Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, announced Monday, Nov. 5, that he will propose giving the National Park Service 90 days to meet or exceed the winning bid from Tuesday’s planned sale of the Christmas Mountains.

“Tomorrow, the School Land Board will award the Christmas Mountains to a conservation-minded buyer,” Patterson said. “However, I have successfully asked both bidders to allow the National Park Service an opportunity to match their bids. If they fail to do so, then the tract will go to the winning bidder.”

“To paraphrase John Lennon, I say we ‘Give Parks a Chance,’” Patterson quipped. “If the National Park Service can conserve this land better and provide better public access than a private conservation buyer, now is its chance to prove it.”

Shortly after Monday’s GLO press conference, John Poindexter (from Houston, and owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch), one of the two bidders for the Christmas Mountains Ranch, told The Gazette he fully supported the GLO's request he keep his bid open for 90 days. "I think the public has every right to be considered first," said Poindexter.

Patterson displayed letters to the National Park Service Superintendent, the Executive Director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and other interested parties to come to the General Land Office to discuss the bid and future steps.

“I want to get the facts on the table,” Patterson said. “If we are all committed to conservation of the Christmas Mountains then we should be able to sit and discuss how best to achieve this goal.”

The two private bids for the Christmas Mountains meet or exceed the original conservation goals set forth by the Conservation Fund’s gift deed. They include stringent management plans to guarantee public access, and offer educational opportunities and construction of a hiking trail to the nearby Big Bend National Park.

Both bids allow hunting. Patterson maintains the National Park Service can seek congressional authority to allow guns in the 9,269-acre tract.

“Hunting is still a part of this deal,” Patterson said. “Hunting is allowed in the original gift deed, and will be a part of any land management plan for Christmas Mountains.”

Patterson also stated his belief that the Conservation Fund would eventually approve the transaction with the conservation buyer.

“The state is keeping its promise,” Patterson said. “I encourage the Conservation Fund to work with us in a productive way. We are staying true to the conservation spirit of its original gift. Conservation is conservation, no matter whose name is on the title,” Patterson said. “Whether by a private owner or the Park Service, the Christmas Mountains will be preserved for future generations of Texans.”