Preserving Texas In the News

AUSTIN — A technical mistake in a map marking the 9,270-acre Christmas Mountains that the state wants to sell in West Texas forced the State Land Board to reject all bids on Tuesday and to reopen the bidding process.

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson hopes to sell the property in November.

The Conservation Fund donated the land to Texas 16 years ago. But the land has no legal access and is nearly impossible to manage, Patterson said, because of restrictive covenants that prohibit electric and water lines and any construction except for a caretaker's cabin.

Patterson said the Conservation Fund, based in Arlington, Va., rejected his efforts to restore three windmills on the land because heavy equipment would have been required. The windmills are necessary to provide water for wildlife.

But selling off state land has not gone over with some Texans.

More than 3,000 people, inspired largely by Environment Texas, have sent e-mail messages to Patterson, expressing opposition to the sale of the property near Big Bend National Park, and a couple of dozen showed up at the meeting to amplify their protest.

The prevailing attitude: Texas does not have nearly enough public parks and wilderness area today and selling those 9,270 acres near Terlingua would harm future generations.

Once the land is sold, "We can't ever replace it," Leila Levinson, of Austin, told the board.

Because 95 percent of Texas land is owned privately, most ordinary Texans have a tough time accessing nature, she said.

Richard Viktorin, a Republican Party precinct chairman in Austin, told the board he is "somewhat ashamed that you are up here violating the public trust."

Patterson reminded critics several times that he agrees Texas needs more parks and open space but emphasized the Christmas Mountains would never become park land.

"The land can be restored and preserved, but it was never intended to become a public park," he said. "You can't have a public park and a pristine environment on this tract of land."

He said he wants hunters to have access once wildlife is restored. He also supports public access for such low-impact uses as hiking and academic research.

The board put the sale on hold because of a map that showed erroneous boundaries in the original bid specifications.

Patterson anticipated that the board would review new bids in November.

gscharrer@express-news.net