Preserving Texas In the News

The Harrison County Commissioners Court voted 3-2 today against creating an industrial park on land intended for protection in the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge was established on October 21, 2000 as an overlay refuge of former Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant land. In 2004, the Army transferred 5,032 acres to the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the important wildlife habitat found in its forests and wetlands. An additional 2500 acres were to later be transferred to the Service.

However, last September, Sen. Hutchison and Rep. Gohmert intervened on behalf of a group of private developers seeking to use the Army lands for an industrial park instead of protecting it in the Refuge, despite the fact that the nearby city of Marshall already has a scarcely used industrial park much closer to highways with sewers and power lines already in place.

The proposed industrial park was only a few thousand feet away from Goose Prairie, the western-most shore of Caddo Lake, and is close to Caddo Lake State Park. The industrial park would have intrude deeply into the existing wildlife refuge, dramatically alter the character of the region, and reduce the level of protection for wildlife and opportunities for recreation and nature tourism.

On Tuesday, the Harrison County Commissioners Court voted 3-2 to ask Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and Congressman Louie Gohmert to “lift the temporary hold” on remaining Longhorn lands. Sen. Hutchison has indicated that she would only support an industrial park if there was widespread public support in the local community. After the Commissioners’ action, and a public hearing last night in Marshall in which the vast majority of attendees voiced opposition to the industrial park, it is clear that the local community wants to protect Caddo Lake.

“There should be no doubt now that the people of Harrison County do not want an industrial park built in the Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge,” said Environment Texas Advocate Luke Metzger. “Caddo Lake is a Texas treasure and if we don’t protect it from development, we will lose a critical part of our natural heritage.”

Home to alligators, turtles, more than 200 species of songbirds and waterfowl, beautiful Spanish moss covered cypress trees and Texas’ only naturally formed lake, the Caddo Lake region in Northeast Texas is truly one of Texas’ most special wild areas. Known for its haunting beauty and the diversity of its habitat,

Caddo Lake has been recognized as a “Wetland of International Importance” by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty which provides for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. The lake has also contributed to a booming eco-tourism industry.

Environment Texas and a coalition of organizations, led by the Greater Caddo Lake Association, have generated over 1000 public comments from across the state to Sen. Hutchison in support of protecting the Refuge.