The commission reviewed and endorsed what is officially known as the Texas Land & Water Conservation Plan. In 2001 the Texas legislature directed agency staff at Texas Parks & Wildlife to develop the plan, which is supposed to be the blueprint for acquiring state parkland and wildlife habitat for the next generation.

"We were hopeful that Parks & Wildlife would present us a strong plan, but frankly we're a little disappointed," said Brian Sybert, Conservation Director for the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. "The agency got a clear mandate from the legislature for a long-range plan, and they heard strong public support for creating new state parks during the planning process, but they're moving ahead with a vague plan that falls short of the mark."

TPW's plan appears to be deficient in several major areas, including:

® The plan does not recommend sufficient acquisition of additional state parkland or wildlife habitat.

® It does not recommend sufficient acquisition of river or lakefront habitat.

® It does not recommend sufficient acquisition of local park space.

Another serious deficiency in the plan is the failure to mention or recommend long term financing mechanisms that are critical for acquisition of parkland. Sadly, this not addressed in the plan in any way. At a minimum, the plan should have identified potential funding options, ranging from the issuance of bonds to raising the cap on the amount of revenue dedicated to TPW from the sales tax on sporting goods.

Unfortunately, a basic assumption of the TPW plan is that recommendations for acquisition of parkland had to be curtailed because of the state's expected budget woes in the coming biennium. But the plan would be executed over at least ten years, giving the state plenty of time to fund the acquisition of new land. Therefore, the plan's land acquisition goals should be based on the state's projected population growth and expected recreation needs, particularly in and around the state's large urban areas.

"We'd like more land acquisition recommended in this plan and a clearer statement about the state's minimum parkland needs, but if nothing else the plan can be a starting point for the acquisition process," said Sybert. "If the agency staff makes a strong case to the legislature for acquiring more parkland and proposes specific financial mechanisms for doing so, good things could come out of this plan. Ultimately it comes down to the agency making its best case to lawmakers. But we think they could have started the process by making a more forceful case with this plan."

In order to address the lack of parkland in Texas and protect wildlife habitat, in 2001 the Texas legislature ordered TPW to develop a comprehensive "Land & Water Conservation Plan." The legislature mandated that the conservation plan guide all state acquisitions of parkland and protected wildlife habitat, as well as guide TPW's efforts to protect rivers and streams.

The following points were benchmarks that the Sierra Club and other park advocates have used to evaluate the Land and Water Conservation plan:

1. The plan should call for the acquisition of 55 acres of state parkland for every 1000 people that will be living in Texas in 2030, as recommended in a 2001 report produced by Texas Tech University in 2001 at the request of the legislature.

2. The plan should recommend the acquisition of parkland along rivers and streams to protect riparian and aquatic habitat and to allow public access to rivers for recreational activities such as birdwatching, boating, and fishing.

3. The plan should address the need for local parkland by adopting the standard of providing 25 acres of local parkland per 1000 people, another recommendation in the Texas Tech report.

4. The plan should recommend the purchase of development rights in areas of the state that are experiencing high levels of land fragmentation due to urban sprawl.

5. The plan should recommend that TPW take aggressive action to protect rivers and streams from impoundments, diversions, and pollution.

While Texas is the second largest state in the union and 85 percent of its population is concentrated in urban areas, it ranked 49^th in per capita spending on state parks in 1998. According to the Tech study, 1.4 million more acres of land will be needed by the year 2030 to reach the goal of 55 acres of state parkland per 1000 people.

The Tech study found the shortage of outdoor recreation lands to be particularly acute around the major population centers of Texas, and also recommends that more local parks be established by cities, counties, and special districts. The authors recommend that state and local governments adopt a goal of establishing 25 acres of local parkland per 1000. This would require the acquisition of an additional 558,000 acres by 2030.