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News Article
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To clean and preserve: What’s next for Castner Range
By Robert Gray
For decades, environmental groups have worked to preserve Castner Range, 7,000 acres of undeveloped desert and foothills owned by the U.S. Army on the eastern slope of the Franklin Mountains.
So the groups were pleased when $300,000 to help preserve Castner Range was tucked inside the 2010 Defense Appropriations Act.
But even with the possibility of funding, it doesn’t look like the Army will be making any decisions about the Northeast range anytime soon.
“Efforts to develop a future use plan are on hold,” said Jean Offutt, Fort Bliss public information officer, “but the Army will be doing a wide-area assessment using various technologies.”
And by that, she means the Army may use the range to test new ways of clearing unexploded shells and bombs – technologies that could remove the danger, without destroying the natural state of a range like Castner.
Fort Bliss officials say that with the massive growth and transformation of the post, removing the unexploded ordnance that have littered Castner Range for decades remains a low priority.
The Army has fired all types of weapons on the range since before World War II, says John Hamilton, former air defense artillery historian, including machine guns, rocket launchers, mortars and 75-mm guns.
U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes thinks it’s time to give the range back to El Paso.
“Now that military construction has begun to level off,” said Reyes in a statement, “I believe that it is fair to ask the Army to begin the process to return Castner Range to the El Paso community, which has done so much to support soldiers stationed at Fort Bliss.”
Whether that happens may become clearer next week when the Fort Bliss Restoration Advisory Board meets. Its military and community members will discuss preservation options.
Killer views
Preserving the land’s rugged beauty while making it accessible is something that is important to Scott Cutler, a member of the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition.
“Right now it is one of El Paso’s knockout views,” Cutler said, “whether looking up or looking down the mountain. We would like to see that scenic quality preserved.”
Cutler is hopeful that a relatively new tool for returning Army land to civilian use for preservation, known as a conservation conveyance, may protect the land as the Army waits to remediate it.
The conveyance allows surplus military property to be transferred to a non-profit for conservation.
The organization can hold on to the property or complete the environmental work, then transfer the property to the state.
In the case of Castner Range, Fort Bliss would retain liability and the responsibility to remediate the property.
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition worked with Reyes to have the $300,000 included in the defense appropriation.
It would study how a conservation conveyance might be implemented in El Paso, one of the first times the tool may be used.
The House of Representatives passed the bill in July, and the Senate version of the bill is under consideration.
Michael Gaglio, president of the Frontera Land Alliance, has worked with Cutler to preserve the range. Conservation groups are concerned that the property might be developed piecemeal, and some portions of the property have been cleared and developed. There’s a new Border Patrol Sector Station on Hondo Pass, and the El Paso Museum of Archaeology and the Border Patrol Museum are located Transmountain Road.
In 2005, REDCo, El Paso’s Regional Economic Development Corporation, proposed that a portion of the range be used for a technology park, according to REDCo VP Bob Burns. But the concept didn’t get far after significant opposition from the community, he said.
Resolution
The city showed its support for the conservation of Castner Range in a 2007 resolution.
City Rep. Carl Robinson, whose district includes Castner Range, said its preservation is a high priority. He is proposing another resolution to reiterate the city’s support for making Castner Range part of the Franklin Mountains State Park.
Scott Boruff, deputy executive director of operations for the Texas Parks and Wildlife, said they would be happy to have the land transferred to the state park but, for liability reasons, only after it has been remediated.
“We have certainly expressed our interest and would be glad to go into talks to transfer that land to the state park,” he said, “The reality is that people go out there anyway even though there are posted warnings.”
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| Sue DiCara - posted: 10/6/2009 10:40:03 PM
I'd like for the Army to remediate the Castner Range land in stages, if necessary, so that the portions on the mountain contiguous to the current Park be cleared for use first. As Mr. Boruff has stated, people do use those areas despited posted warnings. It would be great to have the canyons accessible from TransMountain Road available for safe use quickly. | | judy - posted: 10/5/2009 8:26:57 PM
If YOU care about Castner Range Attend the RAB!
Public Meeting Announcement : Fort Bliss Restoration Advisory Board (RAB)
Time: 6:30 pm 14 October 2009
Place: Northeast Regional Command Police Dpt., 9600 Dyer Street, El Paso , TX 79924
Draft Agenda Topics:
Old Business
- None
New Business
- Wide Area Assessment (WAA) of Castner Range
- Site Inspection (SI) of Former Maneuver Area 1 and 2 Between Loop 375 and Hueco Mountains
The Public is welcome to attend this meeting. If you need directions, please call Patricia Rice at 915-373-2446.
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