In March 2023, El Paso’s 6,663-acre Castner Range was dedicated as a national monument, the result of a 50-year-long campaign. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 50 for the range to get a hiking trail.
On the range from 1926-1966, Fort Bliss troops were taught how to shoot. After training moved elsewhere, Castner was still closed to non-Army access because of the many MECs (munitions and explosives of concern) and UXOs (unexploded ordnance) lying beneath the surface.
Since 1998, Castner Range’s under-surface areas have been carefully and thoroughly studied. Today we know the location of almost all the MECs and UXOs. What we do not know is when those MECs and UXOs will be dug up and thrown out…