As of November 6th, the 9,269-acre Christmas Mountains parcel has received a reprieve from Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson’s move to auction the property. There was an immense public outcry against Patterson’s plan to auction this Big Bend Country parcel to a private bidder. The land was deeded to Texas in 1991 as a gift from The Conservation Fund with strict provisions limiting its development in order to preserve its natural values. Protection of the Christmas Mountains is critical for preservation of wildlife diversity in the Big Bend area.

Although the 1991 gift deed specifically required the consent of The Conservation Fund for the sale of the property to any other buyer other than the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department or the National Park Service, Patterson continued to insist that he did not feel bound by that part of the contract. When a chorus of voices called for the National Park Service to be given a chance to acquire the property, Patterson countered that he would only sell the Christmas Mountains to a party which allowed hunting -- even though there has not been public hunting on the property. Note that the NPS does not normally allow hunting at national parks.

Here is the current situation:

The School Land Board (composed of Patterson, David Herrmann of San Antonio, and Todd Barth of Houston) voted to delay the sale of Christmas Mountains for 90 days to allow the National Park Service time to prepare an offer to acquire the property, thereby increasing the size of Big Bend National Park. The statement issued by the School Land Board did NOT stipulate any additional requirements on the NPS -- such as allowing hunting. The Sierra Club declared the vote a victory for the people of Texas. First, Congress must authorize the acquisition of the property and appropriate the necessary funds for NPS to acquire Christmas Mountains. Congressman Ciro Rodriguez, who represents the district encompassing Christmas Mountains, favors the acquisition. He is expected to introduce a bill authorizing acquisition.

What you can do:

Send and e-mail or fax to Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn requesting them to (1) support authorization to acquire the Christmas Mountains as a natural expansion of Big Bend National Park and (2) appropriate the necessary funds. In the future, it may be necessary to contact you Congressional representative to do the same, but for now contact the senators.

Contact information:

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison at 202-224-5922 (Tel.), 202-224-0776 (FAX) or from http://www.senate.gov/~hutchison/contact.html.

Senator John Cornyn at 202-224-2934 (Tel.), 202-228-2856 (FAX) or from http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/.

December 2007

Last updated:  11/17/2007.   Content © 1999-2007 by the Sierra Club.