March 2007

FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS NOTES
Newsletter of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
March 2007


Next Meeting: March 21, 2007

The next meeting of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition is Wednesday, March 21st at 7 p.m. This meeting will take place at a different location than usual: the Centennial Museum on the UTEP campus. Parking will be available in the museum’s parking lot and on the street. Please be prompt. If you arrive late and are unable to enter the building, please call Scott Cutler at 747-6668.


The Poppies Celebration will be a Free Family Fun Day on March 17th from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. at the El Paso Museum of Archaeology on Transmountain Road. The event is hosted by the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition and the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition. There will be a full program of nature walks and talks, educational exhibits, children’s activities, Plein art painting, demonstrations and a photography workshop. Free parking will be available down the road at the National Border Patrol Museum, 4315 Transmountain Road.

A highlight of the event is something we have all been working hard on and looking forward to: the presentation of our Castner Range Preservation Letter and petitions to Representative Silvestre Reyes at 2:30 P.M. on the grounds of the Museum of Archaeology. Hard to believe, folks, that the day has finally arrived! We need to gather any remaining petitions by Sunday, March 11 so call Kathy McConaghie at 227-5330 to arrange drop-off or pick-up. We will be making copies for our archives and binding the originals early next week so it’s important we have all of them by Sunday. Thank you again to all of you who worked so tirelessly to gather signatures and to the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition for helping to make this event a reality.

We hope to see all FMWC members, families, and friends at the Celebration. We will have an art project at our table for all ages to participate in – paper “Poppy Bricks” on which we invite you to write your thoughts, memories, dreams, wishes, or beliefs about and for the poppies and Castner Range. These “bricks” will become a “wall” which will reflect desert fields of golden poppies imprinted with the heartfelt words of the men, women and children who believe in the preservation of the Range. Be sure to stop by to see us and be prepared to express your feelings poetically, philosophically, reflectively, plainly… See you there!


MAKE IT A CONSERVATION WEEKEND!
by Rick LoBello

For all those wanting to make it a conservation weekend, the Zoo is having a Habitat for Wildlife Weekend on March 17th and 18th. So you can go to the Poppies Celebration on Saturday and go to the Zoo on Sunday. From 10 A.M. to 3 P.M. each day, the Zoo’s volunteers and staff will be encouraging Zoo visitors to learn more about and get involved with habitat conservation using 15 new computers donated by the West El Paso and Juarez Industrial Rotary Clubs.

There is also a new website we should all check out at http://www.chihuahuandesert.org/. The


Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition is looking for volunteers to help build the website into a premier resource center on the Chihuahuan Desert.

Franklins to be Prominent at March 13th
El Paso City Council Meeting
by John Sproul

When El Paso’s City Council meets on Tuesday, March 13, there will be two items on the agenda of great interest to friends of the Franklin Mountains.

First up will be a Mayor’s Proclamation supporting the Franklin Mountains Poppies Celebration. Supporters of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition and the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition, and all who are enthusiastic about the poppies and the Celebration, are invited to attend the meeting and come forward when the proclamation is presented. The two coalitions will in turn present each council member and the Mayor with a T-shirt commemorating the event and a packet of Mexican gold poppy seeds.

Next, on the Regular Agenda, will be discussion and action on incorporating the City’s new open space plan – Towards a Bright Future: A Green Infrastructure Plan for El Paso, Texas – into the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The open-space plan addresses open space throughout the City and includes a number of important recommendations relating to the Franklins, including protection of arroyos and protection of Castner Range. You can view the plan at:
http://www.elpasotexas.gov/green_infrastructure/ .

The meeting starts at 9 A.M. in City Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall. The Mayor’s Proclamation on the Poppies Celebration will be presented early in the meeting. Free public parking is available in a lot on the corner of S. Durango Street and W. Franklin Avenue, or on the street at W. Franklin Avenue. For those who cannot attend in person, the meeting will be broadcast over the Internet through the City’s website http://www.elpasotexas.gov/realplayer.asp





At the Texas Legislature
by John Sproul

A number of bills have been introduced in the current Regular Session of the Texas Legislature relating to funding for Texas State Parks. Most notable is H.B. 6, introduced by Rep. Harvey Hilderbran of Kerrville, which would eliminate the current $32 million cap on the amount of sporting-goods sales-tax revenue that can be used to fund state and local parks. An identical companion bill – S.B. 252 – has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Craig Estes of Wichita Falls.

H.B. 6 currently has 124 co-sponsors (our of 150 House members), including Reps. Chavez, Haggerty and Quintanilla of El Paso. The House Culture, Recreation & Tourism Committee heard the bill on Feb. 20, and it is currently pending in the committee.

S.B. 252 currently has 22 co-sponsors (out of 31 Senate members), including Sen. Shapleigh of El Paso. The bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 30 and has not yet had a hearing.


Franklin Mountains State Park Update by Danny Contreras will return next time.


Castner Range Poppies
Black and White Rendition





The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition
Borderland Mountain Bike Association - - Celebration of Our Mountains - - Chihuahuan Desert Wildlife Rescue - - El Paso Archeological Society - - El Paso Cactus and Rock Club - - El Paso Native Plant Society - - El Paso Regional Group of the Sierra Club - - El Paso/Trans-Pecos Audubon Society - - El Paso Wilderness Preservation Committee - - El Paso Women’s Political Caucus - - Friends of the Franklins - - League of Women Voters of El Paso - - Mesilla Valley Audubon Society - - Mountain Park Community Association - - Photography Enthusiasts of El Paso - - Southern New Mexico Group of the Sierra Club

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT http://iloveparks.com/fmwc/