Fire sale at Parks & Wildlife? Although it's reassuring that apparently Bright Leaf State Natural Area will remain part of the state park system, why would TPWD consider removing it in the first place? According to TPWD's own site, Bright Leaf is a 217-acre "urban natural area" and a nesting site for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler (which, by the by, should really be our state bird, not the common-as-dirt mockingbird).

And more alarming still, the department has been negotiating to sell off one-sixth of Big Bend Ranch State Park to an adjacent developer. TPWD does offer some justification, at least:

Parks and Wildlife Executive Director Bob Cook said Monday that selling the odd-shaped land that juts out from the rest of the park could help the department square up the park's boundaries and simplify management of the vast desert site in West Texas.

The sale would provide money that could be used to buy some of the more than 25,000 acres of private holdings within Big Bend Ranch State Park, Cook said.

"It is a management nightmare having (private landowners) on your land," Cook said. "Our neighbor to the north inquired about it, and the staff came to me. We're trying to buy land from willing owners to square up the park, and that's the bottom line of the whole thing to me."

Sounds persuasive, but I don't think giving away 45,000 acres of park to get 25,000 acres of inholdings is necessarily a very good deal. And I have to agree with Ken Kramer of the Sierra Club about the secrecy of the deal: "To have something like this happen without public discussion is bad public policy." But don't worry: "Cook said the parks department wasn't trying to hide the sale, only to protect the ongoing negotiations." Got it?  ¶ 8:56 PM