Texas wildfires that last year decimated Bastrop State Park have left supporters wondering how to pay for restoration.
State Sen. Kirk Watson, Bastrop County Judge Jim Wither and Commissioner Toby Baker with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality toured the park Thursday. Experts say competing species are threatening to overtake the Lost Pines forest.
Greg Creacy with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says the agency has run out of restoration money.
Creacy told the Austin American-Statesman that it's already cost more than $2 million to remove hazardous trees and do erosion repairs. Capital improvement funds were used.
Watson says lawmakers need to make sure that professionals have the resources to preserve the forest.
Members of the Lost Pines Recovery Team are trying to raise more than $17 million.
