AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The state has decided to acquire 1,500
acres from a nonprofit conservation group to more than double the
size of a southeast Texas state park.
     
The Conservation Fund owns the undeveloped timberland near
Lumberton in Hardin County, about 80 miles east of Houston.
     
In a statement issued Thursday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Commission says it approved the purchase of the land abutting the
southern boundary of Village Creek State Park. The statement says
the new acreage will protect critical habitat and enhance the
park's ties to the Big Thicket National Preserve's Village Creek
and Neches River Corridor units.
     
The statement did not specify the purchase price.
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On the Net:
     
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us
     
     
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)
     
AP-NY-11-05-09 1356EST