Perry Gives In On Eagle Mountain Lake Park Land

Both The North Texas Liberal and Fort Worth Star-Telegram are reporting that Gov. Perry has given in, and the Eagle Mountain Lake land designated for a state park will become a park at last. But it will be a local park rather than a state park.

Perry has agreed to sell the 400 acres to a group that includes Tarrant County, Trust for Land, Tarrant County Water District, TXU Electric, and possibly several others. Perry says the money that the state gets from selling the land will go to the Parks & Wildlife Department so they can buy other land in north Texas for a state park. The state originally wanted $10 million for the land, but it is believed that a lower price is being negotiated.

I don't believe for a minute that the Parks & Wildlife Department will use the money to buy new park land. Thanks to Perry, they're so broke that they are having to close state parks. But at least Tarrant County will receive their long-awaited park, even though they'll have to do it themselves.

Tarrant County can thank their lucky stars that this is an election year. Any other year, and Perry would have sold the land to his developer friends. But this year, he needs to avoid controversy. Sitting at 30-33% in the polls, he is far from a shoo-in in the upcoming election. At the present time, he cannot afford to anger voters by selling off their park lands.