General Land Office Selling Land Donated by Conservation Group

The General Land Office is at it again. After the controversy over its proposed sale of land at Eagle Mountain Lake, the office agreed to the development of a park only after it became a political football in the last election. Now the office is proposing another controversial sale. It has taken bids for 9,269 acres of land in the Christmas Mountains adjacent to Big Bend National Park.

According to the Conservation Fund, who gifted the land to the state, the state was bound by deed restrictions and could not sell the land without the approval of the fund.

"It was the hope...that this land would be made available to the general public for hunting and other recreational uses," Richard Erdman, executive vice president of the Virginia-based Conservation Fund, wrote in [an] Aug. 8 letter.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson stated that the deed restrictions were probably unenforceable.

One of the bidders is Houston businessman John Poindexter, of J.B. Poindexter & Co. Inc. and owner of nearby Cibolo Creek Ranch Resort. Poindexter has been trying to buy land in and around the area for some time now. He previously made news when he initiated the sale of 45,000 acres in Big Bend State Park. After a public outcry, that deal fell through.

Poindexter's statements imply he is only interested in conservation of the Christmas Mountains land.

"The restrictions are so significant, that fundamentally, all you can do is look at the land."

Apparently, that's an argument we've heard before. Of the Big Bend sale, Poindexter had this to say.

The 46,000 acres that the state considered selling him wasn't being sought to expand his resort facilities, as some critics asserted, he added.

"The development potential — as was so frequently cited in the hearing — for this property is as close to zero as anything could reasonably be in the state," he said.

What he failed to mention was that an easement on the 46,000 acre sale allowed development of 4600 acres.

Regarding the Christmas Mountains land, the original donor, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, was disturbed enough about the pending sale of its land to issue this warning.

If the land sale goes through "the state of Texas (should) not look to the R.K. Mellon Foundation for any future help."

That sentiment was echoed by Carolyn Vogel of the Texas Land Trust Council.

"If the foundation intended for conservation to be the major outcome and it got developed instead, it could have an effect" on future donations to the state.

Hat tip South Texas Chisme and B & B.

Eagle Mountain Lake will become a public park

Tomorrow morning, Sept. 13 at 10:00 a.m., Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell will hold a press conference at Eagle Mountain Lake. Chris will be joined by fellow candidates Steve Lerma, Danny Anderson and Sheila Ford. The candidates will be highlighting the crisis over Texas state parks, but they will also be celebrating a significant victory.

After years of controversy, and enormous public pressure, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the 400-acre property at Eagle Mountain Lake will be sold to the regional water district to be used as a public parkland.

The land, which is owned by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, has remained fallow for more than 25 years. The state in recent years has considered selling it to developers, who hoped to establish a high-end residential subdivision here.

But in a tentative agreement that is expected to be announced Wednesday at a news conference in Fort Worth, the Tarrant County Regional Water District, Tarrant County, the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, TXU and possibly others will partner to purchase the land, according to officials.

The details of the deal have not yet been released and may not yet be finalized.

Exactly how the deal will be structured is still being worked out, said Vic Henderson, president of the Tarrant Regional Water District board. He confimed that money from the project will come from several sources. Others said that TXU would pitch in between $850,000 and $1.5 million.

As the campaign season has progressed, the issue of funding for state parks and the sell-off of some parklands has become a major issue in this fall's elections. Governor Perry has been accused of trying to negotiate a back-door agreement to develop the Eagle Mountain Lake property, and recently, a member of his campaign steering committee resigned after failing to receive assurances that the land would be preserved in its entirety.

This decision is a victory for all those who stood firm in demanding that our government not renege on a committment, made twenty-five years ago, to develop Tarrant County's only state park. That includes candidates and politicians on both sides of the political spectrum, non-profit groups like Save Eagle Mountain Lake Inc., and the entire staff of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, who have been relentless in beating the drum for support of the state parks generally, and Eagle Mountain Lake specifically. R.A. Dyer's series of articles highlighting the parks issue deserves special mention. And to the countless private citizens who voiced their outrage at rallies, in editorials and through phone calls and faxes to government officials - well done.

The Bell press conference is at 10:00 a.m. at the Creek Harbor Fish Camp, Eagle Mountain Lake, 12792 Morris Dido Road, in Fort Worth. Come out and show your support for some great candidates and celebrate this victory for our public lands.

Our Natural Heritage at Risk in North Texas

The fate of the Texas state park system is now firmly entrenched as an issue in the gubernatorial race this fall. Democratic candidate Chris Bell is making it a centerpiece in his campaign, along with education. The issue cuts across party and demographic lines, and judging by the editorial pages of local newspapers, the outrage is palpable. So what now?

First, don't assume that just because the issue is generating so much negative publicity for Governor Perry that the idea of selling public land is off the table. At the local, state and national level, the battle continues.

Here are some of the public lands most at risk in North Texas and what you can do.

Eagle Mountain Lake
As FWST columnist Jack Smith reports, there is good news and bad news on the effort to stop the sale of this land.

After a potent public outcry, it appears likely that a public park will be established on at least part of a 400-acre site bordering Eagle Mountain Lake in northwest Tarrant County.

But it would be a shame if the entire 400 acres were not turned into a park. That's what the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) intended when it bought the land in the early 1980s.

But the state has other ideas.

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, in a telephone talk Wednesday, said he feels the best outcome would be to turn part of the 400 acres into a local park and part into a "very low-density, high-dollar" residential development. The portion sold for development presumably would fetch more money than if it were sold for parkland.

Patterson said money from the sale could be used by TPWD to help buy acreage for a much larger state park of perhaps several thousand acres located within a 90-minute drive of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. TPWD officials have, for example, eyed a site in Palo Pinto County.

Patterson isn't saying how much land will be set aside. Write Perry and Patterson and let them know what you think of their plan. The advocacy group, Save Eagle Mountain Lake has all the info you'll need to fire off those letters.

Fort Worth Prairie Park
Another local treasure at risk of the developer's bulldozer is a lesser publicized piece of land known as the Fort Worth Prairie Park.

The State of Texas’ Permanent School Fund is trying to quietly sell off development rights to nearly 2,000 acres of Texas public land in southwest Fort Worth that has enormous ecological, multicultural, educational, and historical values, including for Native Americans and African-Americans, as well as being one of the best remaining examples of virgin Fort Worth Prairie. Citizen and advocacy groups are clamoring to protect this 1,983 acre jewel as the cornerstone of the new Fort Worth Prairie Park Initiative, which is being spear-headed by the Great Plains Restoration Council on behalf of protecting the endangered tallgrass/mixed grass Fort Worth Prairie for future generations and struggling native wildlife.....

The State of Texas, working with a private developer, wants to bulldoze the prairie at 10700 Old Granbury Rd to “maximize income.” Due to the topography, and the huge cost of bringing a sewer to the property, they’d have to cut it into thousands of 50 foot lots to make a profit. This pristine prairie is also the last unspoiled land before the watershed empties into Benbrook Lake, a major source of Fort Worth drinking water.

If you want to help preserve this amazing piece of history, sign the petition.

Caddo-LBJ Grasslands
The National Wildlife Federation tells us that as much as 800,000 acres of public land will be up for auction in President's Bush 2007 budget. The Texas tally is listed here. To stop this outrage, click here.

Among the possible treasures up for grabs are the lesser-known Caddo and LBJ Grasslands. You can view a map of the LBJ Grasslands, named for a president who knew the true worth of America's natural resources could never be measured by the sum on a developer's check.

It's hundreds of cattle ponds create habitat for an amazing diversity of flora and fauna. Among the varmints of special interest to outdoor enthusiasts are ducks, butterflies, reptiles and amphibians, including, yep, the Texas Toad. (Do you think this picture makes me look fat?)

If you know of other areas in North Texas at risk, leave a comment and a link, if you've got one.

The Battle for Eagle Mountain Lake

State Representative Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth) of District 99 will be holding a town hall meeting tonight to discuss the fate of Eagle Mountain Lake. The meeting will be attended by representatives of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and the Tarrant Regional Water District.

WHEN: Thursday, July 13th 6:00PM-7:00PM
WHAT: Town Hall Meeting to solicit input on the potential sale to developers of park land on Eagle Mountain Lake.
WHERE: W. E. Boswell High School Fine Arts Center
5850 Bailey-Boswell Road
Fort Worth, TX 76179.

In case you've missed the controversy, the organization Save Eagle Mountain Lake provides this synopsis:

For the past 5 years, TPWD has considered the sale of this property to in an effort to raise funding for an alternate park located over 90 miles from the current site. In response to that initiative, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD), state and local representatives, and the citizens of Fort Worth have worked diligently to secure the required funds to purchase this property on behalf of the residents of Tarrant County and neighboring communities. In recent negotiations, TRWD brought forth a purchase agreement congruent with the appraised value with a commitment from the Tarrant County Commissioners Court to assist in the development and maintenance of the park as originally intended. These offers have been rejected in favor of a state supported plan to sell the property to the highest bidding residential or commercial developers. Save Eagle Mountain Lake, Inc., has recently learned that Governor Perry has directed his staff to prepare a Request for Proposal (RFP) to begin the process of conveyance for development purposes [emphasis mine].

Representative Geren has sponsored legislation supporting the sale to TRWD.

The Tarrant County Commissioners Court approved a resolution in support of the sale of Eagle Mountain Lake for $10 million. If the Tarrant Regional Water District buys the land, they plan to turn it into a wildlife preserve and nature park.

This is an important venue for the citizens of Fort Worth to voice objections to the sale of the land surrounding Eagle Mountain Lake and urge the preservation of a small corner of our ever-dwindling natural heritage.