The Largest National Park in Texas is Growing Even Bigger in ’23
Did you know that despite the massive size of Texas, the second largest state in the U.S. by size, there are only two officially designated National Parks? Kinda wild, but yeah, Big Bend National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park is the whole list.
I know what you're thinking, "there are way more than two!" Well not really, according to travel 2 next there are also another 12 areas managed by The National Park Service. That's where the confusion likely comes in.
It is being reported that another 4,000 acres will be soon be added to Big Bend National Park's approximately 800,000 exiting acres, it is to be donated by the Fulcher family. "The two Fulcher sisters are hoping to donate the land for conservation. They just want to see it preserved for future generations."
True that does seem like just a drop in the bucket that is the massive National Park, but it is believed that this piece of land is important to preserve.
The Big Bend Conservancy was established in the ’90s, and this is their biggest project to date, their biggest land acquisition project for the park. They’re looking to preserve the land, similar to the current owners. When I talked to the executive director of the conservancy, Loren Riemer, last week, she mentioned that the area and the land are important because it’s near Terlingua on the west side of the park, and they’ve seen increasing development in the area with more short-term rentals and just more development in general in close proximity to the national park. So they see it as an important area to preserve, given that there’s more development.
Terlingua Creek is an important feature of the property, and then there’s also a number of interesting species located on the property, including an endangered minnow; it’s a gray hawk nesting site, and it’s home to the yellow-billed cuckoo. In addition to the paleontological resources, or the fossils, which are known to be there, there’s also historic ruins, a schoolhouse and other settlements that I’m sure will be interesting for people to visit.
No official word on when the donation will happen, but it is expected in '23.