Why do we need the Federal Government’s help in saving Keystone?

Above: Gambel's quail is one of the Keystone Heritage Park bird species threatened by the proposed developments. US Fish and Wildlife Service Photo.

Note: Scroll down for OPED on National Park Service

Opinion

by Rick LoBello, iloveparks.com/elpaso, February 8, 2009

This past Saturday the El Paso Times published a great editorial supporting local efforts to turn Keystone Heritage Park into a National Monument. Having been involved with efforts to create a national monument in New Mexico, I have some experience and can help, but question why we need to call upon the Federal Government to save the park with our national economy in such a crisis. Why can’t we just learn to get along with nature and why can’t we stop destroying it at every turn? Have we lost our senses? Are we so disconnected from reality to the point that we think that all development and progress is good for future generations? I say that we need a strategic development plan for El Paso NOW and call upon the community to start thinking about the needs of the wild creatures that still survive here before we approve any more natural land to be turned over to bulldozers.

If our leaders need more support from the public to move in this direction I have a suggestion, why not change the time or extend the time of weekly commissioners court and council meetings to a time convenient for working people? Currently these weekly meetings are broadcast on TV in the evenings, but that approach limits the ability for most people to be involved. I would think that if we could make more opportunities for people to speak out on this issue and other issues we would see many more members of the public showing up to present their views. We might even need to move these meetings to larger spaces, who knows.

I always appreciate learning of local efforts to encourage our community to move in the direction of learning to share our city with the wild creatures that have miraculously survived the past hundred years of city growth and expansion. After all they are part of the complex web of life we call “nature” and without the ecological services they provide here and all over the planet, each in their own special way, we as a species would be hard pressed to survive.Keystone Heritage Park has involved hundreds if not thousands of El Pasoans over the years in a laudable effort to save not just a tiny part of our natural heritage, but a part of our cultural heritage as well. Those who have been involved with Keystone and understand how difficult it can be to protect even small pockets of the natural world in our city, know that the area has long been threatened by current, planned and proposed developments on the edge the park.

No park is an island, not even Big Bend National Park with its 1,100 square miles of Chihuahuan Desert wilderness. What happens outside the park is critical to the animals that live within. Here in El Paso many of the birds that inhabit Keystone are migratory and are here only during the winter months. The Spotted Sandpiper for example breeds in the northern part of our country as far north as Canada. If something were to happen to its breeding grounds it is doubtful that we would have Spotted Sandpipers in El Paso. On the other hand there are many species that nest and raise their young at Keystone that live here year round. For some of these birds the park is not big enough to sustain them and they need to look for food on lands outside the park.

What happens to Keystone Heritage Park is important to not only the animals that inhabit the park, but also to every child in El Paso. For if our city becomes a place that does not share land with native plants and animals it is doubtful that it will be a safe place for people.

We need Keystone. If we cannot save this small spot on the map, one of the last wildlife refuges in the Upper Valley, then there is something seriously wrong with our community. Let’s just do it and let Washington focus on figuring out how they are going to put more people to work. Our leaders need to figure out how we can save the park with local laws and regulations. Yes we can.