May 2022
We would like to congratulate Kathia Gonzalez, Frontera’s Development Director, as she started the month by completing her graduate degree at Western Colorado University in Environmental Management, focused on global sustainability.
We were delighted to be provided with two tickets by Congresswoman Escobar’s office for The Frontera Land Alliance staffers Emily Gomez (Castner Range Field Operations) and Wendy Diaz (Education and Volunteer Manager) to attend the annual Paso del Norte event that’s known as “Nonprofit Conference: Reimagine!” This conference brought together people from all over to meet and exchange ideas.
________________________________Our Open Space Manager, Rocio Ronquillo, is participating in a climate-change class which is focused on the climate of the Southwest and hosted by the Land Trust Alliance. Through this class we have become aware of Frontera’s need of additional baseline data on our conservation easements. If you see us out on the easement lands collecting data, please be sure to stop by and say hello! Our data is related to erosion, and we can always use an extra helping hand!
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
This month we had an amazing time with our out-of-town visitors—all national supporters—sharing everything we had to say about our local efforts, since 1971, to conserve Castner Range. We learned through these meetings that digital advocacy and digital storytelling are the key to sharing our Castner Range and Frontera messages.
More good news! Frontera will be headed to DC in July with local leaders to update many government folks about all the work the community has done, and continue to do, in order to designate Castner Range a National Monument, and, to help move the designation process along. We will continue working as long as necessary to permanently protect Castner Range.
Texan by Nature and Texans for Clean Water are launching a 6-month recycling project in partnership with a corporate retailer at 4 locations in El Paso, Texas. The project is designed to make the case for circularity in the plastics supply chain and better understand how to incentivize individual recycling. Texan by Nature and Texans for Clean Water are working collaboratively with organizations local to El Paso (such as ourselves) to share best practices, provide feedback, promote the project, etc. El Pasoans will have the opportunity to deposit PET thermoform plastics (clear plastic containers used for berries, salads, bakery, take-out, etc.) to get 10 cents per recycled item back to their bank account or donate the money to an El Paso non-profit. The project acts as a catalyst for the El Paso community to recycle, learn more about recycling, receive incentives, and give back to the community. Learn more here: https://texanbynature.org/projects/pet/. The project is also hosting a recycling video contest with cash prizes for El Paso County highschoolers, submissions are due June 3!