Christmas Mountains

Maybe they'll be going to the National Park Service after all.

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has told the superintendent of Big Bend National Park he wants to help transfer the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service while also reasserting his concern about hunting and firearms.

The National Park Service should designate the state's 9,270 acres in far West Texas as a "national preserve" so hunting can be allowed, Patterson said in a Friday letter to Park Superintendent Bill Wellman.

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Patterson does not support the park service's suggestion that it acquire the property by using private donations to buy it from the state. Congress should come up with the money for the purchase and ongoing management, Patterson said in the letter.

Without such a commitment, "the Christmas Mountains will run the risk of being neglected due to a lack of funds needed for its care," Patterson wrote.

His plans to sell the land to the private sector fizzled after the park service expressed an interest in acquiring it.