Contact: Ken Kramer , 512-477-1729 or 512-476-6962
Donna Hoffman, 512-477-1729 or 512-299-5776
The
Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club consists of over 25,000 members.
The Chapter spans the entire state of Texas, excepting El Paso, which
is part of the Rio Grande Chapter.
Located in Austin, the Lone Star Chapter's State Conservation Office
serves Sierrans as their grassroots communications center. We also provide
Sierrans with a full time professional activist staff employed to represent
Sierrans as we fight at the state level to protect and conserve Texas'
diverse and valuable natural heritage.
Protecting State Parkland in the Big Bend – Proposed Sale (8/23/2005)
Background:
In 1988 after over a decade of negotiations and the hard work of Texas conservation heroes such as Bob Armstrong, the State of Texas purchased an amazing ecological treasure in West Texas known as Big Bend Ranch and made it a state park to be managed as a natural area. In taking this action to acquire the 200,000+ acre property, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department in effect doubled the size of the state park system. As a result of additional acquisitions, Big Bend Ranch State Park now approaches 300,000 acres in size.
In the early 1990s there was an extensive public review and comment process in which the Sierra Club actively participated, with hundreds of comments submitted to Parks & Wildlife Department, to shape the management plan for Big Bend Ranch. The thrust of the vast majority of the comments was to maintain the natural state of the area as much as possible, and this strong public sentiment resulted in a management plan that had that emphasis and led, for example, to the removal of the cattle herd on the property.
Now a little over 10 years since approval of the management plan for Big Bend Ranch State Park, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission, the nine-member governing board of the Department, is this week considering a proposal to sell approximately 45,000 acres of the Big Bend Ranch – roughly 1/6 of its current size – to a Houston businessman, John Poindexter, who owns an adjoining ranch property which has been turned into a relatively low-impact resort for the rich and famous (does the name Mick Jagger ring a bell?).
The part of the state park that would be sold is an area known as the Cienega, which – unlike many other parts of the park – has creeks with flowing water. It is the northernmost part of the park, and on a map it has been described as a “stovetop” sticking out from the rest of the park. The flowing water makes it a priceless area in West Texas.
Rumor has it that the proposal is to sell the property at a price of roughly $44 an acre – which many people consider below market value for land with water in that area. Apparently there would be a conservation easement placed on 90% of the property, which would prohibit development, but that easement could be renegotiated at any time. Moreover, that still leaves 10% of the property – approximately 4500 acres – without a conservation easement, which could be used for “limited commercial development” – whatever that means.
There is some indication that Parks & Wildlife wants to sell this property in order to get money to be able to purchase remaining “in-holdings” – pockets of private property that remain within the current boundaries of Big Bend Ranch State Park – totaling about between 25,000 and 30,000 acres. These in-holdings complicate management of the state park. There is no guarantee that money from the sale would be used for this purpose.
Whether or not this proposed sale is worthy of consideration – and the Sierra Club doubts that it is – there has been NO public discussion of this proposal before the story broke in the Austin American-Statesman Tuesday morning. The Parks & Wildlife Commission will consider the proposal in closed session Wednesday morning and then, if considered favorably in that session, potentially vote on the proposal at the Thursday regular meeting of the Commission. That will allow very little time for public scrutiny and comment on such a major public policy issue.
The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club is urging interested Texans to fax a letter immediately to Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission Chairman Joseph Fitzsimons at 512-389-4814 urging the Commission at the very least to postpone any action on the proposed sale until it has initiated a wide-ranging public dialogue on the pros and cons of such a transaction. No action should be taken at this week’s meeting of the Commission.
