Saving A Rare Desert Wetland: A Master Class in Loraxing in El Paso
Rio Bosque Wetland Park. Photo (C) Jon Rezendes | That’s the %&!#@ border wall to the left of this already-pressed natural area in El Paso.
I recently received an exciting email from Jon Rezendes, a Rewilding.org contributor and El Paso wildlands defender. It filled me with pride and hope, and I immediately knew it needed sharing. If you ever doubt the power of standing up and fighting when they come for what you love, return to this page for inspiration.
Email I received from Jon this morning:
Jack,
I have been out here in the borderland, creating absolute chaos for those who seek to take away our open space. I don’t even know where to begin with this story, nothing like this has ever happened to me before.
A highway could destroy one of the last precious desert wetlands left in El Paso County: Rio Bosque Wetlands Park, a rewilded wetland that was a huge collaborative effort to restore these riparian forests from nothing. I learned about the highway study during the first week of April. On April 10th, I went alone before the El Paso Water Public Service Board and pleaded my case.
These sessions are a matter of public record, and Rick Lobello (conservation curator of EP Zoo) posted them on YouTube. I wrote a quick article summarizing the issue for one of Rick’s blogs as well, and we started canvassing the media. Social media stepped up first.
The top Instagram influencer page in El Paso responded and posted clips of me, screenshots of the plans, videos of the wetland, and all kinds of stuff. It went viral, with 15k likes and hundreds of thousands of views.
The media then woke up. I did interviews with NBC affiliate KTSM and Univision Noticias 26. Assistant park manager Sergio Samaniego joined me on KTSM and added ABC affiliate KVIA. Yahoo News even reposted the KTSM article.
The outcry was undeniable. People are in an outrage. TxDOT, EP Water, and UTEP are all on their heels.
I just wanted you to know. Uncle Dave woke me up, and you gave me my first platform. I will forever be grateful, and I will never stop fighting.
I’m in fully activated Lorax mode.
-Jon
Below, find the Instagram post. Be sure to watch each section to see Jon’s comments. Follow this template when you need to shake things up to protect the places you love!
The Instagram post that kicked if off (Opens in a new tab)
The Youtube video of Jon’s comments before EP Water PSB:Â
More coverage:
- Jon’s original blog post about the threat to the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park
- Yahoo News
- KTSM with video
- KVIA with video
- Univision 26 with video
- Rio Bosque homepage – Pictures and facts about this one-of-a-kind 372-acre jewel
- Learn more and help out at Friends of the Rio Bosque
Followup
Jon emailed with a clarification and more news:
“A point of clarification as things have evolved: it’s actually a concrete plant, not a cement plant, and on May 7th the city council will be voting to permanently rezone what is now a temporary facility on zoned farm and ranch land into industrial land. This means the city council would be GIVING this land in perpetuity to [Jobe Materials] that’s already occupying it at 1/10th the cost (about $4,000/acre for farm and ranch land, and $40,000/acre for industrial land).”
“Another clarification: Jobe doesn’t own the land at the batch-plant site; the City (El Paso Water) owns the land and will continue to own it regardless of what is decided on 7 May. Jobe has a 10-year lease from El Paso Water, with a 10-year option to renew.”
Further Facts:
Share a comment on Jon’s Loraxing to save El Paso’s Rio Bosque below!
Director of Digital Outreach (D.O.D.O.) for The Rewilding Institute
Host and Producer of the Rewilding Earth Podcast
Jack started Rewilding work as Executive Director of Sky Island Alliance in the mid-1990’s, organizing the Sky Island Wildlands Network design, ripping up illegal roads on forest service lands, installing wolf acclimatization pens on Ted Turner’s Ladder Ranch & conducting howling surveys to help make way for the final stage of the Lobo reintroduction program in the Southwest.
Through the years, Jack has worked with Dave Foreman and the Rewilding Gang to further Rewilding initiatives and education.
Thank you, Jack, I’m humbled to be featured, but the real story here is that we must continue to act and maintain the initiative. Votes are yet to be cast, dollars yet to be allocated, and many many voices yet to be heard, especially the Ysleta del Sur (Tigua) Pueblo Nation and the federally unrecognized Piro Nation, who are very much alive and well in the community of Socorro, Texas. May we elevate their voices and respect their land.
Hello, we just discovered this land and feel in love with it. We took our kids who are 3and 8 and were amazed by the peace and tranquility lived there. We are teaching our kids about nature and how we need to respect it. This is one of the few good things we have at Socorro. Let’s not loose it ples.