AUSTIN, Texas -

The state of Texas will keep the Christmas Mountains, at least for the time being, while Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson looks for options that allow hunting on the 9,270-acre parcel in West Texas.

Chances of the rugged West Texas tract ending up as part of Big Bend National Park improved slightly Tuesday when the School Land Board voted unanimously to reject two private bids for it.

But Patterson said that hunting and the right to carry firearms on the land remain priorities for him and that it could take a year or longer to decide what to do with the property, which borders the national park.

He wants to open the Christmas Mountains for dove and blue quail hunting, starting in the fall, if possible.

In the short term, Patterson said he would make public access to the land easier and ask Congress to find money for any federal agency to buy the land so long as hunting is allowed.

"Federal ownership and hunting in the Christmas Mountains are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to do both," he said. "We will explore all options at the federal level."

Some environmental leaders cheered the board's rejection of private party bids but called Patterson stubborn for insisting on hunting there.

Other agencies interested?
The National Park Service last week expressed interest in acquiring the property, but suggested a hunting access requirement would be problematic in addition to requiring special congressional action.

Federal agencies that don't prohibit hunting, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the U.S. Forest Service, might be candidates for the property, Patterson said.

"He continues to be stubborn and putting up new barriers," said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas.

The tract shares a one-mile border with Big Bend National Park, but its other 18 perimeter miles hug private property without public access.

Environmentalists and others have criticized the plan to sell the property, which the Conservation Fund donated to the state of Texas 17 years ago. The board rejected bids of $750,000 from Dallas lawyer Michael Craddock and his wife, Ramona, and $704,489 from Southwestern Holdings CEO John Poindexter.

Patterson has been pushing for the sale of the land, which is difficult to manage because of an easement on the property that prohibits utility and road construction. The Conservation Fund owns the easement, which limits development to a single caretaker's cabin.

School Land Board member David Herrmann of San Antonio said he was not comfortable with the private-sector bids after the National Park Service signaled interest in buying the land.

'Fair deal' sought
Board member Todd Barth of Houston did not hear Patterson's comments and declined to respond to Patterson's insistence that hunting be allowed on the property.

"I am interested in working to find a way to make a fair deal with the National Park Service," Barth said.

Although the rugged land was donated to Texas, the state may not be able to give it to the National Park Service, School Land Board lawyer Bill Warnick said. The land now is part of the Public School Land inventory, and the board, he said, "should be very careful about its fiduciary responsibility to the schoolchildren of Texas."

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