Texas Needs More Parkland!

"When most Texans lived in rural areas, parkland wasn't needed as much because people were constantly outdoors, ranching, farming, hunting and fishing," said Brian Sybert, Natural Resources Director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. "But now that most Texans live in large cities and are cooped up in offices during the work week, they need places to get away and reconnect with the outdoors. Unfortunately, they're finding all too often that there isn't state parkland within a reasonable distance of where they live."

While Texas is the second largest state in the union and 85 percent of its population is concentrated in urban areas, it ranked 49^th in per capita spending on state parks in 1998, at $3.36 per person. According to the Tech study, 1.4 million more acres of land will be needed by the year 2030 to reach the goal of 55 acres of state parkland per 1000 people.

The Tech study found the shortage of outdoor recreation lands to be particularly acute around the major population centers of Texas, and also recommends that more local parks be established by cities, counties, and special districts. The authors recommend that state and local governments adopt a goal of establishing 25 acres of local parkland per 1000. This would require the acquisition of an additional 558,000 acres by 2030.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPW) is now working on a plan, called the State Land and Water Resource Conservation Plan, to acquire and protect new land and waterways. The plan was authorized by the legislature in the TPW sunset bill passed in May. The Conservation Plan, as it is generally known at TPW, is currently a work in progress. The agency must complete the draft by May 31.

The Tech study contained other interesting findings. Among them:

· "Texans are becoming increasingly frustrated about the lack of access to lands to experience nature."

· "A majority of large landowners (64%) in Texas are not interested in opening up their land to provide more outdoor recreational opportunities."

· 77% of Texans support more Texas Parks and Wildlife funding to buy additional land for conservation of natural resources and outdoor recreation.

· "Traditional Texas Parks and Wildlife clients (white males aged 40 or older) are becoming a minority in Texas."

· The study finds that Cameron, Hidalgo, and Denton counties will have the greatest shortfall in terms of TPW-managed land per capita in 2030. Montgomery, Tarrant, Bell, Travis, Williamson, Dallas, Collin and Fort Bend counties are also expected to have significant shortfalls of TPW parkland.