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OCTOBER 2023 - Edition #10 - Vol. 3

BIRD OF THE MONTH

ROADRUNNER
In terms of appearance, the Greater Roadrunner is characterized by a very distinct shape-a straight tail and a very long neck and a slightly-curved bill. Its head has a short crest. Diet: Birds of this species eat insects, small reptiles and birds, mice, and fruits, all of which they find on the ground. Geographical Distribution: The Greater Roadrunner inhabits the dry open country, mostly in North America. However, they are not restricted to deserts only, as they also inhabit places with patches of small trees and shrubs. Adaptations: Unlike other types of birds that resemble their appearance, the Greater Roadrunner runs rapidly across the ground to look for prey. It does this by cocking its tail upward.

ROAD SPEED LIMITS

Hueco Tanks Rd.

55 mph

Hueco Mountain Rd.

45 mph

Woodrow Rd.

45 mph

Overland Stage Rd.

35 mph

Bettina Rd.

35 mph

Butterfield Rd.

35 mph

All Residential Roads

30 mph

TAXES RAISED AFTER PETITIONS

Residents were asked to sign a petition demanding a water infrastructure for homes in the Hueco Mountain Estates. Thereafter, which property taxes went up. County officials indicate that tax funds must be accumulated for the area. Currently no such tax funds exist. Therefore they need to start increasing taxes to fill this gap. Many people in the Hueco Mountain Estates did not sign the petition. Because they do not want the area to be crowded with city folk like Homestead Meadows. Lujan Water cost per gallon is $0.04 - a price the El Paso Water Co. can't beat. So locals that want these utilities are unknowingly responsible for raising taxes. This is on top of the regional tax increase. The same group that started this. Also is demanding for road repair, internet lines and have many other requests. So plan for more petitions/taxes to come.

FOOD DISTRIBUTION

PLANT OF THE MONTH

Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa)

Range
Throughout all 4 deserts of the Southwest -- Mojave, Chihuahuan, Great Basin and Sonoran. Southeastern California and southern Nevada, to southern Colorado, west Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, to northern Mexico.

Habitat
Gravelly and rocky slopes, roadsides, dry washes and hillsides between 4,000 and 8,000 feet.

Flowers
Round, white flowers, with yellow centers, 1 to 2 inches wide, bloom April through June. They have 5 petals, many stamens and grow from the rim of small cups.

Description
Apache PlumeThis evergreen shrub, a member of the Rose Family (Rosaceae), grows up to 6 feet high. It is sometimes confused with the Cliffrose (Cowania mexicana) , but can be distinguished by its more shrub-like appearance, having numerous branches at the base. Its small grayish, downy leaves are pinnately divided into linear divisions, attached alternately on slender stems. They are about 3/4 inches long and curved slightly downward.

The silvery puffs of fruit heads have many styles emanating from a feathery plume up to 2 inches long. These white-to-pink plumes grow from a seed-like base at the tips of tangled, slender branches.

This plant's common name is derived from the fact that it resembles Apache war bonnets. Tewa and other native peoples used the stems of Apache Plumes to make brooms and arrow shafts.

Red Barn Trailers

EL PASO, TX 915-849-8608 www.redbarntrailers.com

PARK EVENTS

Oct 14 9:30am
Solar Eclipse Viewing Party!
Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site Come and experience the Annular Solar Eclipse together! View the eclipse safely creating your own pinhole viewer!

Oct 21 10:00a
29th Annual Hueco Tanks Community Fair Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site It's time for our Annual Community Fair! Come on out for a fun weekend full of tours, presentations, demonstrations, rock climbing and much more!

Oct 22 10:00am
29th Annual Hueco Tanks Community Fair Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site It's time for our Annual Community Fair! Come on out for a fun weekend full of tours, presentations, demonstrations, rock climbing and much more!

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR DESERT LAND

Photo: Westside Hueco Mountain Estates

There's several things you can do to improve and maintain your delicate desert land. The most important, is not to disturb the lands natural form dramatically. Only clear land that is required for your home and driveways. No more than a 15 foot clearing for fires needs to be around each structure. Clearing your land dramatically can really change the area for you and others. It also causes serious health issues. This includes constant dirt, dust and desert spores in the air. Breathing this dust on a regular basis is very unhealthy. More information on the desert spores in this area can be found on the CDC website. Large clearings also cause extreme cold spots in the winter and hot spots in the summer. Acting like a heat-sink in the desert environment. When you clear desert land, it removes important shrubs that keep common weeds away. Clearing desert land, also bruises (activates) the weed seeds. It's a lost battle you'll never win. Cleared land also can have high winds and dust storms, flooding and temperature issues. The cons highly out weigh the pros in this case. Clearing to much land can become a very serious and long term mistake. Large commercial acres have recently been cleared for profit. When in fact have lowered the lands value. Never clear desert land to sell it. Let the purchaser make this choice. Many land owners have cleared desert land hoping to sell it. When clearing the land actually lowered the lands value and damaged the surrounding community.
Why? Customers looking to purchase land - want high quality pristine land that has not been damaged or altered in anyway. And now that these areas have been leveled. They are producing large amounts of weeds and weed seeds. Customers shopping for land notice these issues.
Residents are also suffering from flu like symptoms and respiratory health issues since. Due to a high level of desert sand spores in the air. It takes more than 4 decades for the land to replenish itself back to its normal Eco system. It's very important to consider these factors when maintaining land in this region.
The west end community has seriously been damaged. People living in the area are not happy. Recently over 30+ acres was leveled during 2019-2023. The land has been producing very large dust storms. Looking west these dust clouds can be seen on a daily basis. And now large amounts of weeds have covered these baren spots. Improper land clearing techniques and applications are to blame.

LAND SCAMS

Up coming article on land scams in our area. Land with incorrect acres listed, wrong address, fraud, no certificate of plate and land that can not obtain electric power / utilities. Find out how to avoid being scammed. Coming soon...

STRANGE U.F.O. LIGHTS

Residents are turning in photos of lights in the sky. An up coming article will explore this strange phenomena. Some say these lights are flares. However, flares don't hover stationary for long periods of time. It could be something entirely different? Do you have photos of these strange lights? Send them to us for the up coming article. Email to: butterfield.press@aol.com

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