AUSTIN - One day before the possible
sale of the Christmas Mountains to private interests, parks advocates made
a final plea to Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, Governor Rick Perry and
Attorney General Greg Abbott to halt the sale to give time to the National Park
Service and Texas
Parks and Wildlife
Department to prepare bids to acquire the property. The groups announced that
more than 6300 Texans have signed petitions asking for such a delay.
“We’re calling on the state of Texas
to keep our promise and keep the Christmas
Mountains in public
hands,” said Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas. “The Christmas Mountains
would make a fantastic addition to the crown jewel of Texas’
park system, Big Bend
National Park, but we
need our elected officials to put the broader public interest ahead of narrow
idealogical agendas”.
On Tuesday, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and the two
other members of the School Land Board (appointees of Governor Perry and
Attorney General Abbott) will meet to consider the possible sale of the
mountains to one of two private bidders. The Christmas
Mountains were donated to the state of
Texas in 1991
“for use as and inclusion in a nature park, wildlife refuge, recreational area
or similarly designated use area." However, Commissioner Patterson has
rejected appeals by the National Park Service, several lawmakers and thousands
of individual Texans to delay the sale so Big Bend National Park
could have time to further evaluate the possible acquisition of the mountains
as part of the park.
The Richard K. Mellon Foundation, one of the land’s original
donors and one of the nation’s leading public land philanthropies, has warned
that if the sale goes through against their wishes, the state of Texas should “not look
to the R.K. Mellon Foundation for any future help.” The state of Texas hasn't funded a
major land acquisition program since 1967 and has primarily relied on the
generosity of private foundations to fund natural area protection, including
public hunting lands. Parks advocates warned that the sale of the Christmas Mountains could create a “chilling
effect” on future philanthropy.
“Commissioner Patterson's move toward selling the property
has prompted actions that might not otherwise have occurred,” wrote state Rep.
Donna Howard recently in a letter to the School Land Board, “thus motivating
concerted efforts on the part of both the NPS and the TPWD to find ways to
acquire and properly manage the donated lands”. Howard is a member of the House
legislative committee which oversees park issues.
“The National Parks Conservation Association’s
14,000 members here in Texas, and our 330,000
members nationwide, are calling on Gov. Perry to step in and delay the
controversial sale of the land that includes the Christmas
Mountains northwest of Big Bend National Park,” said Suzanne Dixon of
the National parks Conservation Association. “We need to give the National Park
Service time to pursue options such as a congressionally authorized boundary
adjustment.”
“The Sierra Club joins today with others to call
upon Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and the School Land Board to delay
the proposed sale of the Christmas
Mountains and give the
National Park Service enough time to acquire the property,” said Cyrus Reed of
the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.
“There’s no need for Commissioner Patterson to be the Grinch who gave
away Christmas”.
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