Houston Regional Group - News

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has just announced crippling cuts in its staff positions and the hours of operation of state parks. This is the result of chronic underfunding and the current philosophy that parks must pay for their own keep. The lack of funds was the driving force behind the proposed Big Bend Ranch SP sale and the just-announced potential transfers of Lake Houston SP (Harris & Montgomery Cos.) and Eagle Mountain Lake SP (Travis Co.). For a long-term solution, we have to look to the Texas State Legislature - BUT the parks can't wait until 2007!

The Legislative Budget Board (LBB) has stalled setting a meeting at which a $5 million emergency appropriation desperately needed by TPWD could be approved.

THIS IS WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW------
Contact Gov. Rick Perry. Ask him to put the $5 million emergency appropriation for TPWD on his priority list for action by the Legislative Budget Board. Ask him to use his influence with Lt. Gov Dewhurst and Speaker Craddick to push for the LBB to set a meeting date, actually hold the meeting, and put the TPWD funding on the agenda. There are two easy ways to send your opinion to Gov. Perry.

You can call the Governor's Public Opinion Hotline at (800) 252-9600 OR send him an e-mail from the following website: http://www.governor.state.tx.us/contact  .

For more information to get involved in the move to assure adequate funding for our state parks, please contact Evelyn Merz at elmerz@hal-pc.org or leave a message on the Houston Sierra Club hotline at 713-895-9309.

December 2005

Last updated:  12/11/2005.   Content © 1999-2005 by the Sierra Club.