Victories on Christmas Mountains, parks
Environment Texas celebrated two victories for preservation recently: stopping the sale of the Christmas Mountains to private interests and the voter approval of money for state parks.
The Christmas Mountains, adjacent to Big Bend National Park, were donated to Texas in 1991 by the Richard King Mellon Foundation and The Conservation Fund. The donors hoped that the Mountains would be protected as a public park or wildlife refuge; instead, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has tried to sell them off to private interests.
Environment Texas led the public campaign to save the Christmas Mountains and to have them added to Big Bend National Park. We generated letters from legislators and non-profit groups, dozens of news stories (including one in the New York Times), and collected more than 10,000 petition signatures.
On Feb. 5, the School Land Board voted to reject the sale of the
Christmas Mountains and to keep the mountains in public hands. In addition, Commissioner Patterson ordered the mountains be opened to the public for hiking, camping and other low-impact activities.
We still have a lot of work to do to ensure the land is added to Big Bend National Park, including guarding against new obstacles Commissioner Patterson may put forth. (For the latest news on our campaign to save the Christmas Mountains, visit our newsroom.)
Voters approve $52 million for parks
Also on Nov. 6, Texas voters approved Proposition 4 with 58 percent of the vote. The proposition directs $52 million in bond money to help fund badlyneeded repairs of state park facilities.
Years of budget cuts have left many of our parks in disrepair, lay-offs have reduced access at some parks, and protection of ecologically-sensitive land has been at a standstill. Some of our most cherished state parks, such as Enchanted Rock, Palo Duro Canyon and Garner State Park, will receive funds to make critical repairs.
Environment Texas will keep up the fight for full funding for our state parks, working to make sure that in 2009, the Legislature
finally sets up a dedicated, substantial fund for our parks, including money to acquire new parklands.
Little Christmas Mountain, near Big Bend National Park