Commission Agenda Item No. 4
Presenter: Ted Hollingsworth

Action
Exchange of Access Easements – Presidio County
Big Bend Ranch State Park
January 24, 2019

I.      Executive Summary: Staff of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has been working with an adjacent landowner at Big Bend Ranch State Park on a proposal to extinguish a historic 10-mile long easement and replace it with a new 1-mile long easement which better meets the operational and recreational needs of the park.

II.     Discussion: Big Bend Ranch State Park, at roughly 310,000 acres, is Texas’ largest state park, encompassing a wide range of far West Texas landscapes and habitats. Since the initial 212,528-acre acquisition in 1988, a number of other tracts have been added, and the current park boundary includes roughly 22 miles of frontage on the Rio Grande, and nearly 100 miles of boundary in common with private landowners. Complex ownership histories, topography, and the challenges of building fences on much of this landscape mean that management boundaries are often boundaries of convenience, and TPWD has boundary agreements in place with several adjacent landowners.

One property adjacent to the park is the LaMota Ranch, of which 13,268 acres was donated to TPWD in 2000. In 2016, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission authorized an exchange of lands with the LaMota Ranch that resulted in the net addition of approximately 578 acres to the park and a shortening of the common boundary line between the ranch and the park to roughly 13 miles. At the time of the 2000 acquisition, an easement was also conveyed to TPWD that runs approximately 10 miles north/south through the remainder of the LaMota. The easement was intended to provide access to areas of the Big Bend Ranch State Park in the north end of the park, but the easement was rarely if ever used, and the recent exchange with LaMota included a superior access road to the area previously served by the easement. The landowner is willing to grant an easement of approximately 1 mile across his ranch that will better serve TPWD’s need for access into a remote part of the state park in exchange for extinguishing the existing easement. The new easement increases access options to a particularly remote portion of the park’s “stovepipe” region.

III.      Recommendation: The staff recommends the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopt the following motion:

“The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopts the Resolution attached as
Exhibit A.”

Attachments – 5

  1. Exhibit A – Resolution
  2. Exhibit B – Location Map
  3. Exhibit C – Vicinity Map
  4. Exhibit D – Site Map
  5. Exhibit E – Close-Up

Commission Agenda Item No. 4
Exhibit A

A Resolution by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Regarding the
Extinguishment of an Existing Access Easement and the Acceptance of a New
Access Easement Across a Privately Owned Ranch Adjacent to Big Bend Ranch State Park in Presidio County

Resolution

Whereas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) owns and manages Big Bend Ranch State Park (BBRSP), comprising approximately 310,000 acres of West Texas landscapes and habitats; and,

Whereas, BBRSP includes roughly 22 miles of frontage on the Rio Grande and nearly 100 miles of boundary in common with private landowners; and,

Whereas, the landscape and topography of BBRSP result in large areas of the park being unsuitable for the development of roads other than the “jeep trails” that have existed for decades following paths of convenience into remote areas; and,

Whereas, many of these jeep trails have arisen of necessity where terrain will permit, and without regard to boundaries between ranches, or between privately and publicly owned land; and,

Whereas, the LaMota Ranch donated 13,268 acres of land to BBRSP in 2000, and BBRSP shares approximately 13 miles of boundary in common with that portion of the LaMota Ranch that is still privately owned; and,

Whereas, the transfer of land in 2000 included fenceline agreements and access easements for the mutual benefit of the grantor and grantee; and,

Whereas, in 2016, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission (the Commission) authorized an exchange of land with the LaMota Ranch that has since been completed and which resulted in improved access to an area of BBRSP previously served by an easement of approximately ten miles in length across the LaMota Ranch; and,

Whereas, a new easement across the LaMota Ranch of approximately one mile in length would enhance access to a remote area of BBRSP; and,

Whereas, the owners of the LaMota Ranch are willing to grant the new easement of approximately one mile in length in exchange for the extinguishment of the existing easement of approximately 10 miles in length; and,

Whereas, the conveyance of the new easement and the extinguishment of the old easement would result in net benefits for park operations through improved access to a remote area of BBRSP; and,

Whereas, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission finds that as required by Texas Parks and Wildlife Code chapter 26, notices of today’s hearing of this matter were published at least once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation which is published at least six days a week in the community nearest to  BBRSP in which such newspapers are published (Odessa American, Ector County and published as a courtesy in Alpine Avalanche, Presidio County), with the last day of publication being not less than one week or more than two weeks before the date of today’s hearing and that such notices specified the date and time at which the Commission would hear testimony regarding the exchange of easements; and,

Whereas, the Commission finds, in accordance with Section 13.009 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code that the exchange of property interests in the form of access easements is in the best interest of TPWD; and,

Now, therefore, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission authorizes the Executive Director to take all necessary steps to accept the conveyance of a new easement and extinguish an existing easement at BBRSP in Presidio County for the purposes and subject to the conditions described herein and in the motion approved in this Resolution. 

Adopted and approved this 24th day of January, 2019.

signatures


Commission Agenda Item No. 4
Exhibit B

Location Map for Big Bend Ranch State Park in Presidio and Brewster Counties

Location Map for Big Bend Ranch State Park in Presidio and Brewster Counties


Commission Agenda Item No. 4
Exhibit C

Vicinity Map for Big Bend Ranch State Park (SP), 50 Miles South of Marfa

Vicinity Map for Big Bend Ranch State Park (SP), 50 Miles South of Marfa


Commission Agenda Item No. 4
Exhibit D

Area of Big Bend Ranch State Park Affected by Subject Access Easements
Adjacent Landowner Labeled LaMota Ranch

Area of Big Bend Ranch State Park Affected by Subject Access Easements


Commission Agenda Item No. 4
Exhibit E

Close-Up Showing Subject Easements

Close-Up Showing Subject Easements