Village Creek State Park Doubles In Size

November 5, 2009

Contact:

Vanessa Vaughan, The Conservation Fund, (703) 908-5809, vvaughan@conservationfund.org

Rob McCorkle, Texas Parks and Wildlife, (830) 866-3533 or robert.mccorkle@tpwd.state.tx.us

Ted Hollingsworth, Texas Parks and Wildlife, (512) 389-4520 or ted.hollingsworth@tpwd.state.tx.us

Austin, TX — Village Creek State Park in southeast Texas will more than double in size as a result of action taken Thursday by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission directing the acquisition of roughly 1,500 acres of undeveloped timber land owned by The Conservation Fund.

At its regular meeting in Austin, the commission approved the bargain sale purchase of the Hardin County tract that abuts the southern boundary of the 1,090-acre state park near Lumberton. The long sought-after acreage will protect critical habitat from urban encroachment and enhance Village Creek State Park’s connection to the Big Thicket National Preserve’s Village Creek and Neches River Corridor units.

“This is an exciting acquisition that will more than double the size of the park and provide for a better visitor experience,” said Texas State Parks Director Walt Dabney. “It’s a perfect example of how a public-private partnership can work to benefit the environment and all Texans.”

Village Creek State Park, which opened in 1994, is blessed with a diverse habitat that includes longleaf pine uplands, wetlands and cypress swamps, as well as two miles of valuable creek frontage. Sixty-nine-mile long Village Creek is recognized as one of the last free-flowing streams in East Texas and is home to rare fish and mussels. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has been working for some time with the Fund to acquire the additional acreage to protect the park from encroaching development on its fringes resulting from the City of Lumberton’s accelerating growth.

The acquisition brings several major benefits. It will expand outdoor recreational opportunities for park visitors, protect important habitat for plants and animals, and for the first time, provide state park personnel with vehicle access to the eastern third of the existing state park. TPWD plans to enter into a Letter of Intent with the National Park Service that in the future would allow public access to several miles of Village Creek through Big Thicket Preserve property adjacent to the 1,500-acre tract. Current logging roads would be used for park trails.

(Click map for larger view)

The Conservation Fund, through a creative combination of public and private grant funding, was able to offer the additional acreage to TPWD at about one-quarter of its market value. Andy Jones, Texas director of The Conservation Fund, praised the cooperative effort.

“I started my career at Texas Parks and Wildlife and working with the department again is like a homecoming for me,” Jones said. “It is an honor to work with their dedicated and very professional staff to protect this key property for future generations.”

Village Creek State Park, located about 10 miles north of Beaumont, is back in full operation after suffering considerable damage from Hurricanes Rita and Ike. Unique in the state park system, Village Creek preserves a small slice of the 96,000-acre Big Thicket, known as the “biological crossroads of North America, due to its incredible ecological diversity. The park draws tens of thousands of visitors annually to camp, hike, fish, mountain bike, canoe and view wildlife that includes more than 200 species of birds.

About The Conservation Fund