State Land and Water Plan Adopted
Plan Lays the Groundwork for Land Conservation Activities

By Brian Sybert, Natural Resources Director, Lone Star Chapter

On Thursday August 29, 2002 the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission adopted the Land and Water Conservation and Recreation Plan. The adopted plan will guide all state acquisitions of parkland and protected wildlife habitat as well as guide the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department's (TPWD’s) efforts to protect our states' waterways over the next ten years.

Thanks to the hundreds of citizens who commented and attended public hearings the final plan was stronger than originally anticipated. Though the draft plan includes many important recommendations for how TPWD will address Texas' rapidly growing conservation and recreation needs the plan is deficient in some areas.

In regard to state parkland and wildlife management areas TPWD will open to the public a minimum of four 5,000-acre or larger state parks near the major urban centers of the state and establish wildlife management areas in the Cross Timbers and Prairies ecoregions and the High Plains ecoregion. The plan also calls for TPWD to expand existing priority state parks and wildlife management areas. The state park and wildlife management area recommendations are an important starting point, but they are not adequate for meeting our state's growing need for parkland and habitat conservation. TPWD should have adopted the goal of providing 55 acres of state parkland per 1000 people. This goal is based upon population growth and would allow TPWD to take action during the next ten years to meet the state's growing conservation and recreation needs.

In regard to local parkland the plan recommends that TPWD continue to support local park needs through competitive grant programs. The plan also states that TPWD will develop new programs and identify additional funding for the establishment of local parks. While these recommendations are important TPWD should have also adopted the goal of working with local governments to provide 25 acres of local parkland per 1000 people.

The plan also recommends that TPWD support the establishment of a purchase of development rights program in Texas that is consistent with the Department's mission in the conservation of natural resources. This recommendation is important since a purchase of development rights program could play a major role in protecting wildlife habitat and watersheds from urban development.

In regard to water the plan recommends that TPWD continue to study the freshwater needs of river basins and bays and estuaries and incorporate the results of the studies into water planning, development and management processes. According to the plan TPWD will also encourage the conversion or transfer of existing unused water rights to the Texas Water Trust to protect river flows for wildlife and recreation. In addition to these recommendations the plan should have set goals for acquiring water rights to place in the Trust and supported limits on new water diversions so that Texas streams and rivers maintain enough flow to protect water quality and support wildlife and recreation.

Unfortunately, for political reasons the plan did not address how to finance the implementation of these recommendations. Funding options such as lifting the cap on revenue generated from the sales tax on sporting goods and authorizing the issuance of new bonds for parkland and habitat acquisition should have been recommended in the plan.

Though the plan is deficient in some areas it does include many recommendations that are important for addressing the future conservation and recreation needs of our state. Overall the plan should be seen as a starting point that will lay the groundwork for more substantive conservation actions in the near future. Now that the plan has been adopted, the top priorities of the Sierra Club on this issue are to further educate the public about land conservation needs through our Wide Open Spaces Campaign and to work for additional funding to increase parkland, conserve habitat, and protect our waterways.

Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club, at (512)477-1729 or lonestar.chapter@sierraclub.org