Gentlemen, I am trying to spread the word about a recent
development which doesn't seem to be widely known among
Civil War afficionados.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is in process of
developing something called the "Land and Water Conservation
Plan". This plan is supposed to be used in guiding the
TPWD's activities for the next 10 years. One of these
proposed activities is "transferring sites or finding
other uses for low priority sites". Four historical sites
are on their "Low Priority" list. One of these is the
Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historical Site near
Mexia. By the TPWD's own reckoning it had over 20,000
visitors last year which makes it number 19 in visitation
among the state's 31 sites. The site hosts an annual
Heritage Day which draws ACW re-enactors, among others,
and it also provides instruction for school field trips
from local school districts. Aside from it's connection
with Confederate Veteran's annual reunions after the war
the site is the home of one of the cannon captured at Val
Verde by Sibley's troops during the New Mexico campaign.
So, although it is not a Civil War battlefield it certainly
is not deficient in historical significance.
The Confederate Reunion Grounds SHS is a small park (77
acres) with minimal facilities: some picnic tables, an
open air pavilion, and restrooms. The site is administered
from nearby Ft. Parker State Park. By any standard the
expense incurred in running this site is very small compared
to the number of visitors it draws. But there it is on the
low priority list. I can't help feeling that this site's
inclusion on the list comes from the use of the word
"Confederate" in its title.
I attended a hearing on this plan in Humble on the 6th of
August and I can assure you the TPWD's intent to divest
itself of this site is not a figment of my imagination.
At the moment TPWD is still soliciting inputs from the
public about their plan but they expect to finalize it
on the 17th of August.
Anyone who feels the need to comment on TPWD's 10 year plan
can send them comments through the Texas Parks and Wildlife
web site:
The link to the Land and Water Conservation plan can be
found about half way down the home page. A comment form
specific to the plan is at the bottom of this link's page.
You can download the whole draft plan in Adobe PDF format
if you like. The most recent draft of the plan I've seen
is dated June 2, 2002. Hopefully there will be enough
unfavorable comment on this segment of the plan to remove
the Confederate Reunion Grounds from the Low Priority List
before the plan is finalized.