Texas Parks and Wildlife acquires over 600 new acres
By Lina Fisher, 4:35PM, Tue. Sep. 24, 2024
Enchanted Rock (Photo by Daniel Ziegler / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
Everyone loves Enchanted Rock, but have you ever wished there was more of it? Well, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will be making that a reality soon, thanks to an acquisition of 630 acres adjacent to the park, announced today.
State officials were made aware of the opportunity when park staff noticed a for-sale sign – the property was originally slated for a subdivision with hundreds of new houses, but TPWD bought it from Comanche Rock Acquisitions, LLC, using the Sporting Goods Sales Tax funding made available for land acquisitions by the passage of Proposition 5 in 2019, in conjunction with federal Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars. The acquisition will add the equivalent of about a third of the existing park’s size, increasing it from 1,645 to almost 2,300 acres. The park could use a little expansion, with more than 250,000 visitors a year.
“We are so excited that we were able to acquire this property and that we will be able to give the hundreds of thousands of Enchanted Rock patrons new opportunities to recreate in this part of the state,” said Rodney Franklin, director of Texas State Parks, in a press release Tuesday.
Those new opportunities could expand the park further away from the rock itself, while still protecting natural resources like Sandy Creek and the dark skies in the park from development. “Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is one of the state’s most visited sites and is in an area of Texas that is seeing rapid development,” said Doug Cochran, superintendent of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. “Acquiring this property will allow for a more expansive experience when visiting while adding to the protection of resources and recreational opportunities in the area.”
What exact opportunities the expansion will include will be determined with input from the public. TPWD says the plan “may take many months to complete, but the public will be kept informed of any upcoming milestones, including a potential opening date.”
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