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Has Patterson mellowed?
From wire reports
In what may be a softening of his position on the issue, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has signaled his willingness to transfer the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service, although he requested the tract's designation as a national preserve so the public can hunt and carry firearms on the property, according to correspondence obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Addressed to Big Bend National Park Superintendent William Wellman, the Friday letter also reiterates many of his previous concerns about a land transfer. Patterson, a Republican, repeats his controversial position that the federal government should use tax money to acquire the 9,269-acre property, although a conservation group has offered to finance the transfer with private funds.
But in the last paragraph of the three-page letter, Patterson writes that "as a next step, I have instructed my staff to work with your agency, the Bush administration, and [San Antonio Democratic] Congressman Ciro Rodriguez's office to work through these issues and secure the necessary funding for the transfer of the Christmas Mountains to the National Park Service."
The tract has been at the center of a long controversy after Patterson last year signaled his intention to sell it to private interests despite an agreement with the original donors that it remain in state hands or go only to the National Park Service.
The National Park Service in late January submitted a proposal to acquire the property, which is owned by the Texas Permanent School Fund.
The School Land Board, a three-member panel over which Patterson presides, still has not considered that proposal, although it has rejected two private bids.
Patterson, a gun rights advocate, has opposed the National Park Service transfer if the agency insists on enforcing its firearms restrictions on the property.
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