Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Rick LoBello, Board Member Like in many cities, different species of wildlife have adapted to living in El Paso. Birds and squirrels are probably the most obvious.   Did you know that the most commonly seen squirrel in El Paso is the rock squirrel? Other squirrel species include antelope ground squirrels and spotted ground squirrels.ContinueContinue reading “Meet your neighbors: Rock Squirrels”

By Rick LoBello, Board Member The long-tailed weasel is one of the rarest predators living here in the Chihuahuan Desert. As a result of their nocturnal lifestyle very few people have ever seen one, but they are out there hunting for rodents and other small prey including shrews, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, woodrats, cotton rats,ContinueContinue reading “The long-tailed weasel: El Paso’s rarely seen fearless predator of the night”

By Rick LoBello, Board Member Most seed eating birds with thick bills are easy to watch and identify.  Here in El Paso one of the most commonly seen little seed eating birds is the House Finch.  If you have a bird feeder at home you may have noticed how some have reddish heads, necks andContinueContinue reading “Meet your neighbors: House Finch”

By Rick LoBello, Board member California condors used to live within an area of Texas we now call Big Bend National Park.   Bones have been found in a cave at Mule Ear’s peak.  Who is to say that these giant birds once lived all across the Chihuahuan Desert on both sides of the border.   ThisContinueContinue reading “Who will champion the return of the condor to Texas?”

Show your support for a Castner Range National Monument – take action now After nearly two decades of continual effort to protect the Castner Range over the past 8 years conservation advocates in El Paso have focused their energies on helping to designate the Castner Range in Northeast El Paso as a National Monument. As part of the Biden-HarrisContinueContinue reading “Will President Biden designate Castner Range National Monument?”

Stephen Hummel is the Dark Skies Initiative Coordinator for the University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory, and chair of the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve, the largest certified dark sky place in the world. As part of the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition February meeting Stephen will present a free program on February 22 atContinueContinue reading “Dark Skies Initiative presentation on Zoom planned for February 22nd at 6:30pm Mountain Time”

Mexican wolf pup born at the El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens Natasha Bretz, Supervisor of the Chihuahuan Desert Area at the El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens will be the featured guest speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition meeting on Zoom at 6:30 MT, Wednesday, January 25, 2023. Natasha Bretz joined theContinueContinue reading “El Paso Zoo Mexican wolf conservation program to be featured on Zoom, Wednesday, January 25 at 6:30pm MT”

Greetings, friends of the Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition As the last days of November come to an end and we all start making plans for Christmas and New Years, our Board of Directors will be meeting this week to make plans for the coming new year. If you missed our 18th Annual Chihuahuan Desert FiestaContinueContinue reading “CDEC Update – November 29, 2022”

Mountain lion at the El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens. For millennia mountain lions have lived like phantoms inhabiting forbidding terrain across North and South America. To the surprise of most people these amazing apex predators receive no protection in Texas outside of protected areas like National and State Parks. They can be hunted andContinueContinue reading “Texans for mountain lions”

The Chihuahuan Desert Ecoregion covers nearly 250,000 square miles with over 90% of its area within the nation of Mexico. It is the largest desert in North America. Most people who live in this part of the world know that they live in a desert, but very few understand how the region’s incredible biodiversity helpsContinueContinue reading “We live in the northern Chihuahuan Desert”