EDITORIAL
Audit report blasts TPWD

TERRIE GONZALEZ

A 60-page audit report on the condition of Texas' state parks cites the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department for having weak financial controls and no marketing strategies for parks.

The Austin American Statesman reported March 20 that in one instance, the parks department closed a park office two days per week in order to save $200 in utility costs. The move cost the park $11,000 in lost income from entrance fees. In another situation, a car counter was placed on a farm road outside the park entrance, which inflated the park's attendance by more than 320,000.

The report also said that the department spent $920,115 to support the Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine in 2005-06 and never evaluated its effectiveness as a marketing tool.

The audit comes at a time when TPWD is asking the Legislature to raise the cap on the sporting goods tax. Currently, TPWD receives $32 million from the tax, when the fund brings in more than $105 million.

A bill is also pending before the Legislature which would transfer more than 20 historical sites from TPWD stewardship to the Texas Historical Commission. Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site near Alto is on this list.

And of course the Texas State Railroad remains on the chopping block with funding set to run out Aug. 31.

Austin insiders suggest that a big shake-up at TPWD headquarters could happen as a result of the recent audit report. State Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco) told Executive Director Robert Cook at a recent committee hearing, "We're not confident this is a tight organization right now."

The Legislature should call a moratorium on taking any severe measures, like closing or transferring parks, until this audit report is sorted out.

Too bad the Texas State Railroad staff didn't set up car counters outside the entrance on U.S. Hwy. 84. Instead they turned in honest numbers on ridership and visitors.