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Texas Observer: Parks in Peril

6,136 Views | 54 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by aggiepublius
Swarely
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1:19p, 12/18/18
Quote:
All these glories plus national parks, wildlife management areas and other public lands account for just 5 percent of Texas' vastness. For more than two decades, state leaders have repeatedly warned that if more recreational resources weren't added to accommodate Texas' growth, the result would be overcrowded parks, deteriorating facilities and a diminished connection between urban Texans and the state's rural legacy. Lawmakers have responded by making halting, and ultimately inadequate attempts at shoring up TPWD's rickety finance system.

Will lawmakers rise to the challenge before Texans love their parks to death? Or is Texas' future one in which those in search of the outdoors are left with two options: Drive several hundred miles to Far West Texas to access big, wild country, or suck it up and deal with the crowds and aging infrastructure at state parks closer by?


https://www.texasobserver.org/is-texas-overcrowded-underfunded-state-parks-system-being-loved-to-death/


Thoughts? I went to McKinney Falls for my birthday. And. It. Was. Packed.

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MouthBQ98
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1:55p, 12/18/18
AG
Thoughts: Texas will have to acquire more parkland in proportion to its population or we will unintentionally destroy existing parks, at least from an ecological standpoint, via overuse.

Plain and simple. There is no practical private park option because private land that could be used for large nature parks is currently too costly between taxes and legal liability insurance to operate. You have to cram people in to make it profitable, or offer high cost exclusive access with minimal infrastructure and legal liability issues, such as deer leasing.
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txags92
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1:57p, 12/18/18
AG
If they would actually let TPWD spend the tax money that is earmarked to it by law, it would go a long ways toward "shoring up their rickety finance system".
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BenFiasco14
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2:05p, 12/18/18
AG
Pretty soon every park that is even somewhat popular is going to start doing the reservation system that places like Jacob's Well and Hamilton Pool does, where you have to book your trip months in advance, or weeks (if you can get a random weekday off from work)

Enchanted Rock is about to implement this as well
CNN is an enemy of the state and should be treated as such.
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BenFiasco14
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2:17p, 12/18/18
AG
Quote:
Add to that weather damage, which has been increasing in frequency and severity this century because of climate change. "We've been hit by Rita, Ike, the fires and drought of 2011, the floods of 2016 and 2017 and Hurricane Harvey that's well over $100 million in damages in 10 years," Smith said.
CNN is an enemy of the state and should be treated as such.
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Apache
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2:34p, 12/18/18
AG
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Full funding from the dedicated tax on sporting goods would be a good start. By law, state parks are supposed to receive 94 percent of the tax revenues from the sale of items such as baseball bats and fishing poles. Only once since the tax law passed in 1993 has TPWD received its full share. In other words, the department has been shorted tens of millions of dollars in every legislative session since 1993 except for one.

To balance the state budget, legislators continually raid the sporting goods tax fund, robbing Peter to pay Paul, or, in this case, stealing from parks to prop up prisons and God knows what else. A simple fix would be to give voters the option of amending the Texas Constitution to specify that TPWD get its full 94 percent share no exceptions. But that proposal has yet to gain traction at the Legislature.

Your government at work folks. Taxing you & then breaking laws they passed to spend your money as they see fit.

Quote:
is currently too costly between taxes and legal liability insurance to operate.
And it's always gonna be too costly when you don't give them their earmarked money.
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Neches21
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2:58p, 12/18/18
It's so cheap to get into a park that many people use them as they would a neighborhood or municipal park. Lots of BBQs and birthday parties and the loud music and litter that go with it.
Raise the rates to match the admission fee of national parks and the day use will go down some. Dedicated outdoorsman will still pay the price of admission.
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Naveronski
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In reply to BenFiasco14 • 3:38p, 12/18/18
AG
BenFiasco14 said:
Quote:
Add to that weather damage, which has been increasing in frequency and severity this century because of climate change. "We've been hit by Rita, Ike, the fires and drought of 2011, the floods of 2016 and 2017 and Hurricane Harvey that's well over $100 million in damages in 10 years," Smith said.

Okay Ben, pretend it said "mythical sky forces we know nothing about".
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Apache
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4:55p, 12/18/18
AG
Fires, droughts & hurricanes are part of living in Texas and there is zero evidence they are any worse now than before.

On the contrary, there is strong evidence there have been much, much worse droughts than anything we've seen in the past 200 years in Texas.

The cost of hurricane damage has to do with the increased development on the coast rather than some global warming scaremongering.

Fires, such as in Bastrop are made worse by fire suppression and bad forest management.

I'm no "climate denier" but the attribution of some slight global warming to all the world's problems is ridiculous.
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Ragoo
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5:00p, 12/18/18
AG
This leads to another question. Why did the army corps close day use at parks?
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BenderRodriguez
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In reply to Apache • 5:01p, 12/18/18
AG
Apache said:
I'm no "climate denier" but the attribution of some slight global warming to all the world's problems is ridiculous.

Especially when the obvious problem with Texas Parks being overused is there are too many Texans now who want to use them.

The population of the state has essentially doubled in less than 40 years. In 1981 14 million people called Texas home. Now we're close to hitting 29 million.

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Breggy Popup
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In reply to Neches21 • 6:07p, 12/18/18
AG
Neches21 said:
It's so cheap to get into a park that many people use them as they would a neighborhood or municipal park. Lots of BBQs and birthday parties and the loud music and litter that go with it.
Raise the rates to match the admission fee of national parks and the day use will go down some. Dedicated outdoorsman will still pay the price of admission.


Yep. Time for a rate hike...at least at the most popular parks. I'd pay a premium to get into Garner or Enchanted Rock without having to get in line 2-3 hours before the park opens.

And if demand doesn't go down from a rate hike it'll boost TPWD's coffers a bit.
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P.H. Dexippus
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7:20a, 12/19/18
AG
It's a shame what's happened to Garner SP.
"[When I was a kid,] I wanted to be a pirate. Thank God no one took me seriously and scheduled me for eye removal and peg leg surgery."- Bill Maher
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Neches21
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8:06a, 12/19/18
Talk to your legislators and tell them we want to improve and expand our state owned public land (state parks and state forest). The more state land we have the more public hunting opourtunities we have even if it is by draw / lottery. Lots of current parks are getting too urban and crowded to shut down for hunting
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Good Bull Jones 17
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8:19a, 12/19/18
AG
How exactly does the state expand its state parks? Does it just have to buy the land from private landowners? Are there eminent domain issues? Where would they get that money? To substantially increase the size of state parks would cost many millions of dollars.
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Breggy Popup
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In reply to Good Bull Jones 17 • 8:20a, 12/19/18
AG
Good Bull Jones 17 said:
How exactly does the state expand its state parks? Does it just have to buy the land from private landowners? Are there eminent domain issues? Where would they get that money? To substantially increase the size of state parks would cost many millions of dollars.


I take it you didn't read the article.
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TwoMarksHand
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In reply to Good Bull Jones 17 • 8:22a, 12/19/18
AG
Good Bull Jones 17 said:
How exactly does the state expand its state parks? Does it just have to buy the land from private landowners? Are there eminent domain issues? Where would they get that money? To substantially increase the size of state parks would cost many millions of dollars.
The newer public land is usually given to the state by deceased people who donate it them from what I gather. Not that these are state parks by any means, but are more for hunting spots. They are usually small tracts, relatively.
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drummer0415
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In reply to P.H. Dexippus • 8:33a, 12/19/18
AG
Mr. AGSPRT04 said:
It's a shame what's happened to Garner SP.

I went for the first time ever last year. The park was beautiful, but it was PACKED and very "cultural". With the amount of neck tattoos, Cowboys paraphernalia, and flea market music, it put a little bit of a damper on the experience.

On a similar note, my wife's family has been going to a place outside of Uvalde called Park Chalk Bluff since her mom was a little girl, and in recent years it has turned into the same thing.
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schmellba99
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In reply to TwoMarksHand • 9:46a, 12/19/18
AG
TwoMarksHand said:
Good Bull Jones 17 said:
How exactly does the state expand its state parks? Does it just have to buy the land from private landowners? Are there eminent domain issues? Where would they get that money? To substantially increase the size of state parks would cost many millions of dollars.
The newer public land is usually given to the state by deceased people who donate it them from what I gather. Not that these are state parks by any means, but are more for hunting spots. They are usually small tracts, relatively.
That is what happened with Powderhorn Ranch, but it isn't a state park. It's a state natural area or nature preserve, can't remember which.

We have too many people for the state park land, it's that simple.
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BurrOak
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In reply to schmellba99 • 9:50a, 12/19/18
AG
Wildlife Management Area
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Naveronski
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In reply to drummer0415 • 11:12a, 12/19/18
AG
drummer0415 said:
Mr. AGSPRT04 said:
It's a shame what's happened to Garner SP.

I went for the first time ever last year. The park was beautiful, but it was PACKED and very "cultural". With the amount of neck tattoos, Cowboys paraphernalia, and flea market music, it put a little bit of a damper on the experience.

On a similar note, my wife's family has been going to a place outside of Uvalde called Park Chalk Bluff since her mom was a little girl, and in recent years it has turned into the same thing.

This is a problem at many of the parks in the DFW area too; not just state parks.

It's almost turning into the same issue camping and hunting are facing; if you don't have family land, you're SOL.
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dave99ag
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11:45a, 12/19/18
AG
I'll stick to that national park over in the big bend. It can be hours or even days without seeing a soul.
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BenderRodriguez
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In reply to dave99ag • 11:46a, 12/19/18
AG
dave99ag said:
I'll stick to that national park over in the big bend. It can be hours or even days without seeing a soul.

For now.

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dave99ag
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In reply to BenderRodriguez • 11:49a, 12/19/18
AG
BenderRodriguez said:
dave99ag said:
I'll stick to that national park over in the big bend. It can be hours or even days without seeing a soul.

For now.


True. Sad, but true. It's also why I have a place in that area to disconnect. Headed there next week for some off-grid time.
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MouthBQ98
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1:01p, 12/19/18
AG
Helps to go in the off season, during the week.

About 15 years ago one February, I spent 3 days at Garner mid-week and we were the only campers in the entire "new" part of the park. I think there was maybe 3 campsites occupied in the whole park. We lucked into some nice comfortably warm weather, too.
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CanyonAg77
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In reply to MouthBQ98 • 1:12p, 12/19/18
AG
MouthBQ98 said:
Helps to go in the off season, during the week.
Yeah. Don't go to Palo Duro on a pretty weekend day.

I wonder what the entrance fees have been through the years. I bet if you adjust for inflation, they are lower now than 25-50 years ago.
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YellowPot_97
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10:32p, 12/19/18
AG
What can a person do to affect a change for the better?
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AggieOO
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In reply to BenderRodriguez • 10:42p, 12/19/18
BenderRodriguez said:
dave99ag said:
I'll stick to that national park over in the big bend. It can be hours or even days without seeing a soul.

For now.



If you know where to go and are experienced, you will always be able to go to areas in the park and go days without seeing someone else. Plenty of places and trails that aren't on maps you get at the ranger's office. Even parks like Yosemite have backcountry where you can get into remote areas.
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p_bubel
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11:39p, 12/19/18
My friends have all bought campers for their families and book months in advance. Reservations fill up fast. Outside of the summer months a lot of spaces get reserved but unused.

I showed up to McKinney falls last year unable to get a spot only to find that about 2/3rds of the camper sites empty. It's very frustrating.
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Ragoo
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In reply to p_bubel • 6:37a, 12/20/18
AG
p_bubel said:
My friends have all bought campers for their families and book months in advance. Reservations fill up fast. Outside of the summer months a lot of spaces get reserved but unused.

I showed up to McKinney falls last year unable to get a spot only to find that about 2/3rds of the camper sites empty. It's very frustrating.
are they paid for when reserved? If no, then the system is flawed.
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AgRyan04
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6:50a, 12/20/18
For most of the Texas state parks I've been to you pay for the first night up front and then the balance upon your arrival....but if you miss the first night they'll cancel the remainder of the reservation
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The Fall Guy
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6:58a, 12/20/18
AG
McKinney Falls you are camping in the city. The homeless people wander in
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Burdizzo
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In reply to drummer0415 • 7:17a, 12/20/18
AG
drummer0415 said:
Mr. AGSPRT04 said:
It's a shame what's happened to Garner SP.

I went for the first time ever last year. The park was beautiful, but it was PACKED and very "cultural". With the amount of neck tattoos, Cowboys paraphernalia, and flea market music, it put a little bit of a damper on the experience.

On a similar note, my wife's family has been going to a place outside of Uvalde called Park Chalk Bluff since her mom was a little girl, and in recent years it has turned into the same thing.



I have been twice in the last two years. The amount of vandalism and graffiti in the park is a disgrace.
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Neches21
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8:01a, 12/20/18
Quote:
are they paid for when reserved? If no, then the system is flawed.

Again, it's so cheap (about $25 a night for RV site) that I think people book campsites just in case they want to go camping and then if the weather is bad or if something else comes up they just cancel last minute for a refund.
Even if they lose the money it's no big deal because it's only $25 a night. The tent sites are even cheaper.

When it's cheaper to stay in State Parks than a Motel 6, even though demand for the former is substantially higher, there might be a problem. Im guilty of canceling reservations due to weather but the system appears heavily abused
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drummer0415
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In reply to Burdizzo • 8:17a, 12/20/18
AG
Burdizzo said:
drummer0415 said:
Mr. AGSPRT04 said:
It's a shame what's happened to Garner SP.

I went for the first time ever last year. The park was beautiful, but it was PACKED and very "cultural". With the amount of neck tattoos, Cowboys paraphernalia, and flea market music, it put a little bit of a damper on the experience.

On a similar note, my wife's family has been going to a place outside of Uvalde called Park Chalk Bluff since her mom was a little girl, and in recent years it has turned into the same thing.



I have been twice in the last two years. The amount of vandalism and graffiti in the park is a disgrace.

So you're saying all the people invading Texas from the $h!thole country south of us are turning Texas into a $h!thole also????? Imagine that. Nobody could ever guess this would happen.....
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