The Chinati Mountains State Natural Area in south Presidio County finally has public access, according to Corky Kulhmann, senior project manager for land conservation for Texas Parks and Wildlife. This is news given exclusively to KRTS.
For eight years, Kulhmann and his team have been working to gain public access to 39,000 acres donated to create a new state park.
“But that’s been blocked by either no funds or landowners changing their minds or just other priorities with state parks, as far as money could go when we had money,” Kulhmann explains. “It turned out a lot of the lands here are just a bowl of spaghetti.”
The four tracts of land needed to open a public road to the park were not straight-forward deals. There was the family that wouldn’t sell to the state and instead sold to a developer, who then sold back to the state; a landowner that had to be tracked down in Florida through Facebook; and a deal negotiated with Presidio County after a default on taxes gave them the land, says Kulhmann.
The last piece of the puzzle has Kulhmann’s surveyors working with the state of Texas General Land Office to purchase land from them.
Tanker trucks lined up inside the City of Marfa’s water treatment plant after a group of residents blocked the trucks’ access to city fire hydrants.
Two weeks ago, a small group of citizens vocalized concerns over Marfa’s practice of selling bulk water to clients outside the city.
“Our water is too cheap. It needs to be expensive. We need water conservation. We need to think about that,” said Buck Johnston.
Two weeks ago the Marfa resident formed a small protest to block tanker trucks using city water for their oil and gas speculation. The protest worked briefly but soon the trucks were rerouted to other spigots.
Later, it was announced that no oil or gas was found. And though the trucks disappeared from Marfa city streets, the concern about water use in Presidio County hasn’t. Continue Reading →
With reports of drilling activity approaching the Big Bend region, some residents of Marfa are concerned about the city’s practice of selling its water supply in bulk, sometimes to drilling companies.
On Thursday, protesters parked and left their cars in front of city fire hydrants, hoping to block trucks from accessing the water supply.
Marfa resident Buck Johnston spearheaded the effort. She feels it’s a short-sighted move to sell city water in bulk, especially in a drought-stricken desert region.
“Ask any rancher, and they’ll tell you their wells are dropping and going dry,” she says. “I don’t really care what anyone’s feelings are about fracking or oil exploration, my concern is water.” Continue Reading →
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