November 17, 2009
Jobe Materials of El Paso recently leased land owned by the People of the State of Texas and managed by the General Land Office. The land abuts the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklin Mountains State Park and includes a portion of Arroyo 41A, the last unobstructed arroyo connecting the Franklin Mountains to the Rio Grande. The City of El Paso’s Open Space Master Plan calls for a mountain to river trail using this same Arroyo. Mr. Stanley Jobe has stated unequivocally that he intends to mine all 480 acres of this pristine land including this arroyo.
In order to prevent quarrying on land in or adjacent to the planned mountain to river trail, the Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition has created an online petition for people from El Paso and around the world to sign. The petition reads:
“The City of El Paso's Open Space Master Plan calls for a mountain to river trail using Arroyo 41A, the last unobstructed arroyo connecting the Franklin Mountains to the Rio Grande. This arroyo can provide a unique setting for recreational activities for El Pasoans and visitors as well as maintain important wildlife habitat. Quarrying activities planned on General Land Office leased land adjacent to and including parts of Arroyo 41A threaten the integrity and viability of that trail and a portion of Franklin Mountains State Park. We the undersigned urge our political leaders to work with the quarry operator to prevent quarrying from occurring on land in or adjacent to the planned mountain to river trail and to maintain the original design of this valuable recreational and wildlife corridor.”
A link to the petition is available at the FMWC web site: www.franklinmountains.org or accessed directly at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/help-save-el-pasos-franklin-mountains.
The Franklin Mountains Wilderness Coalition began in 1978 when concerned citizens organized after a developer began bulldozing in the north Franklins – an area that El Pasoans had long hoped would become a wilderness park. Less than a year after the area had been scarred by bulldozing, the Texas legislature passed, and the governor signed, a bill creating the Franklin Mountains State Park, now the largest urban park in the United States. The Coalition was at the center of the effort to create this beautiful park.
Once again bulldozers have scarred the area, torn up hiking and biking trails and threaten a major riparian corridor critical to the ecology, recreation and tourism of El Paso, Texas.