Fall Updates from the Franklin Mountains State Park

Park Ranger News: 

At the end of August, one of your park rangers, Ranger Weickhardt, returned from a month-long National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) course in Yukon, Canada. The course was geared towards outdoor educators and included lessons in environmental ethics and stewardship, leave no trace principles, risk management, wilderness conservation, leadership, back country cooking,
land navigation and map reading, as well as technical mountain and river skills to name a few.  She, along with 11 other students and 3 instructors, spent 30 days backpacking and whitewater canoeing along an exploratory route through remote wilderness of the Yukon Territory.  They were fully
self-supported, carrying all of their food and gear for the duration of the course.  They paddledover 200 kilometers along lakes, streams, and rivers at times encountering seemingly endless series of beaver dams; these required rope systems, muscle and teamwork to hoist the 300+ pound boats loaded with gear up and over, or underneath and through the log jams.  During the middle segment of the course, they traversed 50 kilometers of the Logan Mountains in 10 days following caribou
trails, steep ridges and talus slopes, through breath taking open valleys, and bushwhacked through dense mountain sides. 

Ranger Weickhardt will also be giving a presentation about her course experience, including photos, stories, skills and lessons learned at the 2014 Franklin Mountains SP Volunteer Orientation and Campout – October 11-12th. 

This year’s orientation is full of exciting topics and special guest speakers and experts in a variety of fields; topics include:  Botany of the Franklin Mountains, Bug Appreciation, Geology of the Franklin Mountains, Chihuahuan Desert Reptiles, Birding 101, Dutch Oven 101 – Camp Cooking, Wilderness First Aid, and a great presentation from one of our speakers’ expeditions on Mt. Everest!  Now’s a perfect time to volunteer for the Franklin Mountains State Park; we’ve got many wonderful opportunities to get you involved with throughout the year and a fun, comprehensive orientation just around the corner to prepare you.  Call (915) 566-6441 to get more information or email Ranger Weickhardt:  Adrianna.weickhardt@tpwd.texas.gov.

We look forward to seeing you on the mountains soon!

A Decade of Conservation

by Janae’ Reneaud Field

The Frontera Land Alliance will be celebrating a decade of conservation at Thunder Canyon, November 1, 2014. We will be celebrating with tours, talks, and wild animals on the site of our first-ever conservation easement at Thunder Canyon. We’ll also be thanking Frontera’s many sponsors, volunteers and supporters over the past 10 years and presenting the annual Rock Award.  Please come out and enjoy the beautiful day! Frontera’s Annual Meeting will be held at Thunder Canyon on Saturday, November 1st, from 9-noon. Directions: Thunder Canyon: From Mesa St. take a right onto Shadow Mountain, then a right onto Pebble Beach Drive. Follow this road around to Oak Cliff Drive where you will take a right. Oak Cliff Dr. dead ends at Thunder Canyon.

For More Info: Call the office at Phone: 915-351-8352 or Email: Janae@Fronteralandalliance.org

Join us for the 10th Annual Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta

Make plans now to attend the 10th Annual Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta on Saturday, September 20. Live desert animals from the El Paso Zoo, guided tours, and a full slate of local entertainment promises to make the 10th Annual Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta a fun day for all. The free event at the Tom Mays section of Franklin Mountains State Park is sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department with the help of volunteers from the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition. Every year the event attracts hundreds of people to the desert mountain park in northwest El Paso.

The outdoor venue celebrates the natural wonders of the Chihuahuan desert and Franklin Mountains State Park. Local environmental education groups will be on hand to offer free demonstrations, guided tours, guest speakers and informational booths designed to introduce the curious to the wonders of our fascinating desert.

For more information visit the website, http://www.chihuahuandesert.org/, or contact Rick LoBello at lobellorl@elpasotexas.gov.

Stop Further Development in Crazy Cat (Palisades)

by Ellen Esposito

Since its inception in 1992, the Mission Hills Association has been working diligently to monitor development of the Crazy Cat and adjacent mountain areas adjacent to Mission Hills, Piedmont Hills, Ridgecrest Estates, etc. Twice we have advocated for the preservation of the mountainside above the east side of O’Keefe Dr. and have prevailed. New plans for a development called Kern View Estates 2 were scheduled to be presented to City Council on August 19, 2014. The plans, which were approved by the City Planning Commission, call for the construction of 60 townhouse units on this site.

City Council has postponed review of the site plan for 60 days in order to get an appraisal of the property and have time to speak with the landowner, Piedmont Group LLC, regarding a possible sale of the property to the city and/or a property improvement district (PID).  Updates on the status are being posted on the Mission Hills Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MissionHillsAssociation.  We continue to request that friends of the mountain send letters opposing the site development plan to Mayor Leeser and their city council representative.