The Fort Worth Star-Telegram finally did an article on the Tarrant Regional Water District deer lease.
See: Tarrant water district's use of private camp on public land draws questions.
We're impressed they are finally reporting on the water board. However, the FWST states, "Few people knew about the camp before the election." WHY is that? The Fort Worth Weekly wrote about the deer lease in 2006.
John Basham and Adrian Murray questioned the deer lease in their 2010 campaign. We're glad the FWST is getting up to speed. Hopefully they catch up quick.
The Tarrant Regional Water District, the public agency that supplies most of the water in North Central Texas, owns and operates the land. For decades, its employees have been allowed to use the camp, which includes deer stands and a shooting range, for free.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which manages millions of acres of public land, has an ethics policy that prohibits employees from accepting free hunts, a spokesman said.
“The Parks and Wildlife doesn’t have any private hunting resorts for its employees,” spokesman Mike Cox said. “We’re prohibited by our ethics policy from accepting any free hunts from anybody.
If it’s funded by taxpayer funds, we’re providing them a $15,000 to $20,000 retreat,” he said.
Kelleher, the challenger who received more votes than anyone on the ballot, said she will continue to press for the board to be more transparent about its money and its property.
Giving the public a closeup view of the hunting camp, she said, is a start.
“I just want it to be acknowledged that a deer hunting camp does exist,” said Kelleher, who proposed that the land use be reviewed periodically.
For example, Kelleher said she was glad to know that visitors are required to sign in and out of the cabin on a log book, which was placed on the dining table during the Star-Telegram’s visit last week.
On that day, however, the book contained only blank sheets.
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