives a detailed analysis of how well the City has done in the past three years with its Parks and Open Space master plans. Three major "progress indicators" were used to "grade" the City's efforts: Significant Progress, Ongoing Progress and No Major Progress.

Significant Progress was made in these areas:

• Parkland dedication as a tool to provide much needed parks
• Acquisition of smaller parks (excepting in parts of the City with slower growth
• Trail development in parks
• Use of stormwater fee to fund open space
• Core staff improvements, automation, fiscal accounting

Areas with Ongoing Progress:

• Parkland improvements
• Parkland acquisition in areas of City with slower growth
• Acquisition of non-stormwater related open space
• Open Space oversight structure
• Longer trail corridors
• Long term governance structure

And the areas with no Major Progress:

• Parkland acquisition to address community and regional park needs
• Regional park development
• Annual capital expenditure funding source for immediate park system needs
• Opportunity funding for open space and trails

Interestingly, no members of either the Open Space Advisory Board or the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board were alerted by Parks and Recreation staff that the report would be given to Council. You would think that many members (or, at least, the Chairman of these boards) would want to take the time to go to the Council meeting.

You have probably seen this popular advertisement on television:

When citizens work hard to help write master plans, their expectations are that the plans will be carried out. Little do they know that there are staff persons and others ready to limit their expectations to a very small space. "Well . . . you can't ride very far," the villain in the ad explains. Sound familiar?