{"id":32873,"date":"2013-11-25T10:08:51","date_gmt":"2013-11-25T16:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=32873"},"modified":"2013-12-02T09:02:31","modified_gmt":"2013-12-02T15:02:31","slug":"the-future-of-texas-state-parks-its-all-about-the-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/11\/25\/the-future-of-texas-state-parks-its-all-about-the-money\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Texas State Parks? It&#8217;s All About the Money"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_32878\"  class=\"wp-caption module image center\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"Pedernales Falls State Park, a popular destination outside of Austin. \" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/Pedernalses-State-Park-narrow.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-32878\" alt=\"Pedernales Falls State Park, a popular destination outside of Austin. \" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/Pedernalses-State-Park-narrow-620x284.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/Pedernalses-State-Park-narrow-620x284.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/Pedernalses-State-Park-narrow-300x137.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/Pedernalses-State-Park-narrow.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Mose Buchele<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pedernales Falls State Park, a popular destination outside of Austin.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>For state parks in Texas, the struggle has always been money. In the early 1900s, Texas landowners tried to donate large tracts of property to create state parks. But they were turned down by state lawmakers \u00a0&#8212; they didn\u2019t want to fund the maintenance cost. So when the land was accepted, it was without the promise of upkeep. Now, as the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/topic\/texas-parks-and-wildlife-department\/\">Texas Parks and Wildlife Department<\/a> winds down its 50th year in operation, it seems like very little has changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think, in a way, the parks exemplify the worst that we\u2019ve got in budgeting, as far as the Senate and House are concerned,&#8221; state Rep.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/lyle-larson\/\"> Lyle Larson<\/a>, R-San Antonio, said at a panel on parks during the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/festival\/2013\/home\/\">Texas Tribune Festival<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>And here\u2019s why he thinks that: Texas Parks and Wildlife is the only state agency with a dedicated sales tax. Under state law, a portion of the sales tax on sporting goods is meant to go for parks. But lawmakers consistently divert some of that money to balance the state budget.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you\u2019re raising $260 million, and you\u2019re using 25 percent of that for its intended purpose, and then you\u2019re back-loading to certify the budget the balance of it &#8212; Well, then you\u2019re leaving your parks out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The situation was even worse for parks a few years back when the department\u2019s budget was slashed along with those of most other state agencies.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>This year, lawmakers restored much of that money, but came nowhere close to providing enough for park upgrades, to say nothing of acquiring more parkland.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So what we have done is looked to the private sector,&#8221; said\u00a0Carter Smith, executive director of Texas Parks and Wildlife.\u00a0&#8220;And we\u2019ve had just an artesian well of support in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32883\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><a class=\"fancybox\" title=\"Mose Buchele (far left) moderates panel featuring (left to right) George Bristol, Carter Smith, Port Isabel Mayor Joe Vega, and state Rep. Lyle Larson \" href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/Parks-Panel-Picture.jpg\" rel=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-32883\" alt=\"Mose Buchele (far left) moderates panel featuring (left to right) George Bristol, Carter Smith, Port Isabel Mayor Joe Vega, and state Rep. Lyle Larson \" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/Parks-Panel-Picture-300x200.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/Parks-Panel-Picture-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/Parks-Panel-Picture-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2013\/11\/Parks-Panel-Picture.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy of Texas Tribune (Photo by Spencer Selvidge)<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mose Buchele (far left) moderates panel featuring (left to right) George Bristol, Carter Smith, Port Isabel Mayor Joe Vega, and state Rep. Lyle Larson<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Smith spoke at the same panel. He talked about land and money donated form private groups and individuals for parks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve acquired big tracts of land on the Devils River, the Kronkosky State Natural Area near Representative Larson\u2019s district, which he knows very well. Literally just 30 minutes from downtown San Antonio, almost 4 thousand acres of spectacular Hill Country that was bequeathed to us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s where the age-old problem returns: it\u2019s one thing to have the land, and another thing to have the means to install and maintain trails, campsites and other facilities. That\u2019s why so much of the land donated to parks in recent years has sat unsused, says George Bristol with the State Parks Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we get these lands and then they just sit there, after a while generous people are going to start to say, &#8216;Maybe we better find someplace else to park our donations,&#8217;\u201d says Bristol.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content alignleft\"><h4 class=\"related-header\">Related<\/h4><div class=\"links\"><h5>Posts<\/h5><ul><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/11\/21\/why-wet-weather-makes-for-better-fall-colors-in-central-texas\/\">How a Respite in the Drought Has Brought Fall Colors to Central Texas<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/11\/08\/the-battle-against-zebra-mussels-grows-in-northeast-texas\/\">New Rules for Boaters and Fishers After Zebra Mussels Spread in North Texas<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/09\/24\/no-you-cant-keep-a-pet-deer-in-texas\/\">No, You Can&#8217;t Keep a Pet Deer in Texas<\/a><\/li><li class=\"link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2013\/08\/09\/at-50-years-old-texas-parks-prepare-for-a-future-of-climate-change\/\">At 50 Years Old, Texas Parks Prepare for a Future of Climate Change<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"topics\"><h5>Topics<\/h5><p class=\"topic\"><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2011\/11\/tpwd_license_plate_deer-.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"60\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/topic\/texas-parks-and-wildlife-department\/\">What is the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department?<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<p>It will take a greater commitment from lawmakers to fund parks to stop that from happening, he says. And that will likely only come from political pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Larson sees an opportunity for just that in the next year&#8217;s statewide elections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTalk to the folks that are running for office, and talk to them about parks,&#8221; Larson said. &#8220;Are they committed to stopping the diversion of the sporting good tax?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Of course, with hot-button issues like abortion, education funding, and gun control already making headlines, parks advocates will probably have a hard time getting their voices heard over the din.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For state parks in Texas, the struggle has always been money. In the early 1900s, Texas landowners tried to donate large tracts of property to create state parks. But they were turned down by state lawmakers \u00a0&#8212; they didn\u2019t want to fund the maintenance cost. So when the land was accepted, it was without the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[90,310],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32873"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32873"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32891,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32873\/revisions\/32891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}