by John Waters
Publisher

John Poindexter, Houston businessman and owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch in Presidio County, who in 2005 made an unsuccessful bid to acquire 46,000 acres of Big Bend Ranch State Park, has informally made known a proposed land swap that would trade land of bankrupt Lajitas Resort for part of Big Bend Ranch State Park.

During a regularly scheduled meeting of the Big Bend Ranch Advisory Committee in Lajitas on August 7, Poindexter outlined his proposal whereby he would buy land from Lajitas Resort in Brewster County that may be of interest to Texas Parks and Wildlife. That land would be appraised, then offered as a swap to TPWD in exchange for land of equal value for part of BBRSP land near Cienega Creek that adjoins Poindexter’s Cibolo Creek Ranch in Presidio County.

Present at the meeting were members of the Advisory Committee, numerous state park officials, and  Presidio County Attorney Rod Ponton. No national park officials or Brewster County officials were present, although some of the proposed swapped lands border the national park, and all of the Lajitas land is in Brewster County.

After Poindexter briefed the committee on his new proposal, he described the 2005 proposal, reviewed the 2005 conservation easements, the conservation and restoration record of Cibolo Creek Ranch, and road access to BBRSP through Cibolo. He also invited the group to visit Cibolo Creek Ranch (see photos) and the northern extension of Big Bend Ranch State Park, the following day.

While the proposal has been made known to TPWD through the Advisory Committee, it does not constitute a formal proposal to the agency. Ted Hollingsworth, Land Conservation Director at TPWD said, “We have received nothing at all from John Poindexter.”

Poindexter has told The Gazette he is waiting to make a formal written proposal to TPWD after the agency appoints a new executive director and progress is made on public roads through Cibolo Creek Ranch. Robert L. Cook, Executive Director of TPWD, will retire August 31.

If Poindexter does purchase Lajitas land, he would first need to have it appraised and make a formal proposal to trade the Lajitas land for Cienega Creek land. TPWD Officials would then determine the merits of the proposal, and if there was no loss of either recreational or real value to the public, go to the TPW Commission and request permission to proceed and solicit public hearings and schedule a local public hearing. If granted, the public input and meeting process would commence, and at the next regularly scheduled TPW meeting the commission would again seek public comment and vote on any proposal.

Poindexter emphasized this proposal is far smaller than his 2005 proposal, with his written proposal stating, “It is anticipated that the 2007 exchange would amount to much less than one-half of the exchange proposed in 2005.”

Although Poindexter had approached Lajitas Resort to acquire some or all of Lajitas’ 25,000 acres of land, this proposal does not include the resort. “No, it never entered my mind, not for an instant,” said Poindexter about the possibility of ever purchasing the resort. “I have all the hospitality business I want.”

Lajitas President Daniel Hostettler made this statement about the potential deal: “ Please let me say Lajitas is in full support of this proposal. It allows us to part with land adjoining the park which we would prefer to never see developed by either ourselves or future owners of Lajitas should the property change hands due to our chapter 11 reorganization.”

During the presentation to the Advisory Committee Poindexter, stressed the uncertainty of bankruptcy proceedings and in the written proposal stated, “The current situation is transitory so action by TPWD is needed on a businesslike time schedule if the intention is to proceed.”

After touring Lajitas resort, Poindexter decided he would greatly reduce the amount of Lajitas land he might acquire. Initially Poindexter considered buying a sizeable portion of the 25,000 undeveloped acres owned by Lajitas, both for the proposed swap with TPWD and his own long-term holdings. At the conclusion of a daylong inspection of Lajitas, Poindexter concluded “I was hoping to find geographical or economic features that would be of interest to me and that would be of more substance in a Bankruptcy Court. What I will try to do is see what acreage is of interest to the park and pursue that.”

In a later email and letter to The Gazette Poindexter confirmed his interest in Lajitas land is limited to several sections (640 acres each) he might swap with the state park.

News of the proposal prompted a resolution from Brewster County Commissioners Court, in which officials expressed anger at not being apprised of the situation. Judge Val Beard said “The last time I checked, Lajitas is in Brewster County, not Presidio County.”

Tom Williams, a director on the boards of both the Terlingua CSD and Brewster County Tourism Council, said, “I’ll preface this thing with, ‘I think this whole thing is just despicable.’”

The court approved a resolution in opposition of any more land in Brewster County becoming either state or federally owned, thereby removing it from the tax rolls.

Shortly before press time, John Poindexter said he had further encouragement from Lajitas management in his acquiring several sections of Lajitas land.

“A straight forward, straight trade” is what John Poindexter told the Big Bend Ranch Advisory Committee August 7 in Lajitas where he unveiled his proposal to buy Lajitas Resort land and trade it for Big Bend Ranch State Park land. (John Waters, photo)

John Poindexter led a tour of Cibolo Creek Ranch for members of BBRSP Advisory Board and their guests. Poindexter (right) pointed out over 10,000 acres of Cibolo Creek Ranch which were treated with herbicide to reduce or eliminate exotic brush. In 2007 Poindexter plans to treat an additional 2,000 acres of the 30,000 acre ranch. The goal, according to Poindexter, is to return the land to “pre-pioneer grassland habitat.” (John Waters, photo)