Lone Star Travelers Blog

By late Monday 10 Texas State Parks had closed in Southeast, East and Northeast Texas due to threats from Hurricane Gustav.  Lake Livingston in Southeast Texas reopened Tuesday morning.  Martin Dies Jr and Village Creek State Parks are expected to reop;en Wednesday morning.  In Northeast Texas Daingerfield, Atlanta, Caddo Lake, Martin Creek Lake, Tyler, Lake Bob Sandlin and Mission Tejas State Parks are expected to reopen Thursday morning.  By Tuesday Texas State Parks had provided shelter to 500 hurricane evacuees.  Cooper Lake State Park hosted the most with 99 people occupying 22 sites at the South Sulphur Unit and 6 occupying 2 shelters at Doctor’s Creek.  Lake Tawakoni reported 31 people in 13 campsites and Purtis Creek 23 people in 5 campsites.  Additionally in central Texas Garner State Park reported 43 evacuees and Inks Lake State Park 45 evacuees.  Sea Rim State Park near Port Arthur Texas remains closed from damage due to Hurricane Rita. 

Due to Hurricane Gustav on September 01, 2008 Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has announced the closure of some southeastern Texas State Parks while other parks outside the area affected by the storm will accept evacuees.  The following Texas State Parks will be closed until further notice.  Village Creek State Park, Martin Dies State Park, Lake Livingston State Park and Sea Rim State Park which remains closed from Hurricane Rita.  Galveston Island State Park remains open but is not accepting evacuees and is on standby for possible evacuation.  Free tent camping will be offered to evacuees from storm damaged areas at other Texas State Parks.  Cabins and screen shelters will be available at discounted rates.  The reservation center for Texas State Parks will open Tuesday morning at 9A.M. 512-389-8900.  In the meantime call each park directly for more information. 

Show your support for Texas State Parks with a Texas Conservation License Plate.  The price of the license plate is $30 with $22 of that going to help conservation efforts in Texas.  Texan residents may fill out an on-line application, pay by Visa or Master Card and pick up their conservation plate at their local County Tax Office in 2 to 3 weeks.  Choose from one of five designs.  The Bluebonnet Plate features the Texas state flower and it’s purchase goes towards preserving the beauty of more than 90 Texas State Parks.  The Horned Lizard Plate features the state official reptile and it’s purchase helps fund the Texas wildlife action plan which in part conserves wildlife diversity.  The White Tailed Deer Plate supports big game public hunting opportunities in Texas.  The Bass Plate supports bass fishing in Texas.  The Ducks Unlimited Plate provides funding for wetlands habitat and waterfowl.  http://www.conservation-plate.org/index.phtml

Texas Parks & Wildlife airs a weekly program on Texas State Parks and Texas Outdoors.  The week of August 3rd-10th, 2008 the program will include a segment on Lake Brownwood State Park in Central Texas.  This is a fairly small park (537.5 acres) set on a large reservoir, the 7,300 surface acres of Lake Brownwood.  Activities include picnicking, camping, hiking, boating and fishing.  Possible catches include large mouth bass, small mouth bass, white bass, stripers, white crappie, yellow cat, flathead cat, perch and gar.  Lake Brownwood State Park is located near the geographical center of Texas and is 16 miles northwest of the city of Brownwood.  We plan to visit this park later this year and will post a photo gallery.  The Texas Parks & Wildlife TV Program is made possible by a grant from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/tv/tvwhere.phtml    for time, date and station info.

Effective July 23, 2008, due to Hurricane Dolly, the World Birding Center located in far south Texas and the  Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, Estero Llano Grande State Park and Reseca de la Palma State Park all part of the World Birding Center will be closed until further notice.  Sea Rim State Park located south of Port Arthur, Texas remains closed due to Hurricane Rita in 2005.  Hurricane Rita was the 4th most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico.  The Battleship Texas State Historic Site on the Gulf Coast at La Porte, Texas has closed it’s engine rooms for restoration.