[Texgreen] Austin area folks: Hearing tomorrow on selling off Christmas Mtns.
David Pollard
dopollard@yahoo.com
Mon, 17 Sep 2007 12:19:43 -0700 (PDT)
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Tomorrow, on Tuesday, Sept. 18th, at 10 AM, the School Land Board will
meet in Austin to decide the fate of the Christmas Mountains. With more
than 2,800 people sending emails to Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson
and a flurry of media stories, the Commissioner and the School Land
Board are under a lot of pressure to cancel, or at least postpone, the
sale.
We need to make sure we have a good turn-out at the hearing to
reinforce the message that the public opposes the sale of the Christmas
Mountains to private interests.
WHERE: Stephen F. Austin Building
1700 North Congress Ave. Room #170
Austin, Texas 78701
WHEN: Tuesday, Sep. 18
Meeting starts at 10:00 A.M. (Christmas
Mountains is item 10 on the agenda).
If you can attend the meeting, please RSVP at:
https://www.environmenttexas.org/action/preserving-texas/cm-hearing?id4=ES
Many of you have received an e-mail from Commissioner Patterson
explaining his position. Here is more information on why Environment Texas
opposes this sale:
1) BAD PRECEDENT. The Richard King Mellon Foundation, which donated the
land and is one of the nation's largest funders of open space
preservation, is expressly opposed to the sale. The lease they signed with the
state says GLO has to get their permission to sell, but Land
Commissioner Jerry Patterson (who chairs the School Land Board) says that
provision won't hold up in court so he's ignoring it. The Statesman reported
that Richard King Mellon Foundation officer Mike Watson wrote that if
the auction goes through "the state [should] not look to the R.K. Mellon
Foundation for any future help." Other funders may follow suit.
2) NO GUARANTEES OF PROTECTION OR ACCESS. It's unclear who will monitor
and enforce the development restrictions and there are no guarantees
of future public access (particularly if the property is flipped down
the road).
3) WE CAN DO BETTER. Patterson's argument is that since the government
doesn't have the money to protect the land against poachers, invasive
species and irresponsible public use (e.g. ATVs), the private sector
will do a better job. But the state does have the money, they're just
diverting it to other purposes. In addition to park entrance fees, the
state parks system is funded through sales taxes on the purchase of
sporting goods, which are estimated at $105 million in the current fiscal
year. But the Legislature has put drastic caps on the amount received by
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, diverting most of those dollars
back into the state general revenue fund. After a public outcry, this
spring the Legislature tripled funding for our parks for the next two
years, primarily to catch up on an enormous backlog of repair needs.
However, they dedicated no new money for land acquisition and failed to
remove the cap on the sporting goods tax and set up a guaranteed fund for
our parks, as a blue ribbon commission urged them to do last year. The
National Park Service is similarly cash-strapped, working with an
annual operating shortfall in excess of $800 million and a multi-million
backlog of maintenance and preservation needs.
4) PART OF A PATTERN. This is not an isolated incident of the state
selling public land to private interests. In 2005, TPWD proposed selling
46,000 acres of Big Bend Ranch State Park to Houston developer John
Poindexter (one of the people bidding for Christmas mountains). In 2006,
they proposed selling the Eagle Mountain Lake State Park (through GLO) in
Fort Worth to developers to build condos. Both proposals were shot
down after a public outcry. GLO is also pursuing an irresponsible
investment strategy, buying up ecologically important open space and selling it
to developers (e.g. the Fort Worth prairie and Hays county land on the
Blanco river) and are reportedly considering selling property on North
Padre Island which was purchased with federal money to be protected,
but the protections have expired after ten years and is now hot
property.
5) TEXANS WANT/NEED MORE PUBLIC LAND. Only about 5% of Texas land is
publicly owned and according to a study by Texas Tech, "Texans are
becoming increasingly frustrated about the lack of access to lands to
experience nature". As the San Antonio Express-News pointed out yesterday,
there's also a big lack of public hunting land. Selling off places like
the Christmas Mountains moves in the wrong direction.
If you can attend the meeting, please RSVP at:
https://www.environmenttexas.org/action/preserving-texas/cm-hearing?id4=ES
Sincerely,
Luke Metzger
Environment Texas Director
LukeM@environmenttexas.org
http://www.environmenttexas.org
---------------------------------
Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell.
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Tomorrow, on Tuesday, Sept. 18th, at 10 AM, the School Land Board will<BR> meet in <SPAN id=lw_1190056641_0 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Austin</SPAN> to decide the fate of the Christmas Mountains. With more<BR> than 2,800 people sending emails to Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson<BR> and a flurry of media stories, the Commissioner and the School Land<BR> Board are under a lot of pressure to cancel, or at least postpone, the<BR> sale.<BR><BR>We need to make sure we have a good turn-out at the hearing to<BR> reinforce the message that the public opposes the sale of the Christmas<BR> Mountains to private interests. <BR><BR>WHERE: Stephen F. Austin Building<BR> <SPAN id=lw_1190056641_1 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">1700 North Congress Ave. Room
#170<BR> Austin, Texas 78701</SPAN><BR><BR>WHEN: Tuesday, Sep. 18<BR> Meeting starts at 10:00 A.M. (Christmas <BR> Mountains is item 10 on the agenda).<BR><BR>If you can attend the meeting, please RSVP at:<BR><BR><A href="https://www.environmenttexas.org/action/preserving-texas/cm-hearing?id4=ES" target=_blank><SPAN id=lw_1190056641_2><FONT color=#003399>https://www.environmenttexas.org/action/preserving-texas/cm-hearing?id4=ES</FONT></SPAN></A><BR><BR>Many of you have received an e-mail from Commissioner Patterson<BR> explaining his position. Here is more information on why Environment <SPAN id=lw_1190056641_3 style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Texas</SPAN><BR> opposes this sale:<BR><BR>1) BAD PRECEDENT. The Richard
King Mellon Foundation, which donated the<BR> land and is one of the nation's largest funders of open space<BR> preservation, is expressly opposed to the sale. The lease they signed with the<BR> state says GLO has to get their permission to sell, but Land<BR> Commissioner Jerry Patterson (who chairs the School Land Board) says that<BR> provision won't hold up in court so he's ignoring it. The Statesman reported<BR> that Richard King Mellon Foundation officer Mike Watson wrote that if<BR> the auction goes through "the state [should] not look to the R.K. Mellon<BR> Foundation for any future help." Other funders may follow suit. <BR> <BR>2) NO GUARANTEES OF PROTECTION OR ACCESS. It's unclear who will monitor<BR> and enforce the development restrictions and there are no guarantees<BR> of future public access (particularly if the property is flipped down<BR> the road).<BR> <BR>3) WE CAN DO BETTER. Patterson's argument is that since the government<BR> doesn't have the
money to protect the land against poachers, invasive<BR> species and irresponsible public use (e.g. ATVs), the private sector<BR> will do a better job. But the state does have the money, they're just<BR> diverting it to other purposes. In addition to park entrance fees, the<BR> state parks system is funded through sales taxes on the purchase of<BR> sporting goods, which are estimated at $105 million in the current fiscal<BR> year. But the Legislature has put drastic caps on the amount received by<BR> the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, diverting most of those dollars<BR> back into the state general revenue fund. After a public outcry, this<BR> spring the Legislature tripled funding for our parks for the next two<BR> years, primarily to catch up on an enormous backlog of repair needs.<BR> However, they dedicated no new money for land acquisition and failed to<BR> remove the cap on the sporting goods tax and set up a guaranteed fund for<BR> our parks, as a blue ribbon
commission urged them to do last year. The<BR> National Park Service is similarly cash-strapped, working with an<BR> annual operating shortfall in excess of $800 million and a multi-million<BR> backlog of maintenance and preservation needs.<BR> <BR>4) PART OF A PATTERN. This is not an isolated incident of the state<BR> selling public land to private interests. In 2005, TPWD proposed selling<BR> 46,000 acres of Big Bend Ranch State Park to <SPAN id=lw_1190056641_4 style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Houston</SPAN> developer John<BR> Poindexter (one of the people bidding for Christmas mountains). In 2006,<BR> they proposed selling the Eagle Mountain Lake State Park (through GLO) in<BR> <SPAN id=lw_1190056641_5 style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Fort Worth</SPAN> to developers to build condos. Both proposals were shot<BR> down after a public outcry. GLO is also pursuing an irresponsible<BR> investment strategy, buying up ecologically
important open space and selling it<BR> to developers (e.g. the <SPAN id=lw_1190056641_6 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Fort Worth</SPAN> prairie and Hays county land on the<BR> Blanco river) and are reportedly considering selling property on North<BR> Padre Island which was purchased with federal money to be protected,<BR> but the protections have expired after ten years and is now hot<BR> property. <BR> <BR>5) TEXANS WANT/NEED MORE PUBLIC LAND. Only about 5% of Texas land is<BR> publicly owned and according to a study by Texas Tech, "Texans are<BR> becoming increasingly frustrated about the lack of access to lands to<BR> experience nature". As the <SPAN id=lw_1190056641_7 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">San Antonio Express-News</SPAN> pointed out yesterday,<BR> there's also a big lack of public hunting land. Selling off
places like<BR> the Christmas Mountains moves in the wrong direction.<BR><BR>If you can attend the meeting, please RSVP at:<BR><BR><A href="https://www.environmenttexas.org/action/preserving-texas/cm-hearing?id4=ES" target=_blank><SPAN id=lw_1190056641_8 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%"><FONT color=#003399>https://www.environmenttexas.org/action/preserving-texas/cm-hearing?id4=ES</FONT></SPAN></A><BR><BR>Sincerely, <BR><BR>Luke Metzger<BR>Environment <SPAN id=lw_1190056641_9 style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">Texas</SPAN> Director<BR><SPAN id=lw_1190056641_10 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">LukeM@environmenttexas.org</SPAN><BR><A href="http://www.environmenttexas.org/" target=_blank><SPAN id=lw_1190056641_11 style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%"><FONT color=#003399>http://www.environmenttexas.org</FONT></SPAN></A><p> 
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