Bye bye Fairfield….hello million dollar homes and a golf course.

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TAKE ACTION FOR FAIRFIELD LAKE STATE PARK

Posted by Kyle Mobley | January 23, 2023


Despite many efforts over the last few months by Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) Chairman Aplin, TPWD executive staff, and various legislators (including Chairmen Perry and King, Senator Schwertner, and Rep. Harris), negotiations for the purchase and continuance of Fairfield Lake State Park are not progressing.

Fairfield Lake State Park is located 6.5 miles from the city of Fairfield and has been operating for more than 50 years with 80,000 visitors a year is under a no-cost lease agreement with Luminant (owned by Vistra Corp). The park sits on the southwest side of the 2200-acre lake, which is used to cool Luminant’s power plant. The State Park has two boat ramps to access the lake, a popular local fishing spot for bass and catfish. Along with fishing, the park was one of many state parks that offered drawn hunts for white-tailed deer.

As such, we wanted to alert you to a looming deadline that TPWD faces. Luminant/Vistra and Todd Interests, a development company from Dallas that has the property under contract and who plan to extinguish the state park lease if they proceed, have told TPWD and key legislators that if some arrangement is not worked out by February 3rd, the Department will be given a 120-day notice of lease termination. That would mean the Department would need to start making plans immediately to close the park, just as we begin celebrating the State Parks Centennial year. Losing a state park and a hugely popular 2,200-acre adjoining fishing lake to a private real estate development is not desirable for the state, the public, or conservation and outdoor recreation interests.



Multiple meetings and conversations with Todd Interests and Luminant/Vistra have been held, but to date, there has not been any impending agreement that could keep the state park from closing. Luminant/Vistra has elected to sell their entire property and has a contract to sell the approximately 5,000-acre property, including the state park property and the lake, to Todd Interests for a high-end golf course development and private lake. Todd Interests and Luminant/Vistra have told TPWD and Legislative leadership that the state park lease will not be continued, as the property and lake will be developed and marketed as a private, gated lakefront community with exclusive access to the lake.

TPWD also wants to buy the Vistra/Luminant land and lake, to continue and expand the state park. This would greatly expand Texas public lands and critical fishing and hunting access. Senators Perry and Schwertner, District representatives, and Chairman King and Rep. Harris, who also represents the district, favor keeping the park and acquiring the property. TPWD has until February 3 to see if a solution can be agreed upon. Chairman Aplin and the TPWD Commission will discuss this issue publicly at the Commission work session on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers will always fight to keep public lands in public hands. The Texas Chapter is committed to saving Fairfield State Park and the important access it holds to the public for outdoor recreation, hunting, and fishing. Please let TPWD and your elected officials know to keep this public land. Listed below are contacts for specific officials vital to the representation of this issue and links to public testimony for the January 2023 TPWD Commission Meeting.

Streaming Event Access and Public Testimony Instructions weblink: https://tpwd.texas.gov/about/remote-participation

Who represents you? Click here to find your local representative.



The Honorable Charles Perry

State Senator

Chair on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs

P.O. Box 12068

Capitol Station

Austin, TX 78711

512-463-0128

512-463-2424



The Honorable Charles Schwertner

State Senator

P.O. Box 12068

Capitol Station

Austin, TX 78711



The Honorable Tracy King

State Representative

Room GW.16

P.O. Box 2910

Capitol Station

Austin, TX 78711

Now we know.

You mean the developer isn't gonna pay all that money and let Joe q public run all over the place.... shocker.

Developer - https://www.toddinterests.com/

Luminant is the only group anyone should be "mad" at if you are going to be mad at anyone. I've tried to work with Luminant on another lake they own for years and its like talking to the wall. Even tried some other routes with the help of TPWD and it went nowhere. Luminant was shocked when they got the price they did for Fairfield. I don't blame the Todd family for doing whatever they want with it given the amount they are paying for it.

Maybe an endangered species needs to be "found" at the lake itself....

….and rumor has it….






Catch em while ya can….and take em home to your ponds.

Free enterprise.

Greed, luminant doesn't care what happens to it if they get paid.

The state had the opportunity to buy it also.

If you were Luminant wouldn't you sell to the highest bidder? As a publicly traded company (Vistra) they have an obligation to their shareholders. Has TPWD offered a competitive bid as compared to Todd? Free markets is what makes us great as a country. I don't blame the Todd family either. They have taken on huge risk with the potential for a huge reward. I love capitalism.

Will they pay the state any for the natural resources supplied from taxpayer dollars in the lake. Or will the state look to remove some of the resources before the lake becomes private?

We anglers should start removing the resources.

ERCOT should have never taken Big Brown offline.

TPWD should shock up every living thing in that lake and relocate it (RC if needs be). Then kill all the grass and turn it into a mud-hole if the organizations don't negotiate in good faith for access to the "publicly private" resource.

For 10 cents a day you and your friends could save Fairfield lake from becoming an exclusive private oasis. For 10 cents a day you can help save these natural resources.


I'm with the earlier comment, we need to find an endangered species out there.

Does hydrilla count as an endangered species?

It appears I'm in the minority. But to me, it appears, that Texas tax payers got a great deal for a long time. Everything has a expiration date.

I agree with you Steve. It's why "mad" was in quotes. I am working with a group right now trying to do something similar.

your blame is placed in the wrong place. Blame the governments war on coal and making cost too much to operate the plant.

Wished I would have one that billion dollar powerball...

start putting the fish and hydrilla in other lakes while we can

Truth is it is one of the easiest places to catch a bass. I have never had a bad day on Fairfield, will be missed.

Lots of people that frequent the lake will get a dose of the reality of bass fishing once it is gone.

How are the ramps right now? I’ve gotta get a trip in before they close it.

Start filling up stringers and get the grease hot. Eat them all!

There are other ways to deal with those big Developers, just ask the Dutton's and Rip

Maybe I should build a house there and let 15-20 of my friends go fish it every day. Lol

Based on the release at the start of this thread, Todd Interests is under contract but doesn’t yet own the property. Who knows how it ultimately play out…a lot can happen.

They can have that Gar Hole

Just give me the gate code and I’ll fish from a pool floaty

Font ramp is not usable for a bass boat. People still launching jon boats there but nothing more. Back ramp is good.

Do grass carp eat giant salvinia?

Giving up public access to land or lakes is not right. Anyone who thinks it’s a good thing is an idiot.
Guess I will keep what I catch from now on.
J. D

Personally if a lake is private there should be ZERO stocking done by TPWD via OUR tax dollars. This proves why.

Use to live in Fairfield, worked at the Power Plant in Jewett. Many good fishing trips at Fairfield catching bass up in the reeds. I remember when they stocked it with Redfish, now that was some fun trolling for Reds. Had a few rods broke catching those. It would be nice to keep the lake and not sell it to a developer. Lots of coal dust still in the ground there.

Ooof...that's certainly one way to burn the house down on the way out.

I'll be interested in a lot when/if available.

Grassers will denude anything green in the lake and when they run out, they will suck in any grass clippings when folks mow their lawns.

See Lake Austin.

Organize Saturday outings of hundreds of boats and everybody keeps their limits.

You will have it fished out this Spring

They have next level fish cleaning stations

And we all know that causes acid rain and cancer.

Startle-Gram article on the subject - https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article271689502.html

So the state didn't have the funds to buy the entire property several years back, but now they do and they want to purchase the entire property. They should be able to overrule the developer then.

The state has a 50 billion surplus of money. They should have the funds.

If this is turned into a subdivision and gold course, will outsiders be able to pay daily fees to fish the lake?

Take a look at Todd Interests properties and I would guess that would be a big negative

"It's a big club and we ain't in it"...George Carlin

You beat me to it. Carlin was correct 👍🏻

Theme park really wtf
I really hate rich people( developers)
Sorry state of affairs

My second home is a pup tent that i use at Lake Farifield,

No kidding 50 billion $ let’s just spent 10 mil and get that park bought

It will be hard to buy it now at any price. The property is under contract. Actually TP&W now has funds to purchase the entire property due to a realignment of Pittman-Robertson funds. But it is under contract and that developer is not interested in letting the property go.

What if they offer more?

That's how it works.....

This aggravates the !#$% out of me. This will eliminate another one of the bass lakes I fish. In my opinion, the Houston area has squat for bass fishing. Lake Houston is worthless. Lake Conroe is a nightmare. Lake Livingston is a mudhole. The Dallas/Ft. Worth area has 5 times the lakes we do and twice the acreage. And now they are creating Bois D'arc and Ralph Hall lakes, which are both NE of Dallas.

You are not wrong. DFW > Houston.

Moving to areas that are more suited for one's hobbies and happiness is always an option

Grass is always greener. Y’all got better redfish, inshore, and offshore action than we do up here.

Coleto Creek, Fayette County, Raven, Houston County and Somerville still good?

hint - rhymes with “dam sunburn”

I heard it’s already closed for fishing. Anyone know if this is true?

Had a tourney there last weekend.

you are the reason they closed it

And that’s where my old trailer blew up in the McGill rewire my trailer thread.

I did a rough 75-mile radius for comparison. Coleto Creek, Houston County and Somerville (just) outside of that radius. I had actually forgotten about Raven. I haven't fished it in years. The last time I was there it was a plant-ridden mud hole.

I am also aware of the fact that Houston's south, southeast and southwest border is coastline. This coastline is coveted by many, many people. I fish the bayous when I can. At this point in my life, I prefer freshwater fishing, less work.

Fayette is on rt now. Caught at least 30 a day between 16th and 21st last month,

they closed because of the weather per there Facebook post. They do not have any power. https://www.facebook.com/FairfieldLakeSP

Then move closer to better lakes that make you happy or stay and complain. You choose to live where you live.

If the developer gets the land it will have a devastating effect on everyone in Fairfield and the ecosystem surrounding the lake . If you look at some of the properties they developed in Dallas and read the reviews it's not good , however they are successful and have a lot of capital and land in Texas is a solid investment. What they're trying to do doesn't seem plausible though. What is interesting is right down the road in Corsicana they're building the largest crypto mine in the United States of America. Say a prayer for this country first and foremost and pray that this lake and property will go to the state. God Bless gentleman

crypto is satan's currency

What are all these pop up guides gonna do lol

Green energy is so great. It is robbery that my tax dollars are subsidizing it (state and federal) and results in closing power plants that work just fine. China has all the coal fired power plants it wants and even is awarded the Olympics even though it is so polluted it was not safe to breath. Not worried all this is coming down because it is so corrupt it will not stand. Not going electric for cars trucks or boats either so don’t ask. Those batteries are lethal forever, where they going to put them all when they are no good? Not going to last coming down. God bless and happy fishing.

They can dump the batteries in the oceans.

When squaw closes in March I suspect they become doordash drivers....

The school system will benefit and the children are our future

like the lotto?

Wasn't there supposed to be a final meeting on this recently? Does anyone know if it's officially a done deal?

Here is my state senators reply to my e-mail concerning Fairfield State Park:


On behalf of Senator Kolkhorst thank you for your email. Your email was shared with Senator Kolkhorst and she appreciates your input.