Cornell Notes

Main idea Details/summary

Executive Summary
Executive Summary: - Texas contains 14 national parks and 88 state parks
General Information (covering 630,000 plus acres)
about the Texas national - The TPWD Fiscal Year 2021 Budget is 444.6 Million Dollars
and state parks, the - Proposition 5 passed in 2019, ensured that 100% of
budget for those parks, sporting goods sales tax helps fund TPWD and the Texas
how they are funded Historical Commission
Summary: A general summary addressing the basic points
Condition and Capacity: of how the Texas State Park System works, and how it is
What states these parks funded, as well as how these parks have been affected
are in, the different over the years and how we will address that going forward.
regions included in the Condition and Capacity
Texas heritage trails, a - Texas Parks include:
general rundown of the 14 National Parks with 5,569,993 visitors
number of landmarks, 120 State Parks, historical sites and natural areas
parks, visitors 45 National Historical Landmarks
3,800 Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks
Funding: - Heritage trail regions:
Where the funding for Brazos trail region
the parks comes from, Forest trail region
which organizations hold Forts trail region
the main support for Hill Country trail region
funding these parks, the Independence trail region
budget division by Lakes Trail region
division Mountain trail region
Pecos trail region
Future Need: Plains trail region
What is predicted to be Tropical trails region
necessary for the parks - County and city parks are owned and administered by the
in the future, which of public under the stewardship of elected officials
these Summary: A detailed rundown of the geography of the
parks including the different regions of the THC’s Texas
Operations and Heritage trails program and some stats regarding the
Maintenance: number of parks, visitors, landmarks, etc.
What is needed to Funding
maintain care of the - The state parks funding is 30.4 % of the TPWD FY 2021
parks, if we have the $444.5 total budget
funding and wear that - The TPWD budget consists of funding sources including
funding would come general revenue funds, special funds, bonds, federal funds,
from, how municipalities foundations and grants
can come into play - Special Fund 9 (Game, Fish, and Water Safety) and Fund
64 (State Parks) are the largest contributors
Public Safety: - Federal Funding: apportionments, grants and contracts
Why these parks are - Funds are based on user fees and taxes
necessary for the - Municipal/County Funding: Growing populations have
wellbeing of citizens, caused Texas municipalities and counties to experience
how they can positively increased park demand
affect people's mental Bond programs passed help assist in expanding and
and physical health, how improving parks but don’t contribute to their operations and
these parks can protect maintenance budgets
some of the natural Summary: A breakdown of where the funding comes from
resources we have going from the largest backers to the smallest backers, and
a breakdown of the TPWD budget.
Resilience and Future Need
Innovation: - There is a large need for well-planned parks and green
The repercussions of spaces designed and constructed with sustainable
not improving these infrastructure
parks, the benefits that - “Sporting Goods Sales Tax” has funded multiple repair and
these parks have for our improvement projects at Texas State Parks
climate and Summary: A brief overview of what is necessary for the
environment, how parks moving forward and how those necessary changes
certain infrastructure in could be funded.
parks can benefit the Operations and Maintenance
environment - Texas municipalities create, implement and revise strategic
plans for their parks and recreation departments
- There are noticeable gaps in the number of rehab projects
that are proposed but remain unfunded
- Only 18% of the funds required for the estimated $185M in
backlogged maintenance have been appropriated through
FY2023
Public Safety
- Time spent in parks and green spaces has been proven to
help individuals combat mental health issues (depression,
anxiety, and stress)
- The 2018 TORP recognizes that obesity and healthcare
costs are on the rise, partially due to “indoor culture”
- Texas State and National Parks protect much of the clean
water
Resilience and Innovation
- Public agencies, community developers, and non-profit
organizations are focused on developing resilience plans
for parks and greenspaces
- An approach to achieve urban resilience
- Nature- based infrastructure:
Rain Gardens
Green Roofs
Permeable surfaces
Rainwater harvesting
Detention basin systems
- Effects of climate changes due to high temperatures and
low moisture levels in the air:
Increased mean sea level elevations
Recurrent storm events for prolonged periods of time
Extreme drought conditions
Wildfires within open lands
- Nature-based infrastructure in parks helps minimize these
 effects
- Some of the benefits of Nature-based infrastructure
include:
Minimized flooding
Replenished aquifers
Captured carbon dioxide
Reduced risk of toxic algae blooms

Overall summary:

Much of the issue regarding the Public Parks and Recreation, comes from a lack of significant
and stable funding. One of the recurring points made was the funding which comes from the
“Sporting Goods Sales Tax” which is one of the larger funding backers, however could be
seen as unreliable. The stakeholders in this situation range from park rangers, people who
live near the parks, elected officials, shareholders in special funds/bonds/foundations. I
learned that much of the issue focuses on lack of funding, a need for sustainable
infrastructure, a need for support in creating resilience plans. These parks have many benefits
regarding the environment and physical and mental health, but need the funding and planning
to be sustained moving forward.