Meanwhile… Back at the Ranch
October 12th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
In case you haven’t heard, the Texas General Land Office is auctioning off 9,000 acres of donated land adjacent to Big Bend National Park. The property, called the Christmas Mountains Ranch was given to the GLO by a philanthropic organization in 1991 for “conservation and protection in perpetuity,” according to the deed.
GLO commissioner Jerry Patterson says the rugged mountain property would be better off in private hands. Still, some folks want the Christmas Mountains opened to the public. As required by the deed, the GLO offered the property to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the National Park Service a while back but both turned it down. In any case, Patterson warned that he wouldn’t sell to any entity that doesn’t allow firearms or hunting on its premises. That would preclude the parks service.
Nonetheless, a few days ago a Big Bend National Park spokesperson told us that the park’s new superintendent, Bill Wellman, was looking for ways to acquire the property. GLO spokesman Jim Suydam just sent us an emailed statement saying that Patterson and superintendent Wellman spoke this morning. (The full statement is below the photograph.) Wellman wants the GLO to postpone the privatization of the Christmas Mountains while they try to work something out. However, Patterson is sticking to his, ahem, guns. “No hunting, no firearms, no deal,” Patterson told Wellman. Patterson, who allegedly keeps a pistol in his left boot and another in his waistband, calls the ban on packing heat in national parks “unconstitutional.”
Commissioner Patterson spoke with Superintendent Wellman this morning to discuss the possibility of selling the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service. At this point, its a very preliminary idea with many issues that would need to be worked through.
Today, Commissioner Patterson received a letter from Superintendent Wellman asking to postpone the sale to an as of yet undefined date.
However, as he has stated in the past, Commissioner Patterson told Superintendent Wellman he would not be willing to sell the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service if it would mean that there would never be public hunting allowed on the property. The National Park Service prohibits hunting, and enforces an unconstitutional ban on the personal possession of firearms. Commissioner Patterson’s message to Superintendent Wellman was simple: No hunting, no firearms, no deal.
The School Land Board still intends to make an award to the winning bidder sometime after opening the bids on Oct. 31. This could occur as early as the School Land Board’s Nov. 6 meeting.
Even after the bid is awarded, the transaction closing date could be affected by a formal offer from the National Park Service.
October 16th, 2007 at 6:38 am
As I remember the Christmas Mountains were acquired by the Mellon Foundation/Conservancy Group from a Corpus bank with the intent to donate it to the BBNP.
The BBNP had recently acquired the Rosillas Mountain Ranch and had alot of opposition from a Trans-Pecos group who did not want to see any more private lands in public use.
The BBNP was not ready to take on the group again.
Several BBNP Supts later and now they seem ready.
The Mellon Group had no interest in keeping the land and then, and only then, made a deal with Mauro for the GLO to “warehouse” the land until the BBNP or the BBRSP were ready to accept.
The BBRSP was already stretched mighty thin budget wise and were in no position to accept. About this time the Mellon Group had donated the Chinati Mountain tract to the BBRSP. The Chinati tract is about 30 miles from the BBRSP.
The TPWL did not, for many years, provide addl funding for an already strapped BBRSP budget.
Can not believe Patterson is hanging to the “Hunting and Gun” issue. It is so foreign to the rest of the covenants in the Deed, that I can not help but believe the “Hunting and Gun” issue was an inadvertant mistake.
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:30 am
[…] of Patterson’s most able critics is my colleague Forrest Wilder, who wrote first for the Observer about the proposed sale, and who has pointed out the weaknesses in […]
May 1st, 2008 at 2:39 pm
[…] Patterson’s brusque promise of “No guns, no deal” on the proposed transfer of the Christmas Mountains to Big Bend National Park? Well, the AP has a story today that should cheer Yosemite Sam Patterson: […]
May 12th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
[…] more about this bruhaha, here’s a longer, newer Texas Monthly story, and some older, shorter Texas Observer coverage (more), or just google news, because every day there’s […]