President Joe Biden is set to establish a new national monument in Texas at what was once an Army range.
The president designated the Castner Range National Monument in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday at a White House summit, according to a White House fact sheet.
Located at Fort Bliss, Castner Range served as a training and testing site for the Army during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, the fact sheet noted. The site closed in 1966.
“This action will protect the cultural, scientific and historic objects found within the monument’s boundaries, honor our veterans, service members, and Tribal Nations, and expand access to outdoor recreation on our public lands,” the fact sheet noted.
The nearly-7,000 acres of high-desert mountains will become the first national monument directly managed by the U.S. military since national battlefields were transferred to the National Park Service in the 1930s, according to the fact sheet.
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In the next 60 days, the Army will begin a land management planning process, taking in public input from the community and various tribes.
On Tuesday, the president also designated Avi Kwa Ame, a mountain in southern Nevada, as a national monument in honor of Indigenous peoples.
Jonathan is a staff writer and editor of the Early Bird Brief newsletter for Military Times. Follow him on Twitter @lehrfeld_media
