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Advocates in El Paso, Texas are asking President Joe Biden to designate Castner Range 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 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. "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 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. After President Biden designated Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument in Colorado and promised to do the same for Avi Kwa Ame in Nevada, advocates are hopeful that Castner Range may be the next area to be permanently protected via the Antiquities Act.
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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.”
