Castner Range National Monument is a 6,672-acre protected area in El Paso’s Franklin Mountains, established in 2023 on a former Fort Bliss military range. Its significance spans thousands of years, with evidence of human presence dating to 6000 B.C., dozens of archaeological sites, and ties to Apache, Puebloan, Comanche, Hopi, and Kiowa peoples. From 1926 to 1966 it served as an Army testing and training ground, including major missile and anti-tank instruction during and after World War Two. Long efforts to protect the land culminated in its designation as the only land-conservation national monument managed within the Department of Defense, though ongoing ordnance cleanup keeps it closed to the public.