{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://medium.com/@RepBetoORourke/protecting-castner-range-for-generations-to-come-93838bb23f61?source=rss-964ef69221bc------2", "Protecting Castner Range For Generations to Come", "2017-11-14", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Beto O'Rourke", "O000170", "medium.com", null, null, "legacy", "Protecting Castner Range For Generations to\u00a0Come Castner Range is a 7,081 acre open space surrounded by the Franklin Mountains State Park in the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert. You would recognize Castner by its annual display of golden poppies. But this crown jewel of West Texas also helps us conserve El Paso\u2019s precious aquifers that lie beneath it, preserve more than 40 archaeological and historical sites that date as far back as 10,000 years and safeguard its one-of-a-kind vegetation and wildlife. Today, the House of Representatives passed my proposal to protect Castner Range for generation to come.Castner Range helps welcome visitors to our Washington, DC\u00a0officeThe provision will conserve ecological, scenic, wildlife, recreational, cultural, historical, natural, educational and scientific resources within Castner Range. The legislation also ensures that there will be no commercial enterprise, permanent or temporary road, use of motor vehicles or aircrafts and structure, building or installation of any kind on the land. And it preserves an important former military training facility\u200a\u2014\u200aa reflection of El Paso\u2019s strong relationship to Fort Bliss and its longstanding military and veterans\u2019 community. Working with the House Armed Services Committee, I advocated for a provision protecting Castner Range to be added to this year\u2019s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). What is now spelled out in Section 2846 of the NDAA began as a proposal this past summer, is expected to also pass the Senate before the end of the year, and will then make its way to the White House to become law. Our community in El Paso has been fighting to conserve Castner Range since 1971. This victory for Texas couldn\u2019t have happened without the work of environmental advocates throughout the state. I want to leave you with a few of their thoughts on today\u2019s news: \u201cAt a time when the White House is rolling back conservation efforts, threatening to scale back our national parks and working to confirm climate change skeptics to environmental councils, today\u2019s news about protecting Castner Range for generations to come is the example we need. Conserving Castner Range not only shows the power of grassroots environmental groups but the determination of our advocates like Representative O\u2019Rourke to forge ahead with environmental protections during a hostile Trump administration.\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200aElizabeth Doyel, Executive Director of the Texas League of Conservation Voters \u201cFor over 30 years this borderland community has been pushing for the protection of an iconic El Paso landmark, our Castner Range. With the unwavering commitment of Congressman O\u2019Rourke, Castner can no longer be sold off to the highest bidder but rather will continue to educate El Paso youth and the surrounding communities of its rich history.\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200aAngel Pena, Rio Bravo Program Director for the Conservation Lands Foundation \u201cEl Paso has been seeking to conserve Castner Range since 1971, and now with the help of Congressman Beto O\u2019Rourke we are one major step closer to realizing our community\u2019s vision of a preserved and intact Castner Range National Monument.\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200aJanae\u2019 Reneaud Field, Executive Director of the Frontera Land Alliance", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://medium.com/@RepBetoORourke/protecting-castner-range-for-generations-to-come-93838bb23f61?source=rss-964ef69221bc------2"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6676190532743931, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}