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The Texas Tribune
The Texas Tribune
National
By Alejandra Martinez, Graphics by Edison Wu

Texas buys land for new state parks that will be developed using $1 billion voter-approved fund

Andy Sipocz, center, looks off in the distance as Nick Boysen, left, and Kaitlyn Skinner Morris place remains possibly belonging to a feral hog on the ground near Yancey Creek in what will become Post Oak Ridge State Park, a newly acquired park near Lampasas, Texas, on Thursday, June 5, 2025. The park’s acquisition marks the first since $1 billion dollars were allocated to buy more land for the state parks system as part of the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund, approved by the state legislature in 2023. Before development can begin, survey teams collect samples and information regarding the environment and wildlife at the newly acquired land.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Natural Resources Coordinator Andy Sipocz, center, stands as Nick Boysen, left, and Kaitlyn Skinner Morris examine remains possibly belonging to a feral hog near Yancey Creek in what will become Post Oak Ridge State Park on newly acquired land near Lampasas on June 5, 2025. (Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune)

LAMPASAS — On a blistering June morning, Andy Sipocz brushes his fingers through the thick, sawgrass fronds rising higher than his head beside a creek in the Texas Hill Country.

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