March 2022
In 2004, a small group of citizens founded The Frontera Land Alliance to lead conservation of El Paso’s natural open spaces. While there were many properties of interest, one big goal quickly emerged: the preservation of Castner Range. This month, 18 years later, we welcomed Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Department of Interior to El Paso to see Castner Range and meet community members who have been involved in this project. El Paso is a special place, and we are proud to tell the story of who we are and to show off our border city and its beautiful mountains. The State of Texas has conserved much of the Franklin Mountains as a state park, and a quarter of Castner Range is part of the mountain.
Frontera is leading the way, along with the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition, the Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project and the Franklin Mountains State Park, to protect, in perpetuity, our Castner Range backdrop of Mexican poppy fields. For more than fifty years, the local community has been working to protect, now 7,081-acre Castner Range, at the heart of El Paso’s Northeast Side. Establishing the proposed Castner Range National Monument would be the first of many efforts by the Biden administration to protect—through the conservation of lands already public (and Castner Range has been part of Fort Bliss since 1926)—frontline communities and other marginalized populations who disproportionately bear the brunt of climate impacts.
Castner Range has historical significance that dates back thousands of years and shares how our region became home to the world’s largest bilingual, binational workforce in the Western Hemisphere.
The campaign to designate Castner Range a National Monument has overwhelming community backing with over 47,000 letters of support from individuals. The supporters include businesses, conservation groups, El Paso City Council and Mayor, El Paso County Commissioners Court and County Judge, Las Cruces City Council, El Paso Water, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, and many more groups and individuals too numerous to name here.
Today, our community is working diligently to have Castner Range declared a National Monument which would protect this land in perpetuity for all to enjoy and add connectivity to region.
We want to take a moment to say “thank you” to each of you for your support and continued dedication to preserving Castner Range in perpetuity for El Paso and for future generations.