“If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.”  
            – President Reagan in a speech to the British House of Commons, June 8, 1982

As the editor of President Reagan’s diaries, Douglas Brinkley should recognize that quote. As a misinformed historian, he embodies it. In his recent opinion piece, Brinkley has clearly deluded himself in the face of the facts about the Christmas Mountains.

Fact No. 1: The Christmas Mountains tract was never meant to be and never will be a public park. It is surrounded by privately owned land and the only access is via privately owned roads. Both the National Park Service and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department declined to accept title to the Christmas Mountains.

Moreover, the Conservation Fund never intended the mountains to be a park. The Fund’s deed restrictions clearly intend this remote property to be held as a preservation area that would never be fragmented or developed. This remains the goal of the School Land Board and will be legally enforceable on any successful bidder. This is not a “parks” issue.

Fact No. 2: Transferring Christmas Mountains from government to private hands will best achieve the goals of both the Conservation Fund and the School Land Board and ensure the conservation of this land for future generations.

Brinkley should re-read his Reagan Diaries. More than any other American, Reagan understood that government is not the solution to the problem – in many cases, it is the problem. The Christmas Mountains are no exception.

The Land Office has neither the authority nor the funding to restore the land to its natural state.

Consider the mule deer. Despite Brinkley’s mellifluous prose, there are no “herds of – more – deer grazing the high chaparral” on the Christmas Mountains. State law prohibits the School Land Board from spending money unless it will result in a return to the Permanent School Fund. Therefore we are largely prohibited from doing large-scale land and wildlife management. When we attempted small improvements, like restoring water wells, conducting brush management and improving access roads, we were blocked by the Conservation Fund.

Unless something is done to improve water resources, manage the invasive plant species and stop poachers, the Christmas Mountain mule deer population will not recover. A private interest will have the financial ability to act.

Private stewardship can be as good or better than public stewardship. If this is not true, then Texas is in trouble since 95 percent of Texas is privately owned.

Of course, Brinkley cannot be bothered with facts. Before his editorial rant, he refused documentation from the Land Office about this issue, and refused to speak with me personally.

As I would have informed Brinkley had he agreed to speak with me, the deed restrictions conveyed to the Land Office by the Conservation Fund will be conveyed to a private owner and will be legally enforceable. This means that they are bound by the original restrictions set forth by the fund, yet will have greater financial means to manage the land.

Also, any bid the board selects under my chairmanship will include an enforceable management plan that will allow for appropriate public access like hunting, backpacking and other low-impact uses – as long as that can be done without negatively affecting the primary objective of preserving the property in its natural state.

Perhaps Brinkley could learn another lesson from history – that unreasonable, misinformed people rarely accomplish positive change. Apart from doing the bidding of the Mellon Foundation, Brinkley’s knee-jerk, hysterical tirade added nothing of value to the debate and served only to remove himself as a credible participant in that discussion.

Consider just a few of the lies Brinkley offered up:

Brinkley rants about Land Office attempts to sell off state parkland at Eagle Mountain Lake in Tarrant County, a total fabrication. Eagle Mountain Lake was never owned by the Land Office and was never a park! As a matter of fact, the money Texas Parks and Wildlife Department received from that deal will be used to buy an even larger tract for an actual park.

The confused professor also writes that somewhere I “blamed” former Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro for the Christmas Mountains issue. I’ve actually called Mauro myself to compliment him for acquiring and protecting this land from being divided and developed. Looks like Brinkley also failed to talk to Mauro.

Brinkley’s column is pure tabloid trash – using terms like “hellbent,” “cronyism,” “cash grab,” “hubristic gall,” “garage-sale stunt,” and “cheapjack ploy.” He calls me an “untrustworthy double-dealer” and suggests I be “hung up on the wrong side of a noose.”

And this guy calls himself a professional?

Contrast this with the calm, reasoned public hearing held [in Austin] by the School Land Board – a meeting Brinkley urged his readers to attend yet neglected to attend himself.

The board heard from about 17 concerned Texans, most of whom have legitimate issues, which we discussed at length. I learned something, and I hope they learned something. That is the purpose of a public hearing.

Yet, in his absence, Brinkley did have an impact. One attendee was so motivated by his column that he drove three hours from Houston to Austin to express his opinion in person. He supported the sale of the Christmas Mountains.

At the meeting, opponents of the sale handed out stickers with the words “Save The Christmas Mountains.

That is my objective. I want to do what is right for these 9,000 acres so that 100 years in the future this property will be in better condition than it is now, and the habitat and the wildlife will be restored.

Given the information before me, I have determined that selling this property to a conservation-minded private entity accomplishes this goal. There may be another answer – I’m open to legitimate alternative solutions.

As for Brinkley, his useless column only makes me more determined to act. He is proof of the saying “there are those who do and those who become college professors.”

We will save the Christmas Mountains. Whether it is through private or public means, this piece of Texas will be restored for future generations.

Jerry Patterson is the Texas Land Commissioner. He is also  a retired Marine Lt. Colonel and Vietnam Veteran.