Passport to Texas

Sandcastle on beach at Galveston Island State Park.

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This is Passport to Texas

In 2015 the Texas Legislature approved $90 million dollars for critical park repairs and other capital projects.

11— The legislature passed HB 158 that provided sustained funding, fully dedicating the Sporting Goods sales taxes to the state park system and local park grants.

Kevin Good is special assistant to the director of state parks. In the short-term, he says most of the new funding will pay for repairs and improvements that aren’t “sexy”.

11— A good deal of the increased funding will be used to address infrastructure needs. The water and wastewater systems are things that you don’t see as a visitor, but you will know if they are not functioning.

Yet, not all updates and projects deal with park plumbing.

29—Currently we’re doing planning on redevelopment of Galveston Island State Park, which obviously was impacted heavily by Hurricane Ike several years ago. On the other side of the state we are currently planning to build a visitor center at Franklin Mountains. Huntsville, north of Houston, we’re doing some repairs to the facilities that were built by the CCC [Civilian Conservation Corps] in the 1930s there. So, we’ll be working on the dam, the boathouse and lodge.

Most parks will benefit from the new funding over time. Log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website for additional information.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.