Commission Meeting Agenda Item No. 4
Presenter: Justin Fleury

Briefing
New State Park and State Natural Area Development Plans
January 26, 2023

I.      Executive Summary:  Staff will brief the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission on the status of new state park (SP) and state natural area (SNA) development.   The locations, in order of development, include:

  1. Palo Pinto Mountains SP
  2. Devils River SNA – Dan A. Hughes Unit
  3. Albert & Bessie Kronkosky SNA
  4. Powderhorn SP
  5. Chinati Mountains SNA
  6. Davis Hill SP

II.     Discussion: Over the next 12 to 15 years, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) intends to complete the planning, design and development of six land holdings for public use as SPs and SNAs. After TPWD acquires the land, the process of developing a new SP or SNA for public use involves four phases: (1) Park Planning (Public Use Plan [PUP] development), (2) Advanced Planning, (3) Design, and (4) Construction.

Each of the six land holdings are in a different part in their PUP development, with Palo Pinto Mountains SP and Devils River SNA near completion. The PUP contains the plans for facility development and programs for recreational use of a park. Planning components of a PUP include (1) site inventory, (2) an analysis of natural and cultural resources, (3) recreational management & specific programming for facility types, counts, and placement, (4) interpretive programming, and (5) public comment.

This effort is now possible due to the revenue received from the sporting goods sales tax appropriation, and TPWD will rely on approval of funding requests in its biennial Legislative Appropriations Request for each location over multiple biennia.