From camping under the stars at Big Bend Ranch to exploring the cypress swamps of Caddo Lake, our parks make life better here in Texas. In them we can build sandcastles at the beach, camp in the mountains, stargaze in dark sky sanctuaries, and even explore dinosaur footprints. Our parks protect the clean water we depend on and provide a home for some of Texas’ most wondrous wildlife, like the black bear and the leatherback sea turtle.
Demand for our parks is only increasing as Texas grows, and Texans seek refuge in the great outdoors, but unfortunately our parks and open spaces face chronic underfunding which threatens their very existence. Every hour, almost 20 acres of open space are destroyed in Texas to make way for new strip malls and subdivisions. Our existing parks are often overcrowded, with visitors sometimes facing long lines to enter or even being turned away.
One of the biggest threats to our wildlife is the breaking up of large swaths of land into smaller and smaller tracts. Our wildlife cannot thrive on the scraps of wilderness left: habitat loss, polluted waterways, and severed migration routes are serious threats. We can help protect that wildlife by converting some of ranch land into parks where wildlife can thrive.
In November of 2019, Texas voters expressed overwhelming support for Prop 5, an amendment to the state constitution that helps provide funding for operations of existing parks. We can keep the momentum going to provide the state with new resources by bringing together cities, counties, private philanthropy, and the state government to put together the resources necessary to protect Texas wild places and meet the growing demand for recreational opportunities.
In order to marshall these resources, we need to change the narrative around conservation in the Lone Star State. Instead of just talking about maintaining current facilities, we need to raise the bar and envision what Texas would look like with a wealth of public lands that protect our waterways, special places, and wildlife, especially as we celebrate the centennial of our state parks system in 2023. Join us in calling for one million acres of new parkland by 2030.
