Patterson Attacks Obama at GOP Convention

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson thinks one of the most insulting things he can do to the Democratic presidential candidate is repeat his name.

[Patterson] was introduced most aptly by the Tom Petty song "I Won't Back Down." Patterson applied that description to Texas Republicans, maintaining "We will not be voting for Barack Hussein Obama."

Wow, take that Democrats!

According to the Dallas Morning News, Patterson also attacked Obama for his previous association with the controversial Rev. Wright.

Of course, Patterson, who has been known to utter a few injudicious comments himself, left out McCain's association with Rev. John "Catholicism is the Great Whore" Hagee.

And even as Patterson was making his comments at the GOP convention, John McCain was backing out of a fundraiser hosted by Texas oilman William Clayton after someone remembered that Clayton once said a few impolitic comments about women during a campaign for governor against Ann Richards.

Clayton Williams, who ran unsuccessfully against the late Texas Gov. Ann Richards (D), sparked controversy nearly two decades ago when he joked women should give in while being raped. "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it," the oilman remarked at the time.

That comment and others were certainly a factor in Williams' defeat.

At the time, Mr. Williams, a Republican who was running against Ann Richards, made a joke about rape and said he would campaign against Ms. Richards, a Democrat, as he would deal with a cow on his ranch: “head her and hoof her and drag her through the dirt.” He later apologized for the remarks.

The campaign canceled the fund-raiser on Friday after it faced questions from ABC News and The Washington Post.

“These were obviously incredibly offensive remarks that the campaign was unaware of at the time it was scheduled,” said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the McCain campaign. “It’s positive that he did apologize at the time, but the comments are nonetheless offensive.”

Of course, no one offered to give back the money.

Several stories on the fundraiser have noted that the timing is bad, as McCain was reaching out to disaffected Clinton supporters. But as one blogger put it:

If John McCain wanted to win over the votes of Hillary Clinton's supporters, he shouldn't have left his long-suffering first wife for a beautiful young rodeo-queen heiress with blonde hair.

And as to Patterson's reference to Obama's full name, as long as he henceforth refers to the GOP candidate as John Sidney McCain III, I've got no problem with it.

Republican Faux Wars

Dick Cheney once told us that "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction." We all know how that turned out. Cheney's obsession with Iraq's non-existent nuclear and biological weapons was only the most stellar example of how the Republicans are passing laws, rewriting regulations and even starting wars to protect us from improbable threats.

Let's take an example here in Texas. We know that Jerry Patterson of the General Land Office has stalled the transfer of Christmas Mountains to the National Parks system because they don't allow hunting. Now it appears he may get his wish. After pressure from Texas senators, the Interior Department is proposing new regulations that would allow conceal carry guns in national parks "to ensure visitor safety and resource protection."

To quote Booboo, "Mr. Ranger isn't going to like this, Yogi."

Park rangers, retirees and conservation groups protested the plan, saying it will lead to confusion for visitors, rangers and other law enforcement agencies.

"This is purely and simply a politically driven effort to solve a problem that doesn't exist," said Bill Wade, chairman of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees.

Wade and other critics cited statistics showing that national parks are among the safest places in the country. The probability of becoming a victim of a violent crime in a national park is 1 in more than 708,000 -- less likely than being struck by lightning, the groups said.

The rules change would defer to state and local law, which makes it very confusing and likely unenforceable. So why is it so critical to push an unneeded regulation against a non-existent threat which would produce a policy so incoherent it couldn't necessarily be enforced consistently within the same park?

Well, its an election year and the GOP doesn't have too much to crow about these days. Inflation is the highest in 17 years, housing prices are down double digits, the national debt is approaching $10 trillion, gas prices are approaching $4 per gallon, and then there is a little matter of that war that isn't playing so well in Peoria anymore. If you can't run on the issues, you need to invent one.

So instead of addressing any of our nation's problems with the economy, transportion, health care, fiscal policy; instead of drafting a plan to get us out a disastrous occupation of a foreign land; instead of addressing any of the real and present dangers facing middle America in the 21st century, we get yet another version of the culture wars. Thank you John Cornyn, Jerry Patterson, the Interior Department and the rest of the GOP for keeping issues like these on the front burner. We'd sleep much better in our tent knowing we're safe from Yogi Bear, except with the price of gas who can get to Yellowstone these days?

Christmas Mountains Deal Imminent

According to Environment Texas, a decision on the fate of the Christmas Mountains is due next Tuesday. The group sent an email asking for signatures urging Texas School Land Board to accept the National Park Service’s offer to purchase the Christmas Mountains and add it to Big Bend National Park.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, the deal to be announced next week is likely to give conservation advocates their wish.

On Friday, the General Land Office, which controls the land and had put it on the auction block, released a proposal by the National Park Service to take over the land, which is adjacent to Big Bend. Patterson has repeatedly said that he opposes such a move because the national parks don't allow hunting.

The land office had received private bids last year worth $60 an acre that would have allowed hunting, although it's not clear how much public access would have been allowed by the private owners.

The NPS proposal says that the Christmas Mountains tract would be opened for day and overnight hiking. An old access route to an antenna on a 5,700-foot peak would be a "primary destination for remarkable vistas" for hikers and horseback riders. Should it be incorporated into the vast Big Bend National Park, the Christmas Mountains tract would amount to about one percent of the total acreage of the park.

The proposal pays special attention to hunting, which it says would not be allowed on the land. Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a staunch supporter of gun rights, had said last year that he wanted hunting allowed on the land. But the National Park Service proposal says hunting access is difficult and that the deer population is low.

If this announcement signals an end to the wrangling over the Christmas Mountains, and places the land in the public realm as was the original intent, this is great news.

The Christmas Mountains is not the only tract of private land that the National Park Service would like to add to Big Bend. Nationwide, the NPS lists over 11,000 separate tracts comprising 1.8 million acres that it has designated for acquisition.

Unfortunately, the park service's budget for purchases is down from a high of $139 million in 1999 to $24 million in last year's budget. To put that in perspective, $24 million is about two hours funding for the Iraq war, or a little above the annual pay of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson.

Patterson Still Playing Grinch with Christmas Mountains Deal

After a guardedly optimistic report in the Dallas Morning News on the potential for a compromise on the fate of the Christmas Mountains, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reports today that Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson is still blocking the transfer of the land to the National Park Service.

According to the FWST, Patterson is insisting that the National Park Service must pay for the land, even though it was donated to the state with the understanding that it would become property of Texas Parks and Wildlife or the National Park Service. The TPWD has stated that it is not interested in acquiring the property. Patterson was supposed to meet with William Wellman, superintendent of the Big Bend National Park, on Friday but could not keep that appointment "because of bad weather."

But [Wellman] said that the insistence by the Texas General Land Office that it get paid for the 9,269-acre tract could seriously complicate any potential transfer.

"You're looking at a year delay if you were to involve federal funds -- it would definitely be a hurdle, and I don't know if it would be insurmountable," Wellman said.

In the meantime, Patterson has released more details on two private bids submitted for the tract. Award of a bid was postponed for 90 days to allow the National Park Service an opportunity to work out a deal to acquire the land.

A bid has been submitted by John Poindexter, who owns the 30,000-acre Cibolo Creek Ranch near Presidio.

According to the 21-page bid package, Poindexter would spend $175,000 on restoration and conservation projects.

The bid says that an annual barbecue with the tract's neighbors could take place on the property, as well as auctioned hunts for mule deer, whitetail deer and blue quail, but it is vague on other points involving public access. For instance, it says "selective public education might evolve" on the property.

Poindexter has been trying to acquire public land in this area for some time, including unsuccessful attempt to acquire 46,000 acres of Big Bend Ranch State Park in 2005. More recently, he proposed a land swap that would trade land of the bankrupt Lajitas Resort for part of Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Moratorium on Christmas Mountain Sale

After Monday's announcement from Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson that the land board would be accepting one of two bids received from private owners for the Christmas Mountains, Wednesday's meeting brought yet another delay.

The School Land Board postponed action on two bids for the Christmas Mountains Ranch near Big Bend National Park Tuesday and gave the National Park Service 90 days to make a deal for the 9,270 acres, apparently in response to public outcry over the sale.

State Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson wanted the three-member board, which he chairs, to accept the best proposal before giving the National Park Service time to match the offer. Patterson also had established a condition that firearms and hunting be part of any deal.

But the board left the bids pending and did not put conditions on its offer.

"There is no consensus except for the 90 days for the National Parks Service to put something on the table," Patterson said, after the board met in closed session to consider bids.

The delay is good news, but it doesn't mean the sale to the National Park Service is a done deal. Still, conservation groups that had lobbied hard to consider transferring the land to NPS ownership applauded the moratorium. Environment Texas, who submitted 6000 signatures to the board, issued this statement on the land board's decision to delay the sale:

Today's decision by the School Land Board to postpone the sale of the Christmas Mountains for ninety days is encouraging news. Yesterday, Commissioner Patterson announced that he would push the two other members of the School Land Board to accept one of the two private bids for the Christmas Mountains and gave an ultimatum to the National Park Service to change their policy on hunting or lose their right to try to add the property to Big Bend National Park. That did not happen, so clearly the other two board members are not comfortable with this deal. We thank Todd Barth and David Herrmann for respecting the strong public opposition to this sale and for seeking out a better solution. We look forward to working with the School Land Board, the National Park Service, and Congress in the coming months to find a final solution that will keep the Christmas Mountains in public hands and that will maintain the integrity of Texas' word.

Patterson Promises News on Sale of Christmas Mountains

If we go by the hints he's been dropping, today is the day Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson unveils his plans to sell the Christmas Mountains.

Patterson wants us to believe that the land board will be approving a bid so superior to the option of placing the land with the National Park Service, as was originally intended, that it will make the public forget that Patterson is selling our public land to a private developer.

“[T]he outcome I have in mind WILL result in better stewardship, and better access than a simple transfer to the NPS. All of this will become apparent after the bids are recd [sic] and the winner is selected (assuming we have a winner).”

Last week's profile of Jerry Patterson in the Dallas Morning News was a fawning piece with a title that tells it all: "Texas Land Commissioner Patterson keeps cool, packs heat." The gist of this article is that Patterson is an ideologue who is just standing by his principles.

He has already taken quite a bit for telling National Park Service officials that if they wouldn't let people carry firearms on the property, he wouldn't sell it to them. No guns, he told them, no deal.

That's as close as the article gets to explaining the real reason Patterson has drawn the ire of environmentalists. By buying into Patterson's argument that he comes in for so much criticism because of his stand on guns, the author completely misses the point - Patterson is selling public land, donated and designated by the donor for preservation and the enjoyment of the public, to private developers in defiance of common sense, contractual obligation and ethical responsibility.

Patterson is moving forward with this sale despite that fact that the sale doesn't comply with a key provision in the original contract and breaks a promise made by the state's previous land commissioner to the donors. Whether it's pure cronyism, or some misguided libertarian impulse, it's a flagrant misuse of public office.

Patterson, who said the state won't comply with a provision in the contract giving the original donors a say before anyone else acquires the property, is pushing forward with the sale. The land office reported two bids before a 10 a.m. deadline on Wednesday. The School Land Board, over which Patterson presides, is expected to select a winner next week.

Conservation Fund President Larry Selzer said Wednesday that it was at the request of state officials that his organization donated the property to the General Land Office in the first place. He said the state wanted to preserve the property and so specifically committed to the donors that the mountains would remain in public hands.

Glenn Smith at BOR sums it up when he asks:

How is it Jerry Patterson believes this land that's our is his land?

He was greatly offended last year when I raised objections to the sale of the most pristine part of the Black Gap Wildlife Refuge. He went so far as to alter a map he gave to reporters to try and show he land he wanted to sell was not part of the Refuge, which everyone knows it was.

Thin-skinned and mule-headed, Patterson plays Chupacabra to Texas natural treasures. Like the legendary Mexican monster does to chicken blood, Patterson sneaks around at night sucking the land right out from under our feet.

Now it's the Christmas mountains he wants to sell, and Patterson is more full of stuffing than a Christmas turkey. Today's NYT piece on this tragedy by Ralph Blumenthal is solid. Read it.

According to the FWST, the announcement may come this afternoon.

In a tantalizing news release issued Friday, Patterson vowed to make a "surprise announcement regarding the sale of Christmas Mountains." He called a news conference for 2:30 p.m. Monday.

We'll keep you posted.

Patterson Rebuffs National Park Service Interest in Christmas Mountains

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson is telling the National Park Service to "take a hike" on the acquisition of the Christmas Mountains.

Despite previous indications that acquiring the land would not be practical, the National Park Service has now asked Patterson to postpone the sale of the land, which abuts the northwest corner of Big Bend National Park, to allow it time to conduct an evaluation to consider the feasibility of purchase. Patterson's rationale for refusing to postpone the sale of the land to private interests? "No guns, no hunting, no deal."

That's right, despite the fact that the land was donated with the intent that it remain in public hands for the enjoyment of the general populace, Patterson's ever-shifting reasoning is that he

........ would not be willing to sell the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service if it would mean that there would never be public hunting allowed on the property," Jim Suydam, Patterson's spokesman, said in a statement.

According to the Texas Observer,

Patterson, who allegedly keeps a pistol in his left boot and another in his waistband, calls the ban on packing heat in national parks "unconstitutional.”

The GLO (General Land Office,) which manages the land, is proposing to sell the land to private investors as early as its November meeting.

The GLO has a fiduciary responsibility to maximize returns on land it holds for the fund, and maintains that it must sell the Christmas Mountains as it is “unable to invest the hundreds of thousands of dollars needed to fence the land to protect it from poachers and to restore it to its original, native state.”

The GLO's claim that the land needs to be sold because of mismangement is disputed by many. Meanwhile, Patterson assures us that

the deed restrictions conveyed to the Land Office by the Conservation Fund will be conveyed to a private owner and will be legally enforceable. This means that they are bound by the original restrictions set forth by the Fund, yet will have greater financial means to manage the land.

That statement would be reassuring if Patterson had a history of honoring deed restrictions. But of course, if he had abided by the restriction in the original deed that said the land could not be sold without the permission of the Conservation Fund, we wouldn't be having this debate, now would we?

General Land Office Selling Land Donated by Conservation Group

The General Land Office is at it again. After the controversy over its proposed sale of land at Eagle Mountain Lake, the office agreed to the development of a park only after it became a political football in the last election. Now the office is proposing another controversial sale. It has taken bids for 9,269 acres of land in the Christmas Mountains adjacent to Big Bend National Park.

According to the Conservation Fund, who gifted the land to the state, the state was bound by deed restrictions and could not sell the land without the approval of the fund.

"It was the hope...that this land would be made available to the general public for hunting and other recreational uses," Richard Erdman, executive vice president of the Virginia-based Conservation Fund, wrote in [an] Aug. 8 letter.

Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson stated that the deed restrictions were probably unenforceable.

One of the bidders is Houston businessman John Poindexter, of J.B. Poindexter & Co. Inc. and owner of nearby Cibolo Creek Ranch Resort. Poindexter has been trying to buy land in and around the area for some time now. He previously made news when he initiated the sale of 45,000 acres in Big Bend State Park. After a public outcry, that deal fell through.

Poindexter's statements imply he is only interested in conservation of the Christmas Mountains land.

"The restrictions are so significant, that fundamentally, all you can do is look at the land."

Apparently, that's an argument we've heard before. Of the Big Bend sale, Poindexter had this to say.

The 46,000 acres that the state considered selling him wasn't being sought to expand his resort facilities, as some critics asserted, he added.

"The development potential — as was so frequently cited in the hearing — for this property is as close to zero as anything could reasonably be in the state," he said.

What he failed to mention was that an easement on the 46,000 acre sale allowed development of 4600 acres.

Regarding the Christmas Mountains land, the original donor, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, was disturbed enough about the pending sale of its land to issue this warning.

If the land sale goes through "the state of Texas (should) not look to the R.K. Mellon Foundation for any future help."

That sentiment was echoed by Carolyn Vogel of the Texas Land Trust Council.

"If the foundation intended for conservation to be the major outcome and it got developed instead, it could have an effect" on future donations to the state.

Hat tip South Texas Chisme and B & B.

Our Natural Heritage at Risk in North Texas

The fate of the Texas state park system is now firmly entrenched as an issue in the gubernatorial race this fall. Democratic candidate Chris Bell is making it a centerpiece in his campaign, along with education. The issue cuts across party and demographic lines, and judging by the editorial pages of local newspapers, the outrage is palpable. So what now?

First, don't assume that just because the issue is generating so much negative publicity for Governor Perry that the idea of selling public land is off the table. At the local, state and national level, the battle continues.

Here are some of the public lands most at risk in North Texas and what you can do.

Eagle Mountain Lake
As FWST columnist Jack Smith reports, there is good news and bad news on the effort to stop the sale of this land.

After a potent public outcry, it appears likely that a public park will be established on at least part of a 400-acre site bordering Eagle Mountain Lake in northwest Tarrant County.

But it would be a shame if the entire 400 acres were not turned into a park. That's what the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) intended when it bought the land in the early 1980s.

But the state has other ideas.

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, in a telephone talk Wednesday, said he feels the best outcome would be to turn part of the 400 acres into a local park and part into a "very low-density, high-dollar" residential development. The portion sold for development presumably would fetch more money than if it were sold for parkland.

Patterson said money from the sale could be used by TPWD to help buy acreage for a much larger state park of perhaps several thousand acres located within a 90-minute drive of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. TPWD officials have, for example, eyed a site in Palo Pinto County.

Patterson isn't saying how much land will be set aside. Write Perry and Patterson and let them know what you think of their plan. The advocacy group, Save Eagle Mountain Lake has all the info you'll need to fire off those letters.

Fort Worth Prairie Park
Another local treasure at risk of the developer's bulldozer is a lesser publicized piece of land known as the Fort Worth Prairie Park.

The State of Texas’ Permanent School Fund is trying to quietly sell off development rights to nearly 2,000 acres of Texas public land in southwest Fort Worth that has enormous ecological, multicultural, educational, and historical values, including for Native Americans and African-Americans, as well as being one of the best remaining examples of virgin Fort Worth Prairie. Citizen and advocacy groups are clamoring to protect this 1,983 acre jewel as the cornerstone of the new Fort Worth Prairie Park Initiative, which is being spear-headed by the Great Plains Restoration Council on behalf of protecting the endangered tallgrass/mixed grass Fort Worth Prairie for future generations and struggling native wildlife.....

The State of Texas, working with a private developer, wants to bulldoze the prairie at 10700 Old Granbury Rd to “maximize income.” Due to the topography, and the huge cost of bringing a sewer to the property, they’d have to cut it into thousands of 50 foot lots to make a profit. This pristine prairie is also the last unspoiled land before the watershed empties into Benbrook Lake, a major source of Fort Worth drinking water.

If you want to help preserve this amazing piece of history, sign the petition.

Caddo-LBJ Grasslands
The National Wildlife Federation tells us that as much as 800,000 acres of public land will be up for auction in President's Bush 2007 budget. The Texas tally is listed here. To stop this outrage, click here.

Among the possible treasures up for grabs are the lesser-known Caddo and LBJ Grasslands. You can view a map of the LBJ Grasslands, named for a president who knew the true worth of America's natural resources could never be measured by the sum on a developer's check.

It's hundreds of cattle ponds create habitat for an amazing diversity of flora and fauna. Among the varmints of special interest to outdoor enthusiasts are ducks, butterflies, reptiles and amphibians, including, yep, the Texas Toad. (Do you think this picture makes me look fat?)

If you know of other areas in North Texas at risk, leave a comment and a link, if you've got one.