SAN ANTONIO – A state representative announced he is reversing course and will not pursue his own proposed legislation that would have dismantled the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
State Rep. Pat Curry (R-Waco), who filed House Bill 4938 on March 13, made the decision official in a letter posted to his Facebook page on Monday morning.
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“House Bill 4938 was filed as a mechanism to shine a light on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and to bring the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commissioners to the table to discuss proposed regulations on the deer breeding industry in Texas,” state Rep. Curry said in the letter, in part.
HB 4938 called for the elimination of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Parks and Wildlife Commission. If it were enacted into law, duties and functions would have been transferred to the General Land Office, Department of Agriculture and Department of Public Safety, the bill states.
TPWD oversees Texas State Parks and Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, state hunting and fishing regulations, environmental conservation efforts and provides recreational opportunities.
Curry, who was the sole author of the bill, said he received major pushback after the bill was first filed.
“I have also received dozens of complaints from constituents, landowners and deer breeders across Texas who have grave concerns over the proposed regulations, several of which gave very compelling testimony in Austin this session,” Curry also said, in part, in the letter.
In a Tuesday afternoon statement to KSAT, a TPWD spokesperson said the agency is “proud” of its role serving Texans and “managing our state’s land and waters.”
“Texas Parks and Wildlife has a long history of intentional and positive collaboration with our partners and private landowners to provide for hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation,” a TPWD spokesperson told KSAT.
When KSAT reached out to TPWD last week, the department also said it was “proud of the important role” it serves.
TPWD stated that more than 9 million people visit its 89 state parks each year.
Curry sits on the Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency, a new 13-member panel that’s tasked with cutting the size of state government — similar to Elon Musk’s DOGE on the federal level.
>> Texas’ DOGE committee takes inspiration from Elon Musk’s federal operation
State government agencies are reviewed and assessed by the Sunset Advisory Commission, created by the Texas Legislature in 1977.
The Sunset Advisory Commission gives the Texas Legislature recommendations on ways to enhance state agencies and identifies those that should be eliminated.
In the statement to KSAT, TPWD said the department was last evaluated by the Sunset Advisory Commission in 2021.
What did HB 4938 propose?
The bill proposed that the General Land Office, Department of Agriculture and Department of Public Safety work together to create an agreement that outlines how they will take over the responsibilities and tasks previously handled by TPWD and the commission.
- The General Land Office would regulate parks, natural areas, wildlife management areas, fish hatcheries, historic sites or other public land, including bodies of water.
- The Department of Agriculture would regulate native plants, wildlife or the conservation or management of native plants or wildlife, including hunting and fishing.
- The Department of Public Safety would regulate law enforcement, game wardens and water safety.
History of TPWD
In 1895, the state Legislature established the Fish and Oyster Commission to regulate fishing, and in 1907, the Game Department was added to the commission.
Recreation came into play in 1923 when Texas Gov. Pat Neff persuaded the state Legislature to create the State Parks Board.
The State Parks Board’s task was to search for places where people could camp.
Neff later said that creating the board was “his most important achievement as governor,” according to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
“But Neff’s vision couldn’t have been more different than the Rooseveltian impulse that spurred the creation of the national parks,” the commission’s website states. “Neff was less interested in purple mountains majesty than in building campgrounds for Texans who, like himself, loved to travel by automobile.”
In the 1930s, enrollees with the Civilian Conservation Corps expanded the system by transforming undeveloped land into actual parks for people to use.
Palo Duro Canyon and Garner are among the state parks built by the CCC in that decade.
In 1963, the State Parks Board merged with the Game and Fish Commission to become the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Neff’s persuasion resulted in 89 state parks that span more than 630,000 acres. The CCC went on to establish 29 of those sites, including Inks Lake, Blanco, Lockhart and Lake Corpus Christi state parks.
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