Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Christmas Mountains

AUSTIN -- The pristine Christmas Mountains in West Texas will remain in state hands, at least for now.

On Tuesday, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and the School Land Board -- a three-member panel over which he presides -- rejected competing bids from two private interests to buy the 9,269-acre tract.

However, the vote left open the question of whether the state would honor an agreement relating to the property, or whether it would ever transfer the property to the National Park Service, which has offered to maintain it as an addition to Big Bend National Park.

The mostly desert range has been the subject of a months-long tug-of-war between Patterson and conservationists after the Republican land commissioner signaled his intention to sell it to private interests. The General Land Office had committed under a previous land commissioner to keep the Christmas Mountains in state hands or give the land only to the National Park Service.

But on Tuesday, Patterson, a strong Second Amendment advocate, reiterated his opposition to transferring the tract to the National Park Service if that agency insists on enforcing its customary firearms restrictions on the property.

Patterson also said that he did not support selling the land to a nonprofit foundation wishing to donate the tract to the National Park Service.

Instead, he said, the National Park Service would have to pony up tax dollars to take possession. He said that would give the feds "ownership interest" and make them better stewards of the land.

"It's my part to make the deficit bigger," he quipped.

Conservationists expressed exasperation at what they characterized as new roadblocks by Patterson.

"He's continuing to be stubborn," said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas.

"Every time we get further down the road, there is a new issue that is brought up by the commissioner," said Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.

It is unclear when the School Land Board will reconsider the issue.

The two private bidders rejected Tuesday were a Dallas couple, Ramona and Michael Craddock, who offered $750,000; and Houston businessman John Poindexter, who reportedly offered $704,489.

In November, the School Land Board delayed choosing between the offers -- saying it wanted to give the National Park Service time to make an offer -- and then on Tuesday rejected both.

"There have been a lot of things that have developed, a lot of loose ends out there -- there are a lot of unknowns, and to take any action would be premature," Patterson said, explaining why he joined his two fellow commissioners in rejecting the bids.

But Patterson also said the vote does not mean that the land might not eventually end up in private hands.

The land commissioner also enumerated steps that he would take to ensure better access to the tract, no matter who ultimately takes possession. He said that he would order the creation of a permanent public easement between the Christmas Mountains and Big Bend National Park so the public would always have the right to enter the mountain range, and that he would work with Congress to get a federal designation to allow for long-term maintenance of the property and to allow hunting and firearms

He also said he would work with a local landowner to provide better public access.

The history

The General Land Office accepted the tract as a donation in 1991 from the nonprofit Conservation Fund under the general condition that it would remain in state hands or go only to the National Park Service. The land office also agreed then that if the agency ever transferred the property to some other entity, that it would do so only with the authorization of The Conservation Fund.

Patterson has said he would not necessarily honor all of that agreement, which he characterized in part as unenforceable. He has also stressed that an existing conservation easement could protect the land from most development.

He reiterated Tuesday his view that the General Land Office cannot simply give away the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service or any other entity, for that matter. That's because the School Land Board has a fiduciary duty to protect the Permanent School Fund, and the property is part of the Permanent School Fund inventory.

But Patterson was likewise dismissive of publicized statements by The Conservation Fund, which has publicly signaled its willingness to repurchase the property from the state and give it to the National Park Service. President Larry Selzer has said that he found such a move "distasteful," but that he would buy back the property if that's what it took to keep it public.

Patterson called that position bizarre and said he would oppose selling the land back to The Conservation Fund for that purpose.

"I can't think of a dumber thing to do," he said. "It's not my job to protect people from making dumb moves, but I'm going to take that role. In my opinion, we're not going to allow that to happen."

Instead, he said, the federal government should use public dollars if it is to acquire the property. That way, "the feds ... have ownership of this. With an expenditure comes ownership and responsibility," he said.

James Doyle, a spokesman for the National Park Service, said the agency would vigorously protect the property no matter where the money comes from.

"I would like assure Mr. Patterson that no matter how we get it, we would protect it," he said.

Last week, the National Park Service offered a management plan in which it says it would permanently protect the mountain range as part of the 800,000-acre Big Bend National Park. Park service officials said they would prefer that the state donate the land but would work with private donors to pay for the acquisition if that is not feasible.

A spokeswoman for The Conservation Fund could not be reached Tuesday.

[Patterson is] continuing to be stubborn.