AUSTIN — Public-private partnerships are poised to add three jewels to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s crown, parks enthusiasts say.
For four consecutive legislative sessions between 2009 and 2015, state lawmakers forbade the department from using any of its funding from sporting goods sales tax receipts to buy land for future parks, according to Fort Worth parks advocate and historian George Bristol.
Over the past four years, the funding drought has ended. Champions of the state parks system are excited because two parks and one state natural area are under development. Each involved a mix of donations of private land and state investment.
Palo Pinto Mountains State Park
Located halfway between Fort Worth and Abilene, Palo Pinto Mountains State Park will encompass nearly 4,900 acres and have a “soft opening” by the end of this year, department officials say. Completion is expected by the end of 2024.
Powderhorn Ranch State Park
Along Matagorda Bay, about 150 miles southwest of Houston, the Powderhorn Ranch State Park that’s under development is part of a 17,350-acre former ranch. The 2,500-acre park, featuring marshlands and coastal views, will sit beside nearly 15,000 acres of wildlife management area. Opening of the park is still between eight and 10 years away, officials say.
Albert and Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area
In some 3,800 acres of pristine Texas Hill Country, the Albert and Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area is expected to open within two years, officials say. The Kronkoskys started buying the property north of San Antonio in 1946. The land straddles Bexar and Kendall counties. To protect it from development, the couple willed the tract to the state. The department accepted the gift in 2011.
