From the Amarillo Globe-News...
Amarillo.com | Local News: Palo Duro view gets better 09/04/08
Web-posted Thursday, September 4, 2008
Palo Duro view gets better
By Kevin Welch
kevin.welch@amarillo.com
The state has taken a $5.22 million step to make sure nothing gets in the way of seeing Palo Duro Canyon. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Friday closed a deal to acquire the 2,912-acre Fortress Cliffs Ranch which includes about six miles of the canyon's northeast rim.
"It's going to preserve the entire viewshed. ... The edge of the cliffs you see when you look up," said Mark Bivins, an Amarillo member of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. "It will prevent building there and maintain the pristine habitat."
The ranch's land increases the park's size, formerly 26,275 acres, by more than 10 percent, but officials are unsure exactly what they will do with some of the acres.
"We're going to complete an analysis of how much of this we want to formally integrate into the park itself," said Carter Smith, executive director of Parks and Wildlife.
"Then probably we'll look at reselling a portion of the ranch, subject to a conservation easement or suitable deed restrictions."
The easement or deed restrictions would limit the uses of the land the state resells.
"We can't entirely afford to keep all of it," Smith said. "We really stretched things to make this work."
It will take months to study the property and plan the best uses for it and will include input from the public and other interested parties. Eventually the park visitors will have access for recreational purposes such as hiking.
The deal came together smoothly.
The only bump on the way was a last-minute finance move.
"The Trust for Public Lands purchased the property from (Kim and Brenda Gaynor) at a value determined by an independent third party," Smith said. "Then we purchased it from the trust. For less than two weeks the Trust for Public Lands had to provide a bridge loan so we could get the financing organized."
The trust is a national non-profit group that helps "structure, negotiate and complete land transactions that create parks, playgrounds and protected natural areas," according to its Web site.
The Texas Legislature appropriated $1.5 million of the financing specifically to enlarge the park.
Federal funding amounted to $1.86 million and about $2 million came through an anonymous donation to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, according to information from Tom Harvey, the department's director of news and information.
Fortress Cliffs joins two other recent additions to the park. The state bought the 2,036-acre Canoncita Ranch from the Amarillo Area Foundation for $1.2 million in 2001.
More recently, the department paid $3.3 million for 7,800 acres of the Harrell Ranch with state and federal funds, along with $300,000 from the Amarillo Area Foundation.
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