Texas Parks & Wildlife

Here I thought a bill making it illegal to manipulate the weather so hurricanes and tornadoes would never hit Texas again was going to be the strangest bill of the Texas legislative session. Then walked in State Rep. Pat Curry (R-Waco) who seemingly said hold my beer.

Curry, who represents the Waco area and is a deer breeder (hold that thought for a minute), has introduced legislation to do away with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Unfortunately, this is not a joke. A Texas politician wants to do away with a state agency that is the envy of other states nationwide and highly respected by hunters, fishermen and others who appreciate the outdoors in the Lone Star State.

Curry’s bill, HB 4938, would eliminate TPWD and the Parks and Wildlife Commission, transferring its functions to the Texas General Land Office, Department of Agriculture, and Department of Public Safety.

The legislator has been quick to point out his bill is not anti-game warden, probably understanding the wrath that would fall on his head if he did.

“Rather, the reforms I’ve offered are an attempt to improve upon a critical agency that’s lost its way when it comes to fulfilling its role of protecting landowners, farmers, ranchers, parks, waterways, the hunting community, and business — which includes the deer breeding industry which accounts for hundreds of millions of dollars to the Texas economy,” Curry was quoted as saying. Ignore everything in that statement except the last part because that is what this is all about.

The bill is also not about the currently popular waste of taxpayer money because TPWD is basically underwritten by user fees.

Curry is not happy that TPWD has had to eliminate entire herds within pens because of the Chronic Wasting Disease, a central nervous system disorder that is ultimately fatal and can be transmitted from one deer to another. The department’s concern is that somehow, some day CWD could result in a massive die-off impacting the state’s 4.7 million white-tailed deer population.

Curry said deer breeding is a hundred-million dollar industry in Texas. In reality that is a pimple on an elephant’s butt compared to what the work of TPWD is generating.

While I have always said a landowner should have a right to do pretty much what they want on their property to generate income, it comes with a responsibility especially when it could negatively impact the state’s natural resources. Not unlike in the past with bluetongue outbreaks in cattle and scrapie in sheep.

Here are some pertinent facts when it comes to CWD. About 80 percent of CWD cases in Texas have been detected on deer farms or from deer that have come from them. It can take up to two years before infected deer show symptoms, meaning infected deer can be moved and released without detection.

In TPWD’s last testing period alone, six white-tailed deer, 17 mule deer and one elk out of 15,000 free-ranging animals tested were positive. In comparison, 154 of the 24,000 breeder deer tested positive.

Sticking with numbers; Texas’ million-plus deer hunters annually kill between 700,000 to 800,000 white-tailed deer. And while the deer breeder numbers are important, they pale in comparison to what deer hunting means to Texas.

Texas deer hunters spend $1.9 billion annually, according to a recent Texas A&M Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management study. According to the same study, landowners spend $4.3 billion, and those who lease receive on average $20,700 in fees. Also, 95 percent said they do not supplement their herd with pen-reared deer.

Overall, deer hunting alone has a $9.6 billion annual economic impact in Texas. Someone must be doing something right, and that would be TPWD.

But that is just the numbers on deer hunting. Dove hunting in the state attracts more than 300,000 hunters and has an economic impact of upwards of $300 million. There are also big financial numbers for waterfowl, quail, turkey, alligators and a number of other game species.

Importantly, according to Texas A&M, about 65 percent of the money is spent in rural locations.

Texas also benefits from the department’s non-game program, which help attract non-hunters, like birdwatchers, and their dollars.

Management of these programs is paid for from hunting license dollars, federal Wildlife Restoration funds generated by hunter-requested federal excise tax on gear, and other sources such as special license plates.

But TPWD is not just about wildlife.

Texas also has 2 million licensed fishermen who spend an estimated $9.2 billion annually on fishing equipment and trips, supporting over 78,000 jobs. That creates an economic impact of about $14 billion annually.

Both the Inland and Coastal Fisheries divisions have annual budgets in the $24 million range. While the department takes in about $41 million in total fishing license sales, not counting revenue from combination license sales, the Inland Fisheries budget also comes from $11.2 million coming from Sport Fish Restoration, the fishing equivalent of the Wildlife Restoration, and $8 million from fishing licenses. The remainder comes from things like sand and gravel mining royalties, the Freshwater Fish Stamp, unspent refunds on the state motorboat fuel tax, conservation license plates and other sources, all of which are dedicated funds.

Hunting and fishing license sales also provide funding for the Game Warden division.

Another component, the Texas State Park system now consists of 88 state parks, natural areas, historic sites, visitor centers, lodges and tramways covering more than 640,000 acres. The sites draw more than 9 million visitors annually.

According to an eight-year-old study, the park system has an economic impact in the state of more than $880 million.

The only thing that has historically held state parks back has been the Texas Legislature. Now, to entrance fees, the Sporting Good Sales Tax, which voters approved again in 2019 to ensure would completely go to parks instead of being syphoned off by the legislature for non-park uses, and the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund created in 2023, parks are now steadily funded and growing.

And speaking of voters, in 1983 Texas voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of the Texas Wildlife Conservation Act which took wildlife and fisheries decision making away from the Texas Legislature and gave it to the TPWD Commission. Since that day hunting and fishing has flourished in the state.

Do I agree with the commission or biologists on every issue? No. But there is no question that Texas does hunting and fishing better than anyone.

I suggest if Curry is determined to push the issue, he takes it to the voters once again, but let’s up the stakes by asking them if they had to get rid of one, would it be TPWD or deer breeders. My money is on TPWD still standing.

Or maybe deer breeders should raise the millions needed to see if there is some other way to stop CWD.

Let’s be honest, the freaks of nature that come out of pens are not necessary, and in fact devalue the state’s native deer while ultimately raising the cost of hunting.

The bill should not have a snowball’s chance in Refugio during the summer of surviving, but stranger things have happened. So, contact your state representative and senator and tell them if it does make it to a vote, vote with TPWD. You can find a link to any state politician at https://capitol.texas.gov/Resources/contactText.aspx.