A bill that would disband the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has been filed in the state House of Representatives.
Waco state Rep. Pat Curry's House Bill 4938 would actually abolish not only the department but also the related Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission too, transferring employees and their duties to Texas General Land Office, the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the state Department of Agriculture.
The bill would also dismantle the state Parks and Wildlife Commission.
If passed, the bill would transfer to the DPS all oversight of game wardens, who have all the powers of law enforcement officers but also administer hunting, fishing and other laws.
But "if we got rid of the Parks and Wildlife Dept. especially the game wardens, biologists, the people who watch the parks and all that, it would be absolutely devastating to the state's resources," says Doug Pike, host of the Doug Pike Show, weekends on Sportstalk 790.
"And the last thing the Parks and Wildlife Department needs now is any kind of reduction in its resources.
"They're the most under-funded, underappreciated organization in this entire state."
As it is, the Parks & Wildlife Dept. oversees and maintains state parks, inland and coastal fisheries, state wildlife management and game wardens.
And Pike says as he travels, people in other states involved in similar state-run agencies tell him they model their agencies on the Texas state wildlife service.
"I don't agree with everything the Parks and Wildlife Dept. does, I don't follow them, I'm not in lockstep with them with every decision they make, but they're the best there is."