| NATIONAL
DESK
|
 |
Big Government
Makes a Texas State Park a Big Attraction
By ERIC O’KEEFE
Published: February 4, 1996
|
The recent
21-day partial Government shutdown was good news for a little-known
park near the Mexican border.
While many national parks lost services and revenues, Big Bend Ranch
State Park, just north of the Rio Grande River, remained open and enjoyed
a surge in visitors.
One of the newest components in the Texas state park system, the 287,000-acre
preserve is also the Lone Star State's largest state park. Acquired
by the State of Texas in 1988, it has been overshadowed since then by
its bigger and better known neighbor, Big Bend National Park. The 800,000-acre
national park celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1994 and averages roughly
300,000 visitors a year. Though that number is only one-tenth the visits
of Grand Canyon National Park, it makes the park more than 10 times
as busy as nearby Big Bend Ranch State Park.
But like many national parks, access to and through Big Bend National
Park was prohibited while services were suspended for five days in November
and 21 days while the Government was closed in December and January.
The result? An increase for nearby Big Bend Ranch State Park 100 miles
west of its Federal counterpart.
Until Texas bought it in 1988, almost all of the state park's 400-plus
square miles were operated as a ranch, principally cattle and sheep.
The historic ranch headquarters, Sauceda, still stands, 38 miles via
gravel ranch roads from the nearest paved thoroughfare. Scattered throughout
the Chihuahuan Desert preserve are the remains of numerous American
Indian camp sites, flora and fauna found nowhere else in the United
States, and one of the world's geological oddities, the Solitario.
Perceived as the crown jewel of the state's park system, the immense
resources of the park initially limited access. After paying more than
$8 million, the top priorities of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
were to develop a management plan and to complete an inventory of the
park's resources, not to accommodate tourists. For its first six years,
camping and hiking were allowed only at the park's perimeter. Entry
to the interior was always guided and was restricted to bus tours and
seminars featuring topics like the abundant American Indian rock art.
Throughout this period, the popularity of Big Bend National Park, the
area's leading destination and one of the state's tourism highlights,
only increased. Impatient critics contended that the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department with maintaining the Big Bend Ranch State Park as
a private reserve for state officials, and anxious businesses owners
urged state employees at the park and in Austin to move more quickly.
In late 1994, more activities, trails, and facilities became available
to the public.
The completed management plan opened the heart of the Big Bend Ranch
State Park, creating a more accessible park. This trend continued in
1995. The park superintendent, Luis Armendariz, said of the impact,
"We were very pleased with the public reaction to the opportunity
for increased access to the interior of the State Park."
Visitor numbers for 1995 were a comfortable 20,000 as December passed..
Then the second, longer budget crisis hit on Dec. 16, and visitation
skyrocketed.
"During the last week of December, over three thousand people visited
the park," Mr. Armendariz said. Though that figure is roughly 50
percent of an average week in Big Bend National Park, it amounted to
more than 13 percent of Big Bend Ranch State Park's 1995 visitor total
of 24,752.
|
