Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
Conservation Committee
Jan. 24, 2001
Commission Hearing RoomTexas Parks & Wildlife Department Headquarters Complex
4200 Smith School Road
Austin, TX 78744
1
7 BE IT REMEMBERED that heretofore on the
8 24th day of January 2001, there came on to be
9 heard matters under the regulatory authority of
10 the Parks and Wildlife Commission of Texas, in the
11 commission hearing room of the Texas Parks and
12 Wildlife Headquarters complex, Austin, Travis
13 County, Texas, beginning at 2:45 p.m., to wit:
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15
16
APPEARANCES:
17 THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION:
Chair: Carol E. Dinkins, Houston, Texas
18 Lee M. Bass, Fort Worth, Texas
Dick W. Heath, Carrollton, Texas
19 Nolan Ryan, Alvin, Texas (Absent)
Ernest Angelo, Jr., Midland, Texas
20 John Avila, Jr., Fort Worth, Texas
Alvin L. Henry, Houston, Texas
21 Katharine Armstrong Idsal, San Antonio, Texas
Mark E. Watson, Jr., San Antonio, Texas
22
THE PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT:
23 Andrew H. Sansom, Executive Director, and
other personnel of the Parks and Wildlife
24 Department.
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1 JANUARY 24, 2001
2 *-*-*-*-*
3 CONSERVATION COMMITTEE MEETING
4 *-*-*-*-*
5 CHAIRMAN BASS: Thank you. I'd like
6 to reconvene after our recess that we took and
7 subsequent to our executive session to resume
8 public hearings. And I would yield the floor to
9 Ms. Dinkins, Chair of the Conservation Committee.
10 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: Thank you,
11 Mr. Chairman. Our first order of business is
12 approval of the committee minutes from the
13 previous meeting. If there are no corrections or
14 additions, then I suggest that without objection,
15 we let those minutes stand approved as written.
16 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: The next item is
17 a briefing on the Chairman's charges.
18 AGENDA ITEM NO. 1: BRIEFING - CHAIRMAN'S
19 CHARGES.
20 MR. SANSOM: Madam Chairman, I would
21 call your attention to the fact that Item 4 on the
22 Chairman's charges was to continue to participate
23 in the Senate Bill 1, water planning initiative.
24 We have recently submitted a series of comments on
25 all recent water plans. That has caused quite a
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1 bit of debate between us and the members of the
2 regional planning committees.
3 I will be meeting with them sometime
4 in the next two weeks, meeting with each of the
5 Chairs to discuss the specific concerns that our
6 staff has raised over the water plans. And my
7 conversations with the Water Development Board
8 staff and Board have indicated that they are
9 receptive to that.
10 You'll recall also that the seagrass
11 conservation plan was a proponent of the
12 Chairman's charges. All phases of that plan are
13 all now being implemented. The water quality
14 standards now include provisions to conserve
15 seagrass as a result of actions by employees of
16 this department. And the Redfish Bay Scenic Area
17 has been designated as part of the Lone Star
18 Legacy, and as a matter of fact $12,000 was raised
19 to endow management in this area.
20 We'll be seeing in this session more
21 talk about aquatic vegetation management in the
22 Legislature. You have adopted rules to implement
23 the statewide aquatic vegetation management plan
24 and to allow for development and adoption of local
25 plans. I would note that these rules go into
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1 effect February 6th. Thank you.
2 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: Thank you. Any
3 questions or comments?
4 AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: ACTION - NOMINATION FOR OIL
5 AND GAS LEASE - SHELDON LAKE STATE PARK.
6 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: Hearing none,
7 then our next agenda item is the nomination for
8 oil and gas lease at Sheldon. And you'll find
9 that behind Tab 13 in your agenda book.
10 MS. BOYDSTON: Madam Chairman,
11 Commissioners, my name is Kathy Boydston, program
12 leader for Wildlife Habitat Assessment Program in
13 the Wildlife division.
14 The department received a nomination
15 for an oil and gas lease on the tracts known as
16 Lake Sheldon State Park east of Houston in Harris
17 County. The department owns 100 percent of the
18 minerals, approximately 2,219 mineral acres. All
19 seven tracts have been nominated. Staff
20 recommends the Department continue its policy of
21 requiring a minimum bonus bid of $150 per acre, a
22 fixed royalty of 25 percent and a $10 per-acre
23 delay rental.
24 This tract has been nominated
25 several times in the last few years with a no
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1 surface occupancy stipulation. And I understand
2 that there's been some discussion about wanting to
3 look at possibly locating on the surface. And I
4 have talked to the area manager, and he has
5 indicated that there is a site that's suitable at
6 the park that is adjacent to the highway in an
7 agricultural field that would not interfere with
8 park operations, and it could be done very easily
9 at that site, if we would want to consider doing
10 that.
11 So if we would want to amend the
12 motion or the -- to rectify the no-surface
13 occupancy, we could do that and send it forward in
14 the lease sale -- to the lease sale in the next
15 sale, which is April.
16 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: Thank you,
17 Kathy. Andy, what would be staff recommendation
18 on that?
19 MR. SANSOM: I would recommend that
20 we do that. But certainly, Kathy, develop the
21 language such that the potential location of that
22 site be incorporated into the master planning
23 process at Sheldon.
24 MS. BOYDSTON: We could do
25 something along the line that the site would be
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1 determined by Parks and Wildlife.
2 COMMISSIONER HENRY: Did I
3 understand you to say adjacent to the highway?
4 MS. BOYDSTON: Yes. That's what the
5 park manager told me. There's apparently an
6 agricultural field close to the park headquarters,
7 and that would be one site that would be suitable
8 for an oil and gas well.
9 And we talked about how we could
10 also possibly incorporate that into an educational
11 aspect, as was mentioned earlier this morning, of
12 how oil and gas could be developed in an
13 environmentally sensitive manner, and work that
14 into the master plan at Sheldon.
15 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: What detail
16 would we want to get in the lease itself as far as
17 the proposal -- as far as the additions for that
18 site are concerned?
19 MR. SANSOM: Pretty detailed.
20 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: I would think
21 so.
22 MR. SANSOM: Yes, sir. And we have
23 guidelines for that.
24 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: We do?
25 MR. SANSOM: Yes, sir.
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1 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: We've
2 considered things along those lines before when
3 they have come before us, and we've put pretty
4 strong restrictions on it as I recall.
5 MS. BOYDSTON: Yes. One that comes
6 to mind right offhand is Tyler State Park. We
7 allowed development in there, but we specifically
8 noted certain sites where they could develop that
9 were out of sight and away from the normal park
10 operations and would not disturb any areas that
11 were of low habitat area.
12 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: And were they
13 developed?
14 MS. BOYDSTON: I don't think anybody
15 picked up that nomination. What the process is,
16 is that they asked us if we would be willing to
17 nominate the lease, and then we tell them what
18 kind of restrictions we will put on it. And then
19 they either put a bid up on it, or they don't put
20 a bid up on it when it comes up in the lease sale.
21 So a lot of times our tracts are nominated, but
22 then they are not picked up for whatever reason.
23 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: There has been
24 a request, to put this up --
25 MS. BOYDSTON: Yes. It has been
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1 nominated several times in the last three or four
2 years.
3 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: But no one has
4 ever bid on it, we think, because there's not any
5 real opportunity to gain access.
6 CHAIRMAN BASS: I would think that
7 we -- if we are willing to allow access to this
8 particular location or if there are others after a
9 study, that it's better to say that on the front
10 end, when somebody is thinking of bidding, rather
11 than saying, we'll work with you and then they
12 come back and say, it's here or nowhere. It's
13 going to be very restrictive to one location.
14 I would think it would be better to
15 say that up front and then I -- as she -- I think
16 one of the things Mr. Angelo is alluding to is
17 that if we do allow them to drill there, there are
18 certain restrictions on how they do their
19 operations that we would want to implement, such
20 as perhaps using portable mud tanks rather than
21 digging a pit on site, et cetera, so that it
22 minimizes --
23 MR. SANSOM: Impact.
24 CHAIRMAN BASS: -- surface damages
25 and facilitates cleanup.
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1 MS. BOYDSTON: I don't think we
2 would be -- that will be in the bid booklet when
3 these leases come out.
4 CHAIRMAN BASS: I think if we're
5 really talking about only one location of the 2200
6 acres that we'd be willing to accept as a drill
7 site, I think as part of putting it out for bid,
8 that it would be appropriate to put that in
9 because, frankly, their target may not be
10 accessible from that location.
11 MS. BOYDSTON: Right. And we don't
12 want to lead them to believe that they can locate
13 anywhere on the area. That's what we wanted to
14 avoid.
15 CHAIRMAN BASS: Or leading them to
16 believe that they might have a chance to drill on
17 the area where they can get to their target zone,
18 have them spend the money at the state lease sale,
19 and then find out, well, if you told me this six
20 weeks ago, I would have never bid on it. And
21 they're angry because they're out of money.
22 MS. BOYDSTON: Right.
23 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: What about
24 things like offsets and stuff? They wanted to --
25 would that be a problem?
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1 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: If they're
2 going to have to directionally drill it, it
3 wouldn't matter.
4 COMMISSIONER IDSAL: It wouldn't
5 matter?
6 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: It would work.
7 It would probably work well.
8 MS. BOYDSTON: That's been one of
9 the stipulations before, the off-site location or
10 access by directional drilling or pooling with
11 another tract. And to date nobody has picked that
12 lease up. And so I have a feeling maybe there's a
13 problem finding a lease location -- or a surface
14 location.
15 CHAIRMAN BASS: Or an alternative
16 site that provides them access to whatever
17 geologic zone they're looking for.
18 MS. BOYDSTON: And I know
19 Commissioner Watson had asked about production
20 earlier. The GLO records indicate that there's a
21 well south of Sheldon that was drilled in '90, but
22 it's not producing anymore. And there's no wells
23 around there that are producing, but I know that
24 there is a lot of seismic activity going on east
25 of there. So they think that they may be
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1 generating some interest in the Yagua formation,
2 which is a gas formation. So they will be coming
3 our way with seismic, I think, pretty soon,
4 anyway.
5 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: So the
6 suggestion is that we have a -- that we put this
7 up for nomination, that we advise interested
8 parties that there would be a single drill site
9 available, that that drill site would be selected
10 by the TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE COMMISSION staff
11 and that it would be subject to the standard
12 restrictions and conditions that we usually would
13 have.
14 Have I summarized it fairly? Are
15 there any other questions? All right.
16 Then the Chair would entertain a
17 motion to nominate for oil and gas lease the
18 Sheldon State park area described in the agenda
19 book.
20 COMMISSIONER ANGELO: So moved.
21 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: And is that
22 motion to include with the one drill site?
23 COMMISSIONER HENRY: Uh-huh.
24 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: Okay. I just
25 wanted to make sure. Any further discussion?
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1 (Motion passed unanimously.)
2 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: Thank you,
3 Kathy.
4 MS. BOYDSTON: We'd like to also --
5 or recommend that this be put on the consent
6 agenda for tomorrow.
7 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: All right.
8 This is eligible for the consent agenda. The
9 Chair would entertain a motion this be moved to
10 the consent agenda.
11 COMMISSIONER AVILA: So moved.
12 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: Thank you.
13 (Motion passed unanimously.)
14 VICE-CHAIR DINKINS: Is there any
15 other business to come before the committee? The
16 other agenda items were considered in executive
17 session since they involve land acquisition
18 matters.
19 Hearing none, that concludes the
20 hearing of the conservation committee. Thank you,
21 Kathy.
22 *-*-*-*-*
23 (MEETING ADJOURNED.)
24 *-*-*-*-*
25
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1 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE
2 STATE OF TEXAS )
3 COUNTY OF TRAVIS )
4 I, MELODY RENEE DeYOUNG, a Certified
5 Court Reporter in and for the State of Texas, do
6 hereby certify that the above and foregoing 12
7 pages constitute a full, true and correct
8 transcript of the minutes of the Texas Parks &
9 Wildlife Commission on JANUARY 24, 2001, in the
10 commission hearing room of the Texas Parks &
11 Wildlife Headquarters Complex, Austin, Travis
12 County, Texas.
13 I FURTHER CERTIFY that a stenographic
14 record was made by me at the time of the public
15 meeting and said stenographic notes were
16 thereafter reduced to computerized transcription
17 under my supervision and control.
18 WITNESS MY HAND this the 24th day of
19 February, 2001.
20
21
MELODY RENEE DeYOUNG, RPR, CSR NO. 3226
22 Expiration Date: 12-31-02
3101 Bee Caves Road
23 Centre II, Suite 220
Austin, Texas 78746
24 (512) 328-5557
25 EBS NO.
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