Commission Meeting Agenda Item No. 5
Presenter: Jason Estrella

Action
Disposition of Real Property – Jasper County
Approximately 220 Acres of Land and 200 Acre-Feet of Water
at the Jasper Fish Hatchery
March 23, 2023

I.      Executive Summary: Staff seeks to dispose of the 220 acres of land and 200 acre-feet of water. The Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Divisions have relocated most of their operations from the former Jasper Fish Hatchery to other facilities in East Texas, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has little operational use for the hatchery land, facilities, and associated water rights.

II.     Discussion: The 220 acres of land at the Jasper Fish Hatchery were acquired in the 1930s for the construction of a freshwater fish propagation and research facility. Over time, with advances in fishery technology, operations at the Jasper facility were relocated to newer facilities such as the Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens and the John D. Parker Fish Hatchery near Sam Rayburn Lake, north of Jasper. In 2012, the property was transferred from the Inland Fisheries Division to the Wildlife Division, which renamed the site the East Texas Conservation Center and used the buildings onsite to house Wildlife Division District 6 administrative offices. However, those site operations were recently relocated to Nacogdoches to be more centrally located to district operations.

The Jasper Fish Hatchery site has approximately 70 acres of mature forest and includes approximately 60 ponds and numerous structures previously used for offices, hatchery buildings, storage, and housing. Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Division staff find that the property no longer serves the operational purposes for which it was acquired and believe that sale of the site and use of the land sale proceeds to achieve strategic land acquisition(s) in East Texas would best serve the mission of TPWD.

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 – 4

  1. Exhibit A – Resolution
  2. Exhibit B – Location Map
  3. Exhibit C – Vicinity Map
  4. Exhibit D – Site Map

Commission Agenda Item No. 5
Exhibit A

A Resolution by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission Regarding the Disposition of Approximately 220 Acres of Land and 200 Acre-Feet of Water at the Jasper Fish Hatchery in Jasper County

Resolution

      Whereas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) owns the approximately 220-acre former Jasper Fish Hatchery/East Texas Conservation Center acquired in the 1930s for freshwater fish propagation, research facility, and more recently Wildlife Division District 6 administrative offices; and,

     Whereas, over time, with advances in fishery technology, operations have been relocated to newer facilities and administrative offices moved to more central locations: and,

     Whereas, the property has little value to TPWD and is not considered practical to operate for administrative, biological, or recreational purposes, and staff recommends that the tract be sold, and the sale proceeds be applied to strategic land acquisitions; and,

     Whereas, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission (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 newspapers of general circulation that are published at least six days a week in the communities nearest to the fish hatchery in which such newspapers are published (The Newsboy in Jasper 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,

     Whereas, the Commission finds that the 220-acre tract of land is not serving the purpose for which it was acquired, and continued ownership is no longer consistent with the TPWD mission; and,

     Whereas, the Commission finds, in accordance with Section 13.009 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, that conveyance of the 220 acres of land and 200 acre-feet of the water rights subject to conditions that will minimize the overall impacts of the land transfer on the Jasper Fish Hatchery is in the best interest of TPWD;

     Now, therefore, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission authorizes the TPWD Executive Director to take all necessary steps to sell the subject 220-acre tract of land and 200 acre-feet of the water rights subject to the purposes and subject to the conditions described herein and, in the motion, approved in this Resolution.

Adopted and approved this 23rd day of March 2023.

Arch “Beaver” Aplin, III, Chairman

Dick Scott, Vice-Chairman

James E. Abell, Member

Oliver J. Bell, Member

Paul L. Foster, Member

Anna B. Galo, Member

Jeffery D. Hildebrand, Member

Robert L. “Bobby” Patton, Jr., Member

Travis B. “Blake” Rowling, Member



Commission Agenda Item No. 5
Exhibit B

Location Map for Jasper Fish Hatchery/East Texas Conservation Center


Commission Agenda Item No. 5
Exhibit C

Vicinity Map for Jasper Fish Hatchery/East Texas Conservation Center


Commission Agenda Item No. 5
Exhibit D

Site Map for Jasper Fish Hatchery/East Texas Conservation Center