Committee Agenda Item No. 1
Presenter:  Carter Smith

Conservation Committee
Update on TPWD Progress in Implementing the
TPWD Land and Water Resources Conservation and Recreation Plan
August 25, 2010

I.      Executive Summary:  Executive Director Carter Smith will briefly update the Commission on the status of the agency’s efforts to implement the Land and Water Resources Conservation and Recreation Plan (the “Plan”).

II.    Discussion:  In 2001, the 77th Texas Legislature directed that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) develop a Land and Water Resources Conservation and Recreation Plan (Tex. Park & Wild. Code §11.104).  In 2002, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission (the Commission) adopted the first Plan.  A revised Plan was adopted by the Commission in January 2005.  In November 2009, the Commission approved a new Plan effective January 1, 2010.  The 2010 Plan is available on the TPWD web site.  Executive Director Carter Smith will update the Conservation Committee on TPWD’s recent progress in achieving the Plan’s goals, objectives and deliverables as they relate to the Conservation Committee.

The Plan consists of the following four goals:

1. Practice, Encourage and Enable Science-based Stewardship of Natural and Cultural Resources
2. Increase Access To and Participation In the Outdoors
3. Educate, Inform and Engage Texas Citizens in Support of Conservation and Recreation
4. Employ Efficient, Sustainable and Sound Business Practices

Committee Agenda Item No. 2
Presenter:  Ted Hollingsworth

Conservation Committee
Land Exchange – Blanco County
300 Acres at Pedernales Falls State Park
August 25, 2010

I.       Executive Summary:  Staff will brief the TPW Commission on a proposal to increase conservation and viewshed protection at Pedernales Falls State Park.

II.     Discussion:  The 5,212-acre Pedernales Falls State Park in Blanco County was acquired in 1970 to protect and provide recreational access to a dramatic segment of the Pedernales River, including the spectacular Pedernales Falls.  The aesthetic integrity of the falls is threatened, however, by the fact that the opposite bank of the river is privately owned.  As roads and utilities have improved access to the river from the north, riverfront home sites have become especially desirable and valuable.

County Road 2766 bisects the park, severing the southernmost 320± acres from the rest of the park, and effectively isolating the severed tract from public access.  In 2004, the Texas General Land Office (GLO) declared the property to be “underutilized” and recommended its sale, a recommendation with which the Office of the Governor concurred.  In 2006, the GLO agreed with Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) that creation of a Conservation Bank on this tract for recovery of the federally-listed Golden Cheeked Warbler, would constitute a “highest and best use” for the property and prevent its sale.  Staff worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for three years on development of conservation banking instruments, and in 2009 decided that permitting the bank would proceed most efficiently with professional assistance.  In 2010, TPWD published a Request for Proposals (RFP) which elicited two proposals for creation of the proposed conservation bank.

A proposal from Pedernales Blue Hole Ltd. (PBH), if successful, would result in the exchange of the 320-acre TPWD tract, encumbered by the Conservation Bank Agreement and a conservation easement, for a viewshed easement on a 235-acre ranch with river frontage at the falls opposite the park.  Staff requests permission to begin the public notice and input process, and anticipates returning to the TPW Commission at some point with an action item to close the transaction, predicated on establishment of the conservation bank, which could take up to two years.

            Attachments — 3

Committee Agenda Item No. 2
Exhibit A

 Location Map – Pedernales Falls State Park in Blanco County

Committee Agenda Item No. 2
Exhibit B

Vicinity Map for Pedernales Falls State Park in Blanco County

Committee Exhibit Item No. 2
Exhibit C

Site Map of Pedernales Falls SP Showing Subject Tracts

Committee Agenda Item No. 4
Presenter:  Ted Hollingsworth

Conservation Committee
Land Acquisition – Lipscomb County
400± Acres at the Gene Howe Wildlife Management Area
W.A. “Pat” Murphy Unit
August 25, 2010

Committee Agenda Item No. 4
Exhibit A

Committee Agenda Item No. 4
Exhibit B

Committee Agenda Item No. 4
Exhibit C

Committee Agenda Item No. 8
Presenter:  Corky Kuhlmann

Conservation Committee
Land Acquisition – Travis County
McKinney Falls State Park
August 25, 2010

Committee Agenda Item No. 8
Exhibit A

Location Map
Travis County
McKinney Falls State Park

Committee Agenda Item No. 8
Exhibit B

Vicinity Map
McKinney Falls State Park

Committee Agenda Item No. 8
Exhibit C

Site Map
McKinney Falls State Park

Committee Agenda Item No. 10
Presenter:  Corky Kuhlmann

Conservation Committee
Land Acquisition – Henderson County
Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center
August 25, 2010

Committee Agenda Item No. 10
Exhibit A

Location Map
Henderson County
Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

Committee Agenda Item No. 10
Exhibit B

Vicinity Map
Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

Committee Agenda Item No. 10
Exhibit C

Site Map
Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

Committee Agenda Item No. 12
Presenter:  Scott Boruff

Conservation Committee
Val Verde County Land Project
August 25, 2010

I.       Executive Summary:  Staff continues to evaluate a land project in Val Verde County.