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Mason Local River Access Plan (LRAP)
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| Originally published in Texas Fish & Game magazine, October 2004 edition. Article reprinted with permission. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The Llano River, beginning in the remote country west of Junction, Texas, is one of the most beautiful waterways in the state. It meanders eastward into the Hill Country, lazily making its way past Mason, through the city of Llano, and finally flows languidly into Lake LBJ at Kingsland. A pool and drop river, the slow pace of the Llano attracts canoeists and fly fishers to its shallow rapids and wide, tree-lined pools. The current of the Llano is insufficient to propel floaters in tubes, and the frequent shallow areas prohibit travel by motorboat. Swimmers eschew it in favor of the Guadalupe, the Comal, or the Frio, and it is possible to canoe all day on the Llano without encountering another human. No public resource offers more quiet and solitude than the Llano River. Ten miles south of Mason, at a wide spot in the riverbed, the Llano splits in two, forming a rocky, sandy island 500 yards long by 250 yards wide before the two streams rejoin. Ranch Road 2389 crosses the Llano there on two low-water bridges, one on each side of the island. The smaller James River flows into the Llano at that place, giving the popular area its name: James River Crossing. For generations the local residents have been attracted to this island, due to the easy river access, shallow rapids, and deeper swimming and fishing holes. Hundred-foot bluffs overlook the river just east of the crossing, at the mouth of Peter’s Creek. Uncrowded and, for the most part, unspoiled, James River Crossing is an example of what Texans love about Texas. In April, this remote river crossing became quasi-famous for another reason – it was the first area in the state to be named in a Local River Access Plan, allowing partially restricted use of motorized vehicles on the rocky split of land between the forks of the river. Due to the configuration of the island, some of the most desirable areas for picnics and campouts, and the best swimming holes, are difficult to reach except by driving off the roadway onto the island itself. There is no parking area along the road, so most visitors are in the habit of driving to their favorite spots to keep from having to walk long distances on the rocky terrain carrying ice chests, fishing gear, and other equipment. This was all fine and good until January, when Senate Bill 155 passed into Texas law. Basically, the law prohibits the use of motorized vehicles in state riverbeds. With the stroke of a pen a large part of a recreational area enjoyed for generations was effectively placed off limits. Anticipating difficulties due to the new restrictions, Mason’s game wardens, Jerry Gordon and James Nixon, decided to take preemptive action. Since the law allows local governments to make exceptions to the motorized access ban for situations such as the one at James River Crossing, Gordon and Nixon did not want to be caught in the position of issuing citations for a short time if driving on the island was going to be legal again in a couple of months. They went to Mason County Attorney Shain Chapman, and together the three put together a tentative Local River Access Plan. Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept., in expectation of this eventuality, has sample LRAP forms on its website. Chapman used one of these, modified to meet the local needs, and he and Gordon took the proposal to the Mason County Commissioners for their approval. The plan allowed visitors to drive on the island except for the hours between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., but still prohibited driving in the water at all. The commissioners had no objections, so the plan was forwarded to TPWD for consideration, and in April the James River Crossing LRAP became the first of its kind. It definitely will not be the last, as several other plans are already in the process of being passed. Sponsored by Sen. Judith Zaffirini of Laredo, and backed by various august personages such as Texas Agricultural Commissioner Susan Combs, SB155 was a bill designed to solve certain problems, but it created others in the process. There were a few, a very few, areas in the state where access to the state-owned land in riverbeds was causing problems for local landowners and police officers. Some drivers of off-road vehicles were making a nuisance of themselves, trespassing on private property, littering, and keeping local residents awake all hours of the night with their loud engines. City and county governments could have addressed these problems on a case-by-case basis, and in some instances did just that. A popular stretch of the Llano River near the city of Llano, known as The Slab, had been a problematic area for a long time. Officials placed a curfew on motorized access to the riverbed there, and calls to the local police department dwindled to almost nothing. Problems in other spots in Texas could have been handled in the same way. But state legislators wanted a ban on motorized river access all over Texas, because they claimed to believe there were other factors involved. The complaints were that vehicles were disturbing fish habitat, causing undue erosion, and polluting the waterways by leaking oil and gasoline. SB155 was designed to solve all of those problems. The fact that there was no proof those problems existed was hardly considered. Fish habitat is disturbed just as much by swimming or using a motorboat as by driving a vehicle in shallow water, but the fish return as soon as the disturbance is gone. Natural flooding creates far more erosion than mud-grip tires on four-wheel-drive vehicles could possibly cause. And outboard boat motors are notorious for leaking oil and gas into rivers and lakes, and there are thousands more boats in Texas waters than wheeled vehicles. Since SB155 did not attempt to restrict access to Texas riverbeds by foot, consumers can still legally walk from roadways to any point in a river below the gradient boundary to swim, fish, or canoe. They can still carry ice chests, worm boxes, and any other gear they want. Now that driving in these riverbeds is prohibited, however, these consumers may be less likely to carry their trash back out with them. The real problems our rivers faced before SB155 was passed still exist – trespassing, disturbing the peace, and especially littering. The law did not make them go away, although it may have moved them closer to the roads than before. Common sense, it seems, is still fairly uncommon, especially among politicians. Kendal Hemphill |
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