{"id":326336,"date":"2026-06-07T07:43:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T07:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/326336\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T07:43:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T07:43:30","slug":"longtime-conservationist-pitches-immersive-wildlife-conservation-exploratorium-for-el-paso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/326336\/","title":{"rendered":"Longtime conservationist pitches immersive Wildlife Conservation Exploratorium for El Paso"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2013 \u00a0A longtime leading wildlife conservationist and educator in El Paso is proposing a bold new vision to turn the City into a global hub for conservation education.<\/p>\n

Rick LoBello, founder of the El Paso Wildlife Conservation Society<\/a>, is pitching the El Paso Wildlife Conservation Exploratorium<\/a> \u2014 a state-of-the-art facility designed to merge environmental science with community action.<\/p>\n

With over five decades in conservation \u2014 ranging from the National Park Service to leading education efforts at the El Paso Zoo and fighting to protect Castner Range \u2014 LoBello believes the timing is right to prioritize the environment alongside the City\u2019s rapid growth.<\/p>\n

As El Paso continues to develop, LoBello said it\u2019s vital to make room for nature before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo all this development behind us is good. I mean, we need roads. We need bridges because the one car per family is no longer around. Everybody has more cars. We need more roads,\u201d LoBello said. \u201cBut what we\u2019re forgetting is that we also need to protect the natural environment. And there is no plan for El Paso.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted that while a few individuals advocate for the environment, it often takes a backseat in broader municipal planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you talk about what\u2019s on the agenda of our government officials, protecting the environment is not big. It\u2019s more about building things,\u201d he added. \u201cWell, if we don\u2019t have a protected natural environment, our quality of life is going to go way down. It provides ecosystem services like helping to clean our air. It helps to protect the water sources that we have. It helps to create opportunities for people to get outside and get away from all the hustle and bustle and stress of living in a city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inside the Exploratorium<\/p>\n

The proposed Exploratorium aims to go far beyond entertainment, allowing visitors to actively explore and interact with exhibits while learning the importance of conservation.<\/p>\n

LoBello said he drew inspiration for the idea from the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund<\/a>, a world-class research and education facility near Rwanda\u2019s Volcanoes National Park that honors Dian Fossey\u2019s legacy. Opened in 2022, it serves as a global hub for mountain gorilla conservation, offering the public immersive exhibits, research insights, and educational resources.<\/p>\n

LoBello proposed that the star attraction would be a cutting-edge, 360-degree immersive wildlife theater designed to transport visitors directly into endangered ecosystems.<\/p>\n

\"Courtesy<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Rick LoBello<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would use the high-tech media that we have today, like an IMAX theater, to really make people feel like they\u2019re there. So I want people to experience these gorillas in Africa,\u201d LoBello said. \u201cAnd also I want them to learn about what this conservation fund is doing. It\u2019s kind of hard to do that in other settings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond the theater, LoBello said the facility would house interactive climate exhibits, dedicated research labs, and classrooms designed to bridge the gap between global conservation and our own Chihuahuan Desert.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

LoBello said a core mission of the project would be investing in the next generation of conservation leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis El Paso Wildlife Conservation Exploratorium, or center, would be a place where we would focus on teaching people about conservation leadership,\u201d LoBello said. \u201cWe can make El Paso the conservation center of the Chihuahuan Desert, and just get people involved in helping them to understand that if you want to protect the environment, you have to help people first.\u201d<\/p>\n

LoBello envisions the facility as a major weekend destination for families and a premier field trip location for local schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this would be a facility that would focus on getting the kids in there on field trips, getting them involved and what they can do in their community, helping them to see that if we\u2019re going to protect the natural world that\u2019s so important to our own survival, the first thing we got to do is take care of each other,\u201d LoBello said.<\/p>\n

While LoBello\u2019s idea is still in its ambitious early stages, LoBello is confident the Borderland has the spirit to turn this idea into a reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that there\u2019s support for this. I know ever since I\u2019ve been living in El Paso, I\u2019ve seen that El Pasoans care,\u201d LoBello said. \u201cAnd how they fought for the Lost Dog Trail. They fought for the Castner Range. At the Sierra Club, we got over 20,000 signatures on letters to help wolves in Texas. So the thing is, people know they want to help. There\u2019s not enough leaders out there telling them how they can help.\u201d<\/p>\n

LoBello is now calling on the community to turn their interest into action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis place would be a place where we could train up conservation leaders that are really important to the future of our community. It would be a big positive thing for El Paso,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

LoBello is urging the public to help build support for the Exploratorium.\u00a0Right now, he would like to see this facility located in Downtown El Paso.<\/p>\n

You can reach LoBello and read more on the proposal by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To read more on the proposal and contact LoBello you can find his blog on the project by clicking here.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2013 \u00a0A longtime leading wildlife conservationist and educator in El Paso is proposing a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[79528,4258,138,140,139,47813,2673,47811,56159],"class_list":["post-326336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-castner-range","tag-conservation","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-lobello","tag-national-park-service","tag-rick-lobello","tag-wildlife-conservation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}