Looking forward to Desert Conference

My 45-year journey in the Chihuahuan Desert began in 1975 when I was hired as a park ranger naturalist in Big Bend National Park.  My greatest joy ever since has been helping people connect with and appreciate this part of our world.  Today as the Education Curator of the El Paso Zoo I am working …

“Half of all land must be kept in a natural state to protect Earth”

What will El Paso do when there is no more land to develop?by Rick LoBello All over El Paso and the surrounding area developers are on the move building new roads, shopping centers and housing areas.  These projects are making life a little easier for those of us who drive back and forth to work …

Sign up today

If you're looking to get involved with a group of people in El Paso who are working to encourage recycling, saving wildlife habitat in the Franklin Mountains and returning extirpated species to the wilds of Texas like the Mexican wolf, the El Paso Sierra Club is the group for you. Learn more about how you …

Go for the snow this winter

Snow Geese at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge by Rick LoBello Happy Holidays everyone.  It’s a wonderful time of year and I am making plans for another trip to my favorite winter spot near El Paso – Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.   Last year I made a little video about …

Tree of Hopes

A little over a year ago I realized something about myself that I knew was there, but for a long time was hidden from view.   As a wildlife conservationist working all of my adult life in National Parks and now the El Paso Zoo, I have always focused on my job and on related environmental …

President George H.W. Bush

I was greatly inspired this week when I watched America remember a great president like President George H.W. Bush.   With all the negative news and stories about President Trump, I only wish we had a president like President Bush today.  Like so many American's I believe that President Trump wants to be a good President, …

El Paso Zoo to Partner with Big Bend National Park on Wildlife Conservation

As you can imagine I am very excited about this project.   If you would like to help in anyway contact me at lobellorl@elpasotexas.gov.   To learn more about the park I posted a blog on my iloveparks.com site.    EL PASO, Texas – The El Paso Zoo (zoo) will be piloting a Zoo-Park partnership with Big …

Don’t miss Parts Unknown this Sunday

Anthony Bourdain was one of my all time favorite TV show personalities.  I loved the way he told stories of his food adventures from around the world.  I had hoped to meet him someday thinking that he might come to El Paso like in 2013 when he visited Las Cruces filming an episode on New …

The Fandango Owl

Summer of 1986, Alpine, Texas Kevin Costner was coming to the Big Bend to make a movie and the producers of "Fandango" needed a live owl. Becky Smith, the bus driver for the longest school bus route in the United States, from Terlingua to Alpine, had given me a Great Horned Owl that she had found …

The River and the Wall

Last month I was blessed in having the opportunity to meet the River and the Wall feature documentary team in Austin.    I spent two days with Ben Masters, Hillary Pierce, Austin Alvarado, and Jay Kleberg sharing everything I knew about Big Bend National Park and the long proposed US International Park with Mexico.   I …

Fight for their lives!

If I was a parent I would be speaking out daily to elected officials and the rest of the country about how dangerous it is to be a student in America and how they need to be protected from gun violence.   Today Emma Gonzalez, a student and survivor of the Parkland, Florida, bravely and with all …

Meet the kangaroo rat

Photo credit - copyright - J. N. Stuart, Merriam's Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys merriami) by Rick LoBello One of the least known desert wildlife families living in the Chihuahuan Desert and right here in El Paso are the nocturnal rodents. The group includes kangaroo rats, cactus mice, pack rats and cotton rats. The Merriam kangaroo rat is …

Thank you Representative Svarzbein

My city representative is Peter Svarzbein.  With all the bad news about climate change coming out of our nations capital, I was heartened to hear the news of how people like French President Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders responded with displeasure to President Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement. Today …

Take a stand for wolves in Texas

by Rick LoBello The El Paso Sierra Club Return the Wolf to Texas Education Initiative is seeking volunteers to help educate and involve school children in efforts to save critically endangered Mexican wolves. The historic range of the Mexican wolf included El Paso. It was 46 years ago in December that the last two wild …

For the love of cacti

Haystack cactus (Echinocereus stramineus), often confused with the strawberry cactus, (Echinocereus enneacanthus) in Big Bend National Park, by Rick LoBello When I worked at Big Bend National Park I spent much of my time studying the desert plants that surrounded my home at Panther Junction.   My favorite was the large mound forming strawberry cactus commonly called pitaya.   …

Let’s return the wolf to Texas!

Mexican Wolves courtesy Larry Bohlin of Bohlin Creative 2015 For the sake of wilderness and our ecosystem, a growing number of people believe that the Mexican wolf should be given the chance to reclaim its rightful role in the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas. Please tell Texas Parks and Wildlife to support wolf-reintroduction efforts Imagine …

Discover your sleepy neighbors

Discover your sleepy neighbors, the ones who spend most of their lives underground. Male red-spotted toad calling on all female toads in West El Paso, Texas.   Photo by Rick LoBello Ever wonder why the desert seems so barren with few animals in sight? It is not because they do not exist; after all you …

900,000 reasons why we need to protect the lower elevations of the Franklins

Red-spotted Toad by Rick LoBello The vast majority of people living in El Paso can easily see that every minute of every day more and more of our natural landscape it going under the blade of the bulldozer to make way for new roads, build more Walmart’s and more.   I am all in favor of progress, …

The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth

All across America and around the world a growing number of people are getting involved with global conservation.  In response to information they hear and see on radio and TV and from print and social media, people of all ages are signing up to help protect our only home, planet earth.   They share in common …

Biodiversity of the Castner Range

Scaled Quail or Cotton-Top Quail by Ken Steiner. Earlier this week someone said on the Castner Range FaceBook page (facebook.com/castnerrange) that they wanted to know more about the animals living in their natural habitat within the Castner Range.    They also wanted to know more about endangered species that were present and who could help best …