Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Advocates fight to designate Castner Range National Monument
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Monday, December 5, 2022
Mexican gold poppies bloom at Castner Range. Photo: Mark Clune.

Advocates in El Paso, Texas are asking President Joe Biden to designate Castner Range ([link removed]) as a national monument in order to provide much needed access to the outdoors for the majority Latinx community. Castner Range—a former artillery testing area managed by the Department of Defense—is not currently open for public access. The proposed Castner Range National Monument includes 7,000 acres of natural area that would offer recreational opportunities for the public and protect valuable wildflower and wildlife habitat.

Despite its close proximity, Castner Range is currently inaccessible to the residents of El Paso, which is a nature-deprived city ([link removed]) in need of access to green spaces. Castner Range National Monument would provide this critical access to the outdoors for El Pasoans, honor Hispanic history, and support the local economy. "Sites that commemorate Latinx heritage are disproportionately excluded when it comes to officially designated heritage and conservation sites," Pastor Moses Borjas said in a recent op-ed ([link removed]) . "Nature is supposed to be a 'Great Equalizer,' but people of color and economically disadvantaged communities—like ours—are most likely to live without its benefits."

The community-led effort ([link removed]) to protect and provide access to Castner Range dates back over 50 years, yet legislation to do so has stalled in Congress along with similar land protection bills ([link removed]) . After President Biden designated Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument ([link removed]) in Colorado and promised to do the same for Avi Kwa Ame ([link removed]) in Nevada, advocates are hopeful ([link removed]) that Castner Range may be the next area to be permanently protected via the Antiquities Act.
Quick hits


** The fight for Castner Range National Monument in Texas
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The New Yorker ([link removed]) | El Paso Times ([link removed]) [opinion]


** Forest Service warns of dangers from Arizona governor's border construction
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Arizona Daily Star ([link removed]) | Arizona Public Media ([link removed]) | Gila Valley Central ([link removed])


** Biden could be missing out on his biggest conservation opportunity
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HuffPost ([link removed])


** Radioactive waste sickened his community. Then it caught up with him
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High Country News ([link removed]) | Center for Public Integrity ([link removed])


** ‘Doomsday scenario’ on the table as deadline looms for Colorado River agreement
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Daily Kos ([link removed])


** Preserving the outdoor economy and protecting public lands
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Telluride Daily Planet ([link removed])


** Many states fail to adequately budget for wildfire costs, study says
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Pew Charitable Trusts ([link removed]) | NWNews ([link removed])


** Opinion: National monument will help drive outdoor recreation industry growth
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Las Vegas Sun ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” A growing outdoor economy reflects the diverse values of our community: protection of our public lands and wildlife, increasing access to natural spaces, improving public health, and a strong economy. Eighty-four percent of the region supports creating new national parks, national monuments, national wildlife refuges and tribal protected areas. By carefully locating future renewable energy developments, we can balance our clean energy targets and our conservation values.”
—Meghan Wolf ([link removed]) , Environmental Campaigns Manager at Patagonia
Picture this

[link removed]


** @Interior ([link removed])
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Don't wear white after Labor Day? Pleassse

For long-tailed weasels, turning white for the winter is a matter of survival. These highly resourceful and downright adorable creatures are fearless hunters who may attack animals far larger than themselves.

Photo by Jim Peaco

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