Mexican Gray Wolf slowly making its way back to Texas

Four decades ago, Rick LoBello discovered his life’s passion as he watched several wildlife experts capture an endangered Mexican wolf in South Texas for a preservation project. “When I saw one of the last wild Mexican wolves in 1978 I began my quest to help save the species and to help return it to the wilds of Texas,” said LoBello, educational curator at the El Paso Zoo. At the height of its time, the Mexican Gray Wolf could be seen in abundant numbers. According to the Gray Wolf Conservation, between 250,000 and 500,000 wild wolves lived in harmony with Native Americans. “Not many people know this, but the last Mexican wolf in Texas was actually killed near Big Bend National Park which was near where I lived.”

Obama urged to make El Paso’s Castner Range a national monument

In the Northeast region of El Paso, Texas there lies more than 7,000 acres of land next to the Franklin Mountains that may be most known for the yellow Mexican poppies that blanket the foothills come springtime. Now, the golden field of Castner Range may also be known as a national monument thanks to efforts by a coalition of El Pasoans pushing to preserve it for future generations. The Frontera Land Alliance and the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition teamed up to promote protecting the land from housing and commercial development. In December 2015, El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke introduced legislation (HR 4268) to establish Castner Range as a national monument. Now, a public push is gaining momentum to urge President Obama to protect the area by using the Antiquities Act to designate it as a national monument.

Where is El Paso on energy sustainability?

 

EL PASO — As the world heats up and the threat of rising sea levels becomes more pressing, unconcerned humans continue to pump dangerous levels of greenhouse gasses into our fragile atmosphere, putting 7.3 billion people at risk of extinction. But some El Paso officials are determined to reduce carbon emissions here and improve the quality of life for all who live in the Sun City. The Office of Resilience and Sustainability was created in 2007 to develop sustainability goals for the city and to plan initiatives that support the entire community while helping to reduce the carbon footprint created by day to day living. “The resilience initiative looks at things through different lenses,” said Nicole Ferrini, Chief Resilience officer for the City of El Paso. “We are looking at the energy question with a triple bottom line: people, planet and profit.”

All procedures city-wide must follow strict guidelines defined in the “Livable City Sustainability Plan” to address the environmental, economic and social impact of future policies and programs.

There are a few programs that are making progress in the city that adhere to these principles and also help to improve the quality of life for all El Pasoans.

Life–or Death–In the Salton Sea

WESTMORLAND, Calif.–About 40 miles north of the Mexican border in southeastern California is a large, salt-water lake known to the world as the Salton Sea.  It is the largest inland sea in the world, and the saltiest. Originally a small piece of ancient Lake Cahuilla, the Salton Basin is about 380 square miles and ranges in depth to a maximum of 51 feet.  In 1905, dams used to diverge the Colorado River failed, flooding the basin without stopping until 1907.  Since then the sea has been fed by natural runoff from surrounding mountains and agricultural irrigation. Throughout the last 100 years, the sea has had periods of shrinking and expanding shorelines along with large die-offs of fish and fowl, creating a reputation for the lake as a “dead sea” in the public’s eye.  Part of the blame lies with rising salinity in the water, which is currently 10 times saltier than the Pacific Ocean. Along the shoreline is the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge–2,200 acres of freshwater marshlands and home to more than 460 species of birds.  The Salton Sea’s salty waters are the refuge’s habitat. Dozens of proposals over the last 20 years to “fix” the Salton Sea have gone no where.