Lake Houston Park may be transferred to city

The cash-strapped Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is considering a plan to transfer control of the 4,919.5-acre Lake Houston State Park to the city of Houston.

Key factors behind the proposed transfer include low public visitation of the state park and a lack of state resources to fully realize public opportunities there, said TPWD Executive Director Robert Cook.

"Because of the financial constraints facing the Texas state park system, and the fact that here we appear to have local partners who have the passion and resources to do a good job of resource stewardship and public service, this transfer looks positive for the park and its resources, for the public and for government," he said.

Part of the park is in the Houston city limits, part of it is in Harris County and part is in Montgomery County. Houston has control of all the park acreage within its extraterritorial jurisdiction, which makes the city the only governmental entity that can take the entire park. A couple of unusual things about the park: It's huge — nearly four times the size of Memorial Park — and would likely become one of the biggest (if not the biggest) municipal parks in the country. And the park is located 32 miles from downtown Houston, near New Caney. Most of the people using the park wouldn't even live in the city of Houston, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but seems a little strange.

Lake Houston State Park offers birdwatching, hiking, nature study, biking, horseback riding and camping. We have to say that it would be a (very slight, admittedly) thrill to camp in a city park. For some reason, the cops get upset when we try it at Hermann Park.

Parks & Wildlife could approve the park transfer in January.