Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
Public Hearing
November 18, 1999
Commission Hearing RoomTexas Parks & Wildlife Department Headquarters Complex
4200 Smith School Road
Austin, TX 78744
1
8 BE IT REMEMBERED that heretofore on
9 the 18th day of November 1999, there came on
10 to be heard matters under the regulatory
11 authority of the Parks and Wildlife Commission
12 of Texas, in the commission hearing room of
13 the Texas Parks and Wildlife Headquarters
14 complex, Austin, Travis County, Texas,
15 beginning at 9:23 a.m. to wit:
16
APPEARANCES:
17 THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION:
Lee M. Bass, Fort Worth, Texas, Chairman
18 Dick W. Heath, Carrollton, Texas
Nolan Ryan, Alvin, Texas
19 Ernest Angelo, Jr., Midland, Texas
John Avila, Jr., Fort Worth, Texas
20 Carol E. Dinkins, Houston, Texas
Alvin L. Henry, Houston, Texas (absent)
21 Katharine Armstrong Idsal, Dallas, Texas
Mark E. Watson, Jr., San Antonio, Texas
22
23
THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT:
24 Andrew H. Sansom, Executive Director, and
other personnel of the Parks and Wildlife
25 Department.
.
2
1 OTHER APPEARANCES:
2 Mr. Ellis Gilleland, P.O. Box 9001,
Austin, TX 78766, representing Texas-Animals
3
Mr. Mack Freeman, 817 Estate Drive,
4 Belton, TX 76513, representing Traditional
Bowhunters of Texas
5
Mr. Montashe Whiting, College of
6 Forestry-Stephen F. Austin, Nacogdoches, TX
75962, representing himself.
7
Mr. David K. Langford, 1635 NE Loop 410,
8 #106, San Antonio, TX 78209, representing
Texas Wildlife Association.
9
Mr. Tosh Brown, P.O. Box 160818, Austin,
10 TX 78716, representing himself.
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
3
1 NOVEMBER 18, 1999
2 MORNING SESSION: 9:23 a.m.
3 * * * * *
4 PUBLIC MEETING
5 * * * * *
6 CHAIRMAN BASS: Good morning.
7 Sorry for the tardy start for those of you who
8 have been waiting. We'll convene this meeting
9 of Parks and Wildlife Commission. And
10 Mr. Sansom would you please read our opening
11 statement to keep us in compliance with the
12 Open Meetings Act.
13 MR. SANSOM: Mr. Chairman and
14 members of the Commission, a public notice of
15 this meeting containing all items on the
16 proposed agenda has been filed in the Office
17 of Secretary of State. This is required by
18 Chapter 551 of the Government Code and
19 referred to as the Open Meetings Law. I would
20 like for this action to be noted in the
21 official record of the meeting.
22 Ladies and gentlemen, along with members
23 of our Commission, I would very much like to
24 welcome you here this morning and express to
25 you how appreciative we are that you are here
.
4
1 to participate in this meeting. The Chairman
2 is in charge of the meeting, and as usual, I
3 will kind of be assisting him as a
4 sergeant-at-arms.
5 Now, sort of the way we work is that if
6 you want to speak, which we would very much
7 like for you to do, you need to make sure that
8 you've signed up outside with one of the
9 cards. What Chairman Bass will do is that he
10 will call your name from those cards one at a
11 time, and then we would like for you to come
12 forward and speak from this podium out in
13 front of me. When your name is called, come
14 to the podium, state your name, who you
15 represent, if someone other than yourself.
16 Oftentimes the Chairman will also call the
17 next person in line so that you can be on
18 deck, and if you could just come and stand at
19 the back of the audience, then the meeting
20 will move in a fairly orderly fashion.
21 Everybody is going to have three minutes.
22 And we've got a big crowd today. There's lots
23 of folks here. And so if we limit our remarks
24 to three minutes, then everybody will get a
25 chance to speak. I will use this little
.
5
1 traffic light here to let you know when your
2 three minutes are up. Now, if a commissioner
3 asks you a question or if they're talking
4 among themselves and discussing an issue with
5 me or with the staff, that time will not be
6 counted against you. But we do ask you to
7 limit your remarks to three minutes.
8 It's important that everyone understand
9 that I'm not going to be real tolerant of any
10 kind of comments that are simply just
11 argumentative in nature or they're not showing
12 the proper respect for the other members of
13 the audience and commissioners or our staff.
14 I can tell you that we just don't allow that
15 in this meeting, and I'll have to ask you to
16 leave if anything like that occurs.
17 If you have things that you would like to
18 give to the Commission, any written materials
19 or materials that you would like to present to
20 them, Ms. Estrada over here on my right will
21 be glad to take them from you and then
22 distribute them to the Commission. So thank
23 you once again for being here. And we
24 appreciate you following our rules of order.
25 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you, Andy.
.
6
1 The first order of business before us is
2 approval of the minutes from our previous
3 meeting. They've been distributed to the
4 Commission for opportunity to review. And if
5 the Chair does not have any comments for
6 revisions or deletions, I would entertain a
7 motion to approve them.
8 COMMISSIONER WATSON: I so move.
9 COMMISSIONER DINKINS: Second.
10 CHAIRMAN BASS: Motion by
11 Commissioner Watson, second by Commissioner
12 Dinkins. All in favor. Any opposed? Thank
13 you.
14 (Motion passed unanimously.)
15 CHAIRMAN BASS: Second order of
16 business would be acceptance of gifts as
17 required by statute, and those have been
18 posted for review. And if there is any
19 questions, I'd enter them, otherwise the Chair
20 would enter a motion for acceptance.
21 COMMISSIONER HEATH: So move.
22 CHAIRMAN BASS: Motion by
23 Commissioner Heath.
24 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: Second.
25 CHAIRMAN BASS: Seconded by
.
7
1 Commissioner Idsal. All in favor. Any
2 opposed? Thank you.
3 (Motion passed unanimously.)
4 TPWD DONATIONS OVER $500
5 Name of Donor: Ocean Energy Inc.
Description: 4-pile jacket
6 Purpose of Donation: Donation to Artificial
Reef
7
Name of Donor: US Army Corps of Engineers
8 Description: Radio tower
Purpose of Donation: To maintain radio
9 communication
10 Name of Donor: Dow Chemical
Description: Walk-in freezer, pipe rack
11 Purpose of Donation: Excess equipment
12 Name of Donor: San Antonio Police Department
Description: 1992 Kawasaki, Trailer
13 Purpose of Donation: Use by Law Enforcement
14 Name of Donor: E. Texas Chapter Quail
Unlimited
15 Description: Cash
Purpose of Donation: Food, lodging and
16 supplies
17 Name of Donor: Great Houston Chapter of Quails
Description: Cash
18 Purpose of Donation: Food, lodging and
supplies
19
Name of Donor: Dow Chemical
20 Description: Refrigerator
Purpose of Donation: Donation item not needed
21
Name of Donor: Exxon Corporation
22 Description: Supplies and materials
Purpose of Donation: To provide funding for
23 wetlands exhibit
24 Name of Donor: TAMU Chapter Wildlife Society
Description: Deer research at Gus Engling
25 Purpose of Donation: Deer research
.
8
1 Name of Donor: Houston Safari Club
Description: Cash
2 Purpose of Donation: Food, lodging and
supplies
3
Name of Donor: Cajun Construction
4 Description: Water Control Structure/Service
Purpose of Donation: Redfish Impoundment
5
Name of Donor: MESP, Inc.
6 Description: Uniforms, equipment, supplies
Purpose of Donation: Park hosting televised
7 race
8 Name of Donor: Troy Moncrief
Description: Riding mower and weed eater
9 Purpose of Donation: Ground maintenance
10 Name of Donor: South Plains College
Description: Service at Gus Engling WMA
11 Purpose of Donation: Monitor small mammals
12 Name of Donor: Korima Foundation Big Bend SP
Description: 4 hand radios
13 Purpose of Donation: Effective radio
communication for workshops
14
Name of Donor: Brunch Wildlife Management Coop
15 Description: Sony Camcorder
Purpose of Donation: Aid local game wardens
16 with equipment
17 Name of Donor: TAMU
Description: Service at Gus Engling WMA
18 Purpose of Donation: Monitor small mammals
19 Name of Donor: Purdue University
Description: Deer research at Gus Engling
20 Purpose of Donation: Deer Research
21 Name of Donor: Tipton Ford
Description: Cash
22 Purpose of Donation: Books
23 TOTAL: $569,504.
24 CHAIRMAN BASS: Mr. Sansom.
25 MR. SANSOM: Mr. Chairman, this is
.
9
1 part of the meeting in which we get to
2 recognize some of our employees and make
3 announcements about some of the important
4 things that are going on in the life of Parks
5 and Wildlife. Before doing that, I would like
6 to, first of all, call you're attention to the
7 fact that one of the most loyal and beloved
8 and hardworking members who have ever served
9 on this Commission, Mr. Louis Stumberg is here
10 with us in the audience today. And I would
11 like to ask everyone to join me in welcoming
12 him.
13 (Applause)
14 CHAIRMAN BASS: We appreciate your
15 continued involvement in our cause.
16 MR. SANSOM: Although today is a
17 sad day in the life of Texas A&M, we do have
18 the privilege today of having a couple of
19 classes from Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
20 department under the direction of Dr. Denton
21 and Dr. Lacher, and they are here with us as
22 well today and we welcome them.
23 You guys heard yesterday about this
24 year's sales for our Big Time Texas Hunts
25 program. This program is bigger this year.
.
10
1 It's got new hunting opportunities and
2 additions to the traditional programs of the
3 Texas Grand Slam and the Texas Exotic Safari.
4 Hunters throughout Texas and beyond had the
5 opportunity to purchase $10 chances for the
6 Texas Whitetail Bonanza, the Texas Waterfowl
7 Adventure and Big Time Texas Bird hunts, and
8 purchase they did. Our sales were up 223
9 percent over last year.
10 Today we'll be announcing during the day
11 the 18 lucky winners who will be participating
12 this year in some of the most spectacular
13 hunting opportunities in Texas. But the real
14 winners, the real winners are all of the
15 people who enjoy the out of doors in Texas,
16 because this program will put $440,000 to
17 benefit public hunting and wildlife management
18 programs in Texas.
19 Just in passing, I would note to you that
20 85 percent of all the people who filed to draw
21 in this program were holders of Texas hunting
22 licenses at the time that they applied, and we
23 had over 70,000 total applicants.
24 And so, Mr. Bass, if you could do the
25 honors of announcing the winner of the Texas
.
11
1 Grand Slam.
2 CHAIRMAN BASS: It's a pleasure.
3 The Texas Grand Slam is the crown jewel of the
4 various hunt drawing programs we have, and
5 it's a spectacular opportunity for somebody to
6 hunt the four premier big game animals in
7 Texas, including bighorn sheep which is a rare
8 opportunity anywhere in the country, and even
9 more so in Texas. And these hunts represent
10 the best we have to offer, and I'm happy the
11 participation in all of our hunt programs has
12 been so spectacularly up this year.
13 I think staff is to be commended for the
14 marketing efforts, and I think we all agree
15 we've barely scratched the surface for the
16 potential of this. And it's a great
17 opportunity for Parks and Wildlife, and it's
18 also I think a great opportunity for our
19 constituents. If you look at the odds, it
20 sure beats playing the Texas Lottery, although
21 they'll never admit that.
22 And the winner of this year's Grand Slam
23 Hunt is a man from San Antonio, who I'm sure
24 is going to have a wonderful time enjoying his
25 opportunity this year, and his name is Scott
.
12
1 Tellez. And if he would come forward I would
2 like to present him a certificate that awards
3 him this hunt and wish him well.
4 (Applause)
5 MR. SANSOM: Way to go, Scott.
6 MR. TELLEZ: Thank you very much.
7 (Photographs were then
8 taken; applause.)
9 MR. SANSOM: Congratulations.
10 Thanks for coming today.
11 Now, Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to
12 introduce to you a number of Parks and
13 Wildlife employees who have given tremendous
14 service to the state of Texas over many years.
15 I think all of us have felt very, very blessed
16 in recent years that the fishing along our
17 coasts and our bays and estuaries has been
18 better than frankly it has been in any of our
19 lifetimes, and it wasn't always the case.
20 There was a time when our bay fisheries were
21 almost totally depleted by growth over fishing
22 from the commercial industry. And thanks to
23 the leadership of this Commission and the
24 Texas Legislature, that problem was resolved,
25 but not without a tremendous number of years
.
13
1 of struggle by our law enforcement officers
2 along the Texas Gulf Coast.
3 One who has been in the middle of that
4 struggle for all of his career is Arthur
5 Lawrence. Arthur lives in Bay City. He has
6 been an employee of Parks and Wildlife for 30
7 years. He is a sergeant. And he started in
8 Beaumont on the coast. He's transferred to
9 Calhoun County where that was one of the most
10 difficult areas. He's worked in Matagorda
11 County since 1977. And he has been recognized
12 as the Texas Gulf Coast Conservation
13 Association's Officer of the Year.
14 Please recognize Arthur Lawrence, a
15 sergeant from Bay City, Texas with 30 years of
16 service.
17 Congratulations, Arthur.
18 (Photographs were then
19 taken; applause.)
20 MR. SANSOM: There was a time also
21 in the eastern part of our state, as hard as
22 it is to imagine today, when white-tail deer
23 were virtually extinct and an endangered
24 species. Also as you-all know in East Texas,
25 Eastern wild turkey were almost totally
.
14
1 extirpated. Thanks to wildlife -- Fish and
2 Wildlife employees, including technician Terry
3 Martin from Avery, those populations are back,
4 and he has been someone who has been involved
5 in the trapping and transport and relocation
6 of white-tail deer in Texas through the
7 inception of the program.
8 He has worked at Pat Mayse, the Caddo
9 Wildlife Management Area and the Gambill Goose
10 Refuge. He has been very involved in the
11 restoration of both white-tail deer and
12 Eastern wild turkey. And he has throughout
13 his program been able to witness the direct
14 results of his work when yesterday, for
15 example, you-all authorized us to go forward
16 to bring in several new counties into the
17 Eastern wild turkey hunting program this year
18 for the first time essentially in a half a
19 century.
20 Please recognize a fish and wildlife
21 technician from Avery, Texas with 30 years of
22 service, Terry Martin.
23 (Applause)
24 MR. SANSOM: Ron George told me
25 earlier in the meeting that Terry might be
.
15
1 hung up in the fog, so I think he might be
2 delayed. If he comes in, we'll recognize him.
3 We are very, very blessed that we've got
4 employees that are not only recognized in
5 Texas but all over the United States for their
6 professional expertise. And if you doubt
7 that, you should attend sometime meetings of
8 organizations such as the International
9 Association of Fish and Wildlife Agency, the
10 National Recreation Park Association or the
11 Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife
12 Agencies. Last week at the Southeastern in
13 Greensboro, North Carolina, John Prentice from
14 inland fisheries was selected as the person
15 who has presented the most outstanding paper
16 in fisheries in the United States in 1998 for
17 his work on tracking grasscarp in the
18 Guadalupe River.
19 John started working as an intern and
20 worked as an intern for four years for the
21 department from 1966 through 1970. He then
22 went to graduate school working as a half-time
23 biology field worker while finishing his
24 degree. He has been at the Heart of the Hills
25 Fish Hatchery for almost 25 years. And he is
.
16
1 a leading researcher in fisheries management
2 in the United States.
3 John Prentice from Ingram with 30 years
4 of service.
5 (Photographs were then
6 taken; applause.)
7 MR. SANSOM: Congratulations on
8 your award.
9 One of the parks that has led -- state
10 parks that has led our system in the
11 involvement of the community and the
12 development of friends who would not only
13 provide volunteer resources but provide money
14 for the management of the park is at Palo Duro
15 Canyon State Park. The superintendent there
16 has served this department for 30 years, and
17 his name is Larry Scruggs. He has been at
18 Lake Whitney. He has been at Lake Arrowhead.
19 He serves on the executive boards of the
20 Panhandle Heritage Foundation, Partners in
21 Palo Duro Canyon Foundation, as well as the
22 Convention and Tourism Board of Amarillo
23 Chamber of Commerce.
24 Many of us participated summer before
25 last in a wonderful event at Palo Duro Canyon
.
17
1 which raised nearly $100,000 for its
2 endowment, and it would not have happened
3 without the leadership of Larry Scruggs.
4 (Photographs were then
5 taken; applause.)
6 MR. SANSOM: People who use boats
7 in Texas depend on a part of Texas Parks and
8 Wildlife which is rarely seen by the rest of
9 the public. We are responsible for
10 registration, registering and titling all of
11 the vessels in Texas, and that process is
12 handled by people like Gloria Acosta. Gloria
13 has been an accounting clerk in the Austin
14 office. She's worked in this area for 25
15 years. She started in 1974 in data entry.
16 And she remains today involved in the most
17 successful boat registration and titling
18 system in the United States. Gloria Acosta.
19 (Photographs were then
20 taken; applause.)
21 MR. SANSOM: Anybody who tries to
22 get to the chief law enforcement officer of
23 Texas Parks and Wildlife has to go through
24 Wilma Barker. Wilma Barker has been here for
25 25 years. She's worked in wildlife, she's
.
18
1 worked in fisheries. She served nine years in
2 the state parks division. And she went to
3 work in law enforcement over 15 years ago and
4 she is now training her third director of law
5 enforcement, Mr. Robertson.
6 I'm most proud of her because after all
7 that service in Parks and Wildlife, she has
8 returned to college to complete her education.
9 Please welcome Wilma Barker with 25 years of
10 service.
11 (Photographs were then
12 taken; applause.)
13 MR. SANSOM: What can you say about
14 the guy that leads the most aggressive and
15 successful fisheries program in the United
16 States? Every once in a while I get letters
17 from people outside Texas who pick things up
18 in papers and other media, and not long ago I
19 received a copy of a clip from the Wallstreet
20 Journal from a friend of mine in Florida who
21 commented on the fact that the Journal had
22 identified our fisheries managers as the most
23 aggressive in the United States. That is
24 because of the leadership of Phil Durocher.
25 Phil Durocher came to work for Parks and
.
19
1 Wildlife in 1974 as a research specialist.
2 He's worked in Inland Fisheries virtually all
3 of his career. He's worked in hatcheries.
4 And he designed and coordinated the
5 implementation of the current stock assessment
6 procedures which has been so successful
7 throughout our state.
8 He became director of management in
9 inland fisheries in 1984. And in the early
10 part of this decade when fisheries and
11 wildlife were managed as a single entity, he
12 became director of the inland fisheries
13 section of that. He supervises a budget of
14 over $8 million and a professional staff of
15 175 people. During his tenure as director, we
16 have reached some new and nationally
17 significant milestones, including the
18 establishment of the freshwater fishery center
19 in Athens. Phil created the state's first
20 freshwater fisheries advisory board, the Urban
21 Fishing Program, which was his brainchild,
22 later became the KIDFISH program which is now
23 known throughout the United States.
24 So please if you would recognize with me
25 the director of our inland fisheries division,
.
20
1 Phil Durocher with 25 years of service.
2 (Photographs were then
3 taken; applause.)
4 MR. SANSOM: Marty Martinez is an
5 accountant down in the administrative
6 resources section. I know that all of you get
7 as much mail as I do. Every singling one of
8 us receives a tremendous volume of mail
9 because there are so many people from
10 throughout the state who are interested in its
11 cultural and natural resources. Everyone has
12 an opinion, and they tend to write them down.
13 In addition to that, the tremendous volume of
14 business mail that comes through here is
15 staggering. And one of the people who manages
16 that and has for over 25 years is Marty
17 Martinez who's an assistant supervisor in the
18 mail services section.
19 Please recognize Marty with me at this
20 time.
21 (Photographs were then
22 taken; applause.)
23 MR. SANSOM: Also from
24 administrative resources, Corette Richter
25 began working here in 1974 as well. She spent
.
21
1 all of that time improving the boat
2 registration section, including automating it
3 and implementing numerous legislative changes.
4 And the boat registration deal, Members, is
5 one of the things that almost always seems to
6 be a legislative issue.
7 She supervised for the past seven years
8 the boat information section in which she is
9 the primary interface with boat owners,
10 dealers, county tax assessors collectors and
11 field offices of the department.
12 Please recognize Corette Richter with 25
13 years of service here in Austin.
14 (Photographs were then
15 taken; applause.)
16 MR. SANSOM: Last night we were
17 treated to our annual Thanksgiving Feast by
18 the Living History staff of the Sauer-Beckman
19 Farm at the LBJ National and State Historical
20 Parks. I will tell you that one of the most
21 compelling moments that I have experienced
22 since I have been at Parks and Wildlife was to
23 participate in the Christmas tree lighting
24 there about four or five years ago when the
25 federal government was shut down because of
.
22
1 the conflict in Congress over the federal
2 budget. And as you recall, federal employees
3 throughout the United States were prohibited
4 from working. But that evening, the employees
5 of the National Parks Service who were our
6 partners -- are our partners at the LBJ sites
7 became volunteers of the Texas State Parks
8 System so that that event and others during
9 that time could be a success. They did that
10 at some risk to themselves, but they did it
11 because of the extraordinary relationship that
12 they have with our superintendent, Donnie
13 Schulch.
14 Donnie has been at LBJ for 25 years. He
15 was there from the beginning when the
16 Sauer-Beckman Farm first opened. He started
17 basically as an administrative technician.
18 And for a while he was the guy who did the
19 slide shows in the local schools, the chambers
20 of commerce and other civic programs.
21 In 1983 he was appointed park manager of
22 the LBJ State Historical Parks. And today
23 Leslie Starr Hart, who is the chairman of
24 the -- the superintendent of the national park
25 there, and Bob Howard, the chief ranger are
.
23
1 here to help all of us recognize one of our
2 most outstanding state park employees and
3 leaders, Donnie Schulch from LBJ.
4 (Photographs were then
5 taken; applause.)
6 MR. SANSOM: Also from state parks
7 in the Mexia area, Sharree Armstrong has
8 worked for state parks for 20 years. For the
9 first 18 months, she was literally holding
10 down the fort at Old Fort Parker, which is now
11 managed by the city of Grosbeck. She
12 transferred to Fort Parker and the Confederate
13 Reunion Grounds State Historical Park complex
14 where today she is administrative technician.
15 She organizes and ordinates the Western
16 Days Bar-B-Que Cookoff and the Living History
17 Days at the Reunion Grounds. She supervises
18 the operation of the state park store, which
19 at Fort Parker has canoes and paddle boats and
20 a number of other things. She runs the Host
21 Program and works with the Friends of Fort
22 Parker.
23 Please recognize with 20 years of
24 service, Sharree J. Armstrong.
25 (Photographs were then
.
24
1 taken; applause.)
2 MR. SANSOM: I have a lot of
3 hunting buddies, including many of you, and
4 this is one of them. For 20 years Dwight
5 Esmond has been a law enforcement officer in
6 the Texas state parks through the Texas Parks
7 and Wildlife Department. He started out as a
8 boat operator and then worked his way into the
9 Academy. And upon graduation he was stationed
10 in Brownsville.
11 In 1991 he transferred to Dayton. And if
12 you ever wonder whether or not these guys put
13 it on the line, the last time I talked to
14 Dwight, it was because I had been informed by
15 Director Robertson that Dwight and one of his
16 colleagues had been in incident in which a man
17 in a hunting situation had pulled a gun on
18 him. And so these guys do put themselves at
19 risk for the resources of Texas every single
20 day. And one of them of whom I am most proud
21 is Dwight Esmond from Dayton with 20 years of
22 service. And he has his son Dustin with him
23 today, I believe.
24 (Photographs were then
25 taken; applause.)
.
25
1 MR. SANSOM: Today, Members, the
2 resource protection division is so much a
3 functioning part of what Texas Parks and
4 Wildlife does to defend the resources of our
5 state that it's almost inconceivable that it
6 was not the tremendous force that it is today.
7 When Jack Ralph began working in resource
8 protection, it was a part of inland fisheries
9 and there were only five staff members. Today
10 he leads two programs, the Inland Kills and
11 Spills Team and the Analytical Chemist
12 Laboratory. He began in 1979 as a chemist
13 with that branch of inland fisheries, and he
14 has been here for 20 years as one of the most
15 dedicated and enthusiastic employees of Texas
16 Parks and Wildlife.
17 Please recognize John J. Ralph from
18 resource protection with 20 years of service.
19 (Photographs were then
20 taken; applause.)
21 MR. SANSOM: The next person I'm
22 going to introduce to you has worked on
23 buildings in over 40 different state parks,
24 and he began in inland fisheries. Over ten
25 years there, he completed over $22 million
.
26
1 worth of construction projects, including the
2 13-and-a-half-million dollar San Marcos Fish
3 Hatchery and the 7-and-a-half million dollar
4 additions to the Dundee Hatchery which were
5 completed with less than one percent in
6 increased costs from change orders and other
7 things. His goal is to provide durable,
8 functional and attractive buildings to serve
9 the state of Texas. And he is one of the most
10 dedicated and long-serving employees in the
11 infrastructure division.
12 Please recognize the architect William
13 Wiley with 20 years of service.
14 (Photographs were then
15 taken; applause.)
16 MR. SANSOM: I first got to know
17 him when he was supervising the restoration of
18 the state cemetery. He is not the person who
19 misspelled the word.
20 Finally from state park at Canyon, we
21 come home. Bill Wilson -- William Wilson
22 started at Palo Duro in 1967. Over his career
23 he has worked at LBJ. He's worked at
24 Huntsville. He transferred to McKinney Falls,
25 and actually unfortunately left the department
.
27
1 for a while in 1981. But in 1990 he came full
2 circle and returned to where he started at
3 Palo Duro Canyon where today he is assistant
4 superintendent with 20 years. William Wilson
5 from Canyon, Texas.
6 (Photographs were then
7 taken; applause.)
8 MR. SANSOM: Mr. Chairman, today
9 along with former Commissioner Stumberg, whom
10 I've already introduced to you, we have
11 Mr. Andy Phillips from Shikar-Safari and our
12 friend Fausto Yturria whom all of you know, to
13 present what is an annual event here, not only
14 before this Commission but game commissions
15 throughout the country, the Shikar-Safari
16 Wildlife Officer of the Year Award.
17 Our winner this year is Brad Chappell who
18 serves for 13 years as a Texas game warden.
19 He's stationed at Panola County up in Carthage
20 where he supervises not only resources like
21 Lake Murvaul, about 110 miles of the Sabine
22 River and about 800 square miles in Panola
23 County.
24 The landowners, the law enforcement
25 officers and citizens up there have come to
.
28
1 depend on Warden Chappell's quick responses to
2 emergency calls. He has a great rapport with
3 the citizens because he keeps them informed of
4 department programs and changes. He's very
5 visible and accessible and an integral part of
6 this community.
7 He's a chip off the old block. When I
8 first came here, I had the pleasure of working
9 with his father, now Retired Game Warden Wayne
10 Chappell, whom many of you may remember was
11 one of the initial founders of the Operation
12 Game Thief Program. And Wayne also received
13 this Texas Shikar-Safari Wildlife Officer of
14 the Year Award in 1981.
15 Due to that performance, I would like to
16 ask Mr. Phillips and the other members of the
17 Shikar-Safari International to come forward
18 and present the Wildlife Officer of the Year
19 Award to Game Warden Bradley Chappell.
20 MR. CHAPPELL: Thank you.
21 COMMISSIONER STUMBERG: Mr.
22 Chairman and Honorable Members of the
23 Commission, Shikar-Safari, an organization of
24 175 members world-wide, we have no paid staff
25 so that 100 percent of what our members gives
.
29
1 for conservation goes to conservation. We
2 give over $200,000 a year. We established the
3 program to save the Arabian Oryx which are now
4 going back to the Middle East. We established
5 the program in Pakistan to save the markhor,
6 and we brought them from 70 up to nearly 1100.
7 We've established programs and are
8 participating now with the game departments
9 all over the country to a communication system
10 to where a felon law violator of game violator
11 in any state can be identified when they go to
12 get a license in any other state so that it
13 makes it a lot easier to keep track of them.
14 As part of the program of conservation,
15 we knew that the people that make it happen
16 are the marvelous conservation employees
17 throughout the states. And several decades
18 ago we established this program where they're
19 selected by their peers so that we feel
20 comfortable that the person that receives that
21 is the right one. It's very important to us,
22 and Andy, who is the immediate past president
23 of Shikar-Safari and Fausto who is in charge
24 of this program throughout the Canada and
25 United States and who will be our president
.
30
1 next year -- we all serve two years as
2 secretary treasurer or KYH editor (inaudible)
3 Wildlife Officer of the Year Award before we
4 become presidents. So they try to be sure
5 we're well-educated before we get there.
6 But one of the nice things, and I guess
7 the highest privilege we can get, is to be
8 able to present this award as our members do
9 throughout the States and throughout Canada.
10 I'd like to ask if he would do the honors with
11 Fausto. Thank you all very much.
12 MR. SANSOM: Brad, congratulations.
13 (Photographs were then
14 taken; applause.)
15 MR. PHILLIPS: Mr. Chairman,
16 Commissioners, it's our real pleasure to be
17 here today, and I'd like to briefly go over
18 the criteria for the basis of selection of a
19 winner of the Wildlife Officer of the Year
20 Award. Most important of all, this award
21 is -- the winner of this award is selected by
22 his peers, and that's the case in every state,
23 as well as all the Canadian Provinces. Each
24 of the law enforcement division's 31 district
25 supervisors here in Texas select one candidate
.
31
1 that they feel excels both in his public
2 service as well as his private life and the
3 image that he projects as a wildlife officer.
4 And those 31 candidates are then paired down,
5 and you see standing before you today the guy
6 that stood the test for this year. And none
7 of this could have been accomplished without
8 the everyday consistent, 24-hour-a-day
9 assistance of his better half Charmaine who
10 needs to join us up front now if she would
11 please.
12 (Applause)
13 MR. PHILLIPS: As you all know
14 being a successful conservation officer
15 requires a partnership, and that partnership
16 goes beyond the relationship between the
17 officer and his department, but very
18 definitely includes as a major factor his
19 wife. And we congratulate you on your part in
20 this project.
21 It's my pleasure to turn this part of the
22 presentation over to Fausto Yturria, our
23 incoming president and the chairman of the
24 Wildlife Officer of the Year program.
25 MR. YTURRIA: Mr. Chairman, fellow
.
32
1 Commissioners, I just want to tell you what a
2 sincere pleasure and honor it is to be here
3 today to present this award to a very
4 deserving man. Brad, on behalf of
5 Shikar-Safari Club International, my sincerest
6 congratulations. Now let me give you this pin
7 so you can pin it on him. It's one of the
8 only pins that our wardens will wear. Just
9 don't stab him.
10 MR. PHILLIPS: We appreciate the
11 fact that the Commission saw fit several years
12 ago, as many other departments across the
13 nation have felt likewise, to authorize the
14 Wildlife Officer of the Year Award pin to be
15 the only nondepartmental ornament allowed to
16 be worn on an officer's uniform.
17 MR. YTURRIA: Here's another little
18 token of our esteem, a plaque, which I hope
19 you will exhibit proudly for the years to
20 come. And also the annual award so you can
21 frame and proudly exhibit. We're very proud
22 of what you have accomplished.
23 MR. CHAPPELL: I certainly
24 appreciate the recognition. And there's a lot
25 of game wardens out there in this state that
.
33
1 deserve the same recognition.
2 COMMISSIONER STUMBERG: These
3 pictures will appear once a year in our KYH
4 Conservation which will go all over to all
5 previous recipients, to all the game
6 departments and to all the members, and that's
7 why we wanted good pictures of everybody
8 because we're very proud of what you've done.
9 MR. CHAPPELL: Thank you very much.
10 (Photographs were then
11 taken; applause.)
12 MR. SANSOM: Mr. Chairman, that
13 concludes our awards for this morning.
14 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you very
15 much. And for our guests in the audience, we
16 appreciate you sharing that part of our
17 meeting with us. It's gratifying to us to
18 recognize people who have given so much of
19 their life to help make this department what
20 it is.
21 AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: ACTION - CONSENT AGENDA
22 ITEMS.
23 CHAIRMAN BASS: That brings us to
24 the approval of our agenda for today. And
25 there are four items that are eligible for the
.
34
1 consent agenda having been passed by the
2 various committees and recommended to the full
3 Commission and made eligible for consent
4 agenda and items which there is no further
5 public comment that has been requested.
6 There's no one here to speak on them. We've
7 heard from those members of the public who
8 have made themselves available -- their
9 comments available prior to this. And those
10 items are: Item 4, Artwork Approval; Item 6,
11 Implementation of House Bill 1581, which is
12 the State Park Fee Policy; Item 10, Fiber
13 Optic Cable Easement here in Travis County;
14 and Item 11, a Nomination for an Oil and Gas
15 Lease in Fort Bend County and Harris County.
16 Those four items being made part of the
17 consent agenda, I would ask the Commission to
18 approve the agenda in that format for
19 consideration today.
20 COMMISSIONER AVILA: So move.
21 CHAIRMAN BASS: A motion.
22 COMMISSIONER WATSON: Second.
23 CHAIRMAN BASS: I have a second.
24 That being done, I would ask for approval of
25 the consent agenda items and formally accept
.
35
1 them as recommended by the committees to the
2 full Commission. Motion?
3 COMMISSIONER HEATH: So move.
4 COMMISSIONER WATSON: Second.
5 CHAIRMAN BASS: A motion by
6 Commissioner Heath, seconded by Commissioner
7 Watson. All in favor. Any opposed? Thank
8 you very much.
9 (Motion passed unanimously.)
10 AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: BRIEFING - EXPO VIII.
11 CHAIRMAN BASS: Ernie Gammage,
12 would you please come forward and pat
13 ourselves all on the back for a wonderful Expo
14 and give us a little debriefing. It was a
15 great event this year.
16 (Whereupon, a briefing
item was presented to
17 the commissioners, after
which, the following
18 proceedings were had:)
19 AGENDA ITEM NO. 3: ACTION - NEGOTIATED
20 CONTRACTS.
21 CHAIRMAN BASS: Steve Whiston,
22 negotiated contracts. Dan Patton, negotiated
23 contracts.
24 MR. PATTON: For the record, my
25 name is Dan Patton, director of infrastructure
.
36
1 division. I'm here today to present an action
2 item to adopt policies that will allow for
3 negotiated contracts under Senate Bill 874.
4 As we mentioned yesterday, as part of our
5 two-year effort to establish more efficient
6 and effective contracting procedures, we
7 sought legislative authority to expend its
8 contracting -- expand its contracting
9 authority for public works to include
10 negotiated procurement of project delivery in
11 addition to its existing public bid authority.
12 TPWD also sought legislative confirmation of
13 its authority to negotiate and enter into
14 contracts with other governmental agencies.
15 The 76th Texas Legislature enacted Senate
16 Bill 874 giving us the requested authority in
17 both areas. Senate Bill 874 further provided
18 the Commission adopt policies and procedures
19 governing the solicitation and issuance of
20 contracts under this new authority.
21 We drafted proposals to implement 874
22 authority. These were published in the Texas
23 Register on October 15th. We have received no
24 comments to date, and I believe all of you
25 have copies of these rules in your packet.
.
37
1 We recommend adoption of following
2 motion. And I believe we have a speaker on
3 this issue.
4 CHAIRMAN BASS: Any questions from
5 the Commission?
6 Mr. Gilleland, you have requested to
7 speak on this. Would you please come forward
8 and give us your comments at this time.
9 MR. GILLELAND: My name is Ellis
10 Gilleland. I'm a private citizen. I'm
11 representing Texas Animals which is an
12 Internet animal rights organization. I've
13 given you three handouts. The first one is
14 from the Texas Register, 15 October, 1999
15 which contains your rule. The second document
16 I've given you is the Texas Parks and Wildlife
17 construction service agreement, Contract No.
18 345-0360. The third document I've given you
19 is a letter from Parks and Wildlife to me on
20 14 November, '96 in reply to open records
21 requests.
22 Negotiating contracts, as far as Parks
23 and Wildlife is concerned, means sole source.
24 If you look at this (inaudible) on the --
25 under the Texas Register, you see "consistent
.
38
1 of applicable state procurement practices
2 soliciting a warden." Mr. Director Sansom did
3 not do this. He went to Kansas, got a man for
4 a $1 million contract -- you've got the first
5 and last pages in front of you -- went to
6 Kansas, paid a man a million dollars to build
7 a Bastrop golf course over the bodies of the
8 endangered Houston toads. There was a sole
9 source. It was not advertised.
10 The contract shows a face value of $1
11 million. It's my understanding that the
12 department paid 500,000 and the national park
13 paid the other 500,000. So you had a mix of
14 state and federal funds. I went to the state
15 auditor, filed a complaint against this
16 diversion of funds for sole source contract,
17 particularly from a person from Kansas. If
18 we're going to give a guy sole source, let's
19 at least give the dope money to the Texan.
20 The third document I've given you is a
21 letter when I requested disbursement vouchers
22 for that $1 million, I got a total of two
23 vouchers. I did not include them. One was
24 for $8,000, the other was $40,000. Out of $1
25 million, your director Mr. Sansom showed me
.
39
1 evidence of paying 48,000. That's a big gap.
2 The second fraud that he did, he
3 transferred the contract to LCRA. When I
4 filed a complaint with the Texas State
5 Auditor, within a week or two he had
6 transferred the contract over to Mr. Rose, and
7 I could no longer track that million dollars.
8 That's a matter of record. I'll go into court
9 and swear on it. You've got the documents in
10 front of you. You can have Mr. Sansom produce
11 all the papers on Project No. 533-016, Bastrop
12 State Park contract with Mr. Cruz, Craig,
13 C-r-a-i-g, Metz, M-e-t-z from Kansas.
14 So I beseech you to recognize your new
15 rule as a sole source contract provision. The
16 state law requires open bidding and no sole
17 source. Read the law. Where's your lawyer?
18 Your lawyer will tell you that the sole source
19 negotiated contract is fraud. This guy has
20 done it before, he'll do it again. Thank you.
21 CHAIRMAN BASS: Further questions
22 or comments? Chair would entertain a motion
23 there being no further comments.
24 COMMISSIONER AVILA: So move.
25 COMMISSIONER WATSON: Second.
.
40
1 CHAIRMAN BASS: Have a motion and a
2 second. All in favor. Any opposed? Thank
3 you very much, Mr. Patton.
4 (Motion passed unanimously.)
5 "The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
6 adopts amendments to 31 TAC §§61.21 and 61.24,
7 new 61.25 and 61.26, and 51.60 concerning
8 Negotiated Contracts for Public Works and
9 Authority to contract with other governmental
10 agencies, with changes to the proposed text as
11 published in the October 15, 1999 issues of
12 the Texas Register(24 TexReg 8916)"
13 AGENDA ITEM NO. 5: BRIEFING - STATEWIDE
14 VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PLAN.
15 CHAIRMAN BASS: Item 5, statewide
16 vegetation management plan. Mr. McKinney.
17 (Whereupon, a briefing
item was presented to
18 the commissioners, after
which, the following
19 proceedings were had:)
20 AGENDA ITEM NO. 7: BRIEFING - SNOW GOOSE
21 CONSERVATION PLAN STATUS.
22 CHAIRMAN BASS: Next item is also a
23 briefing item. It's the Snow Goose
24 Conservation Plan Status from Vernon Bevill.
25 Please bring us up to date. I think we're in
.
41
1 a different posture than we were this time
2 last year.
3 (Whereupon, a briefing
item was presented to
4 the commissioners, after
which, the following
5 proceedings were had:)
6 AGENDA ITEM NO. 8: ACTION - SCIENTIFIC BREEDER
7 REGULATIONS.
8 CHAIRMAN BASS: Item 8, Scientific
9 Breeder Regulations, Dr. Jerry Cooke.
10 DR. COOKE: Mr. Chairman and
11 Members, my name is Jerry Cooke, program
12 director of upland wildlife ecology in the
13 wildlife division. I'll be presenting an
14 abbreviated form of what we presented
15 yesterday on the scientific breeder
16 proclamation changes.
17 As we said before, there is 275
18 facilities that would be directly affected by
19 these regulations, and they're distributed
20 pretty much throughout the white-tail deer
21 ranch. The proposed changes would affect an
22 alternative unique numbering system to defer
23 the requirement for tattooing these unique
24 numbers until an animal is actually leaving a
25 facility. We want to emphasize that all deer
.
42
1 would be required to be marked by March 1,
2 which is a slight change in the wording of the
3 proclamation that you had before you.
4 The purchase of transport permits, we
5 rescind the return requirement before
6 activation, allow permits to be valid until
7 they're actually used rather than lapsing at
8 the end of a breeder permit cycle, and to
9 allow amendments to both transport and
10 purchase permits any time during the
11 transaction.
12 We also want to clarify the fact that the
13 requirement for the signature of both the
14 seller and the receiver just needs to be done
15 before the end of the transaction, not
16 necessarily as a preliminary to the
17 transaction, and that an agent of either party
18 could be a signature on these permits.
19 Also, the wording that we had in the
20 proposal about ear tag changing, was not
21 really our intent. As long as the statutory
22 requirement that animals are ear tagged in the
23 facility is all that we're concerned with.
24 The use of the word "exact" number of
25 fawns reported by November 1 was a bit of
.
43
1 concern because it kind of implied that there
2 wasn't any flexibility in the way it would be
3 enforced. We'd like to remove the word
4 "exact" from that, but otherwise require all
5 fawns to be reported November 1 in lieu of
6 tagging and tattooing.
7 Allow for the temporary transfer of adult
8 deer for breeding or fawns for nursing between
9 facilities or to a third party, and handle the
10 entire transaction with receipts rather than
11 actual change of ownership.
12 Yesterday I suggested -- or recommended
13 that we amend the requirement of markings to
14 allow the TX number to be used. I intended
15 that to be an alternative method not a
16 replacement method, because there are
17 out-of-state individuals who would come into
18 Texas that wouldn't have a TX number, and this
19 would allow those trailers to be marked as
20 well.
21 By policy, we'll be inspecting facilities
22 and records at reasonable times, which is to
23 say when business is being conducted. And we
24 intend -- again this is just a statement to
25 you. We intend to review all of our report
.
44
1 forms and simplify those considerably over
2 what they were last year.
3 We recommend that the Commission adopt
4 this with the following amendment that you
5 read on your screen. And I would be happy to
6 answer any questions that you might have at
7 this time.
8 CHAIRMAN BASS: Not any questions.
9 We have some public comments at this time.
10 I'd like to ask Dr. James Kroll to please come
11 forward with your comments. And David
12 Langford, if you would be prepared to speak
13 next.
14 DR. KROLL: Good morning. I'll be
15 very brief. You know, often y'all get a lot
16 of criticism up here, but I'm here to say that
17 your system is working very well. One of our
18 goals -- I'm James Kroll, president of the
19 Texas Deer Association. And one of our goals
20 was to work cooperatively and harmoniously
21 with the department developing policy and
22 regulations. And I'm here to commend the
23 folks involved in this, Dr. Cooke and the
24 other -- Officer Sinclair in working very
25 closely with us in developing these amendments
.
45
1 to the regulations. And we commend them and
2 we support them. Thank you.
3 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you,
4 Dr. Kroll. David Langford. And Jerry
5 Johnston, if you would be prepared to speak
6 next.
7 MR. LANGFORD: Thank you,
8 Mr. Chairman, members of the Commission. I'm
9 David Langford, Texas Wildlife Association,
10 and I would like to echo Dr. Kroll's comments
11 about working on this issue. Many of our
12 members are also scientific breeders and/or
13 vice versa, and these are regulations that
14 they can live with. We'd also like to make
15 sure that this is a work in progress. We'll
16 see how these all work. Everybody thinks
17 they're going to work fine, but I know that
18 everyone will be open if they do need tweaking
19 any more. I appreciate the spirit from which
20 all these negotiations have taken place.
21 Thank you.
22 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you. Jerry
23 Johnston. And Mr. Gilleland, if you'd be
24 prepared to speak next.
25 MR. JOHNSTON: Commissioners, I'm
.
46
1 Jerry Johnston, vice-president of the Texas
2 Deer Association, and I also appreciate the
3 professional courtesy that Jerry Cooke and
4 David Sinclair, the people involved in the law
5 enforcement side of the issue of the breeder
6 rules and regs, that they have -- we've had a
7 couple of, like, field trips so to speak where
8 we got law enforcement, as well as Mr. Cooke's
9 department with us so that we could show them
10 in the pen that certain things that were
11 intended to be the right thing were not
12 working in all reality. And I'm just real
13 tickled that they've been open with us and
14 have understood. And I just want to, you
15 know, congratulate them, their working with
16 us. And we really appreciate it.
17 There's a couple of issues that we feel
18 like that the department is going to have to
19 prove to itself that they're not working that
20 well, and one of them is the unique number.
21 And in all practicality, I'm not sure that it
22 accomplishes what they want it to accomplish,
23 but we will work with that. And that's about
24 all. Thank you.
25 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you very
.
47
1 much. Appreciate your comments.
2 Mr. Gilleland.
3 MR. GILLELAND: Will you call this
4 guy off?
5 COMMISSIONER BASS: Mr. Gilleland,
6 will you please follow the procedures?
7 MR. GILLELAND: My name is Ellis
8 Gilleland. I'm a private citizen. I'm
9 speaking for Texas Animals. We is a Texas
10 animal rights organization on the Internet.
11 I've given you a handout. It's the October
12 1st, 1999 pages from the Texas Register, Page
13 8512 and 8513. You will notice in the
14 publication that you have -- I have put a
15 check mark where it says, "A lawful
16 out-of-state source." This is Regulation
17 65.609, Purchase of Deer and Purchase Permit.
18 And two or three times you made the statement
19 in here that deer may be purchased or obtained
20 from a lawful out-of-state source.
21 You nowhere define what a lawful
22 out-of-state source is. If you look back on
23 the first page of your own definitions, you'll
24 see there's no definition for a lawful
25 out-of-state source. That is very ambiguous.
.
48
1 You can have deer coming from Africa. You can
2 have state sources, private sources, federal
3 sources, all sorts of sources. And so it's
4 and ambiguous type situation. You need a
5 definition.
6 Down under F, straight down under that,
7 you have, "A person may amend a purchase
8 permit at any time prior to the transport of
9 deer." I'm very much opposed to allowing a
10 permit holder to make his own amendment and
11 then subsequently his own pleasure if he
12 decides to notify you, fine. So I would
13 reverse that and put yourself in the driver's
14 seat and not the permittee. You're the one
15 that grants the permit to start with, and to
16 allow the permittee to make his own amendment
17 is rather asinine, I think.
18 The next thing I would like to comment on
19 is you have Paragraph H and it says, "Deer
20 lawfully purchased or obtained for stocking
21 purposes may be temporarily held in
22 captivity," and then you have colon, and then
23 you put, "are not hunted prior to liberation."
24 That's not a sentence. It's not grammatically
25 correct. It has absolutely no meaning
.
49
1 whatsoever. It's deliberately written to be
2 ambiguous. There's no way a judge or you -- I
3 challenge any one of you or any one in this
4 room or the state of Texas to make that into a
5 lawful, readable, workable sentence in
6 English. Now, maybe it makes sense in some
7 other language, but not in English.
8 The way it should be -- and have your
9 pencils and pens ready -- the way it should
10 be: "A deer lawfully purchased or obtained
11 for stocking purposes may be temporarily held
12 in captivity and shall not be hunted prior to
13 liberation."
14 Please do not write ambiguity into your
15 own cotton picking rule and allow people to
16 hunt. You're doing it deliberately. You're
17 doing it deliberately to allow these hunt yaks
18 to come up here and shoot deer in captivity.
19 When you get to court, the judge says, "Oh, I
20 can't interpret this. It's ambiguous." Ask
21 your own lawyer. Let's be honest with the
22 public, folks.
23 I hope Representative Kuempel is taking
24 note of this, the fraud that they're trying to
25 perpetrate on the public. Thank you, sir.
.
50
1 CHAIRMAN BASS: That concludes the
2 public comment. Are there any questions from
3 the Commission or comments?
4 DR. COOKE: Can I respond to some
5 of those?
6 CHAIRMAN BASS: As you wish.
7 DR. COOKE: First of all, the
8 definition of a legitimate, legal out-of-state
9 source is defined by the states of origin, not
10 by us. So basically, as long as it's a legal
11 transaction in that state, then it's
12 recognized in this state. The aspect of
13 amendment was to accommodate for changing
14 decisions during a purchasing process or loss
15 of animals in transport, which certainly can't
16 complete a transaction under those
17 circumstances.
18 And as far as the wording on the soft
19 release, if a housekeeping change is required
20 to clarify -- I think it's very clear what the
21 intent of the Commission was. And we will
22 look into that before we publish the final, if
23 you allow me that flexibility to address that
24 housekeeping issue if it's required.
25 CHAIRMAN BASS: The Chair's feeling
.
51
1 is that the words are not ambiguous and it is
2 clear and something that's easily interpreted.
3 So I personally don't feel that's an issue
4 unless anyone else in the Commission feels
5 otherwise.
6 COMMISSIONER DINKINS: Mr. Chair,
7 if they do look at it and think that some
8 housekeeping, clean-up would be good, I'd
9 certainly favor them doing that.
10 CHAIRMAN BASS: I would not oppose
11 it.
12 DR. COOKE: Thank you.
13 CHAIRMAN BASS: Any other comments?
14 Chair would entertain a motion.
15 COMMISSIONER HEATH: So move.
16 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: Second.
17 CHAIRMAN BASS: Motion by
18 Commissioner Heath, seconded by Commissioner
19 Angelo. All in favor. Any opposed? Thank
20 you, Dr. Cooke.
21 (Motion passed unanimously.)
22 "The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
23 adopts amendments to 31 TAC §§65.601, 65.602,
24 65.605, and 65.607-65.610, concerning the
25 Scientific Breeder Proclamation, with changes
.
52
1 to the proposed text as published in the
2 October 1, 1999 issues of the Texas
3 Register(24 TexReg 8510)"
4 AGENDA ITEM NO. 9: BRIEFING - SEAGRASS.
5 CHAIRMAN BASS: Briefing item,
6 please, Seagrass.
7 (Whereupon, a briefing
item was presented to
8 the commissioners, after
which, the following
9 proceedings were had:)
10 AGENDA ITEM NO. 12: ACTION - LAND ACQUISITION
11 AND DONATION - JACK COUNTY - FORT RICHARDSON
12 SHP.
13 CHAIRMAN BASS: Item 12 is a land
14 acquisition and donation in Jack County, Fort
15 Richardson State Historical Park. Could we
16 please have Ms. Nichols give us that
17 presentation.
18 MS. NICHOLS: Chairman,
19 Commissioners, my name is Kathryn Nichols.
20 I'm in the land conservation program. We had
21 a land acquisition and donation opportunity
22 for Fort Richardson State Park. The
23 department has the opportunity to acquire
24 three parcels that underlie the Fort grounds
25 and trailway. An approximately five-acre
.
53
1 tract -- an approximately five-acre tract is
2 available for purchase from an industrial
3 company. An approximately seven-acre tract is
4 for sale by a residential neighbor. And a
5 two-acre parcel is offered by donation from
6 the Friends of Fort Richardson, Inc. The
7 two-acre parcel fronts the creek and all
8 tracts but the park boundary.
9 In addition to conserving original Fort
10 property, acquisition of these tracts would
11 provide buffer to the present historic grounds
12 and buildings and watershed and allow the
13 department to remove unsightly metal
14 buildings, fencing and tanks that are visible
15 from the present restored area.
16 The staff recommends the Parks and
17 Wildlife Commission adopt the following
18 motion: "The Executive Director is authorized
19 to take all necessary steps to consummate the
20 purchase of two tracts of approximately seven
21 and five acres at a cost not to exceed the
22 appraised value and accept the donation of a
23 two-acre tract of land at Fort Richardson
24 State Historical Park."
25 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you. There's
.
54
1 no public comment on this item. Is there any
2 question from the committee?
3 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: Move
4 approval.
5 CHAIRMAN BASS: Motion to move
6 approval.
7 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: Second.
8 CHAIRMAN BASS: And a second. All
9 in favor. Thank you very much. Please move
10 forward with that.
11 (Motion passed unanimously.)
12 AGENDA ITEM NO. 13: ACTION - PERSONNEL
13 MATTERS.
14 CHAIRMAN BASS: Last item on our
15 agenda today is a personnel matter.
16 Commissioner Heath is -- would you please take
17 the lead on this as chair of the finance
18 committee?
19 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Mr. Chairman,
20 there was an administrative error made in our
21 August meeting requiring the new posting --
22 regarding the new posting requirements as set
23 forth by the legislature. Simply stated,
24 these requirements state that the issue of the
25 executive director's income be moved from
.
55
1 executive session to open meeting.
2 Therefore, Mr. Chairman, I move that the
3 Commission approve the Executive Director's
4 new salary level as is authorized in the
5 Appropriations Bill effective September 1st,
6 1999.
7 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you.
8 Mr. Gilleland, you have signed up to speak on
9 this matter. Would you please come forward at
10 this time if you wish to speak. And
11 Mr. Gilleland, the Chair will admonish you to
12 remember the rules of conduct here and that we
13 will not tolerate any personal attacks or
14 comments of that nature. Please conduct
15 yourself in a business-like manner.
16 MR. GILLELAND: My name is Ellis
17 Gilleland. I'm a private citizen speaking for
18 Texas Animals, animal rights organization on
19 the Internet. I most respectfully request
20 that the information which you are discussing
21 in ambiguous and secretive tones be fully
22 explained to the public in terms of numbers,
23 what was this gentleman's previous salary and
24 what is it you are recommending, are you
25 recommending a decrease, increase or the same.
.
56
1 I think the public has a right to know that.
2 My recommendation is that his salary be cut in
3 half. In other words, related to the work by
4 productivity that he is accomplishing.
5 The numbers are being withheld
6 deliberately. You're doing it deliberately,
7 and it is exactly the way you're doing with
8 the gifts.
9 CHAIRMAN BASS: Mr. Gilleland, the
10 numbers are -- excuse me, sir, for
11 interrupting. The numbers are part of the
12 Appropriations Bill that is public record.
13 You may go down to the Capitol and get that
14 information if you wish. Any other comments?
15 MR. GILLELAND: Yes, sir. If we --
16 not everybody lives in Austin and can go down
17 and research this, sir. If it was announced
18 in a public meeting, it could go in the
19 newspaper, and if people could publish it to
20 the whole 20 million people in Texas. 20
21 million cannot come to the legislative library
22 and research that. I can and I will. But I'm
23 saying that it is your job, incumbent upon you
24 to be open to the public as opposed to being
25 secretive. You're secretive with the gifts.
.
57
1 You don't say how much the NRA is giving you.
2 And you're not even telling us how much you're
3 paying this man, whether you're paying him
4 more or less --
5 COMMISSIONER HEATH: Mr. Gilleland,
6 if we decide that it's your job to tell us how
7 to do our job, we'll let you know.
8 MR. GILLELAND: I have no more
9 comment. I've made my point. I just ask you
10 to be open.
11 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you, sir.
12 MR. GILLELAND: Thank you.
13 COMMISSIONER DINKINS: I second
14 Mr. Heath's motion.
15 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you. I have
16 a motion my Commissioner Heath, a second by
17 Commissioner Dinkins. All in favor. Any
18 opposed? Motion carries.
19 (Motion passed unanimously.)
20 "Commission authorization to increase the
21 annual salary of the Executive Director of
22 Texas Parks and Wildlife to $115,000."
23 CHAIRMAN BASS: Mr. Sansom, is
24 there any other business to come before this
25 Commission today?
.
58
1 MR. SANSOM: No, sir.
2 CHAIRMAN BASS: The Chair knowing
3 of none, there is no other business, we stand
4 adjourned. We thank you, ladies and
5 gentlemen.
6
7 * * * * *
8 HEARING ADJOURNED
9 * * * * *
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
.
59
1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE
2
3 COUNTY OF TRAVIS X
4 THE STATE OF TEXAS X
5 I, Rachelle Latino, certified shorthand
6 reporter for the State of Texas, do hereby
7 certify that the above and foregoing 58 pages
8 constitutes a full, true and correct
9 transcript of the minutes of the Texas Parks
10 and Wildlife Commission on November 18, 1999,
11 in the commission hearing room of the Texas
12 Parks and Wildlife Headquarters Complex,
13 Travis County, Texas.
14 I further certify that a stenographic
15 record was made by me at the time of the
16 public meeting and said stenographic notes
17 were thereafter reduced to computerized
18 transcription under my direction and control.
19 Witness my hand this, the 29th day of
20 December 1999.
21
22
23 Rachelle Latino
Certified Shorthand Reporter
24 State of Texas
Certificate No. 6771
25 Expires: 12-31-99
.
60
1
2
Lee M. Bass, Chairman
3
4
5 Dick W. Heath
6
7
John Avila, Jr.
8
9
10 Ernest Angelo, Jr.
11
12
Carol E. Dinkins
13
14
15 Katharine Armstrong Idsal
16
17
Nolan Ryan
18
19
20 Mark E. Watson, Jr.
21
* * * * *
22
23
24
25
Top of Page