At Bastrop State Park, 30 miles outside Austin, the Hill Country gives way to a pine forest resembling East Texas. It's home to the endangered Houston toad and its 6,000 acres provide plenty of opportunity for hiking, fishing and outdoor activities.
There are even cabins built from native sandstone that date back to the 1930s. And that's about when new projects stopped at Bastrop State Park.
Like the 119 other Texas state parks, Bastrop has been underfunded for years and is in a state of disrepair. These spaces of state preservation now look like devastation since their resources have been depleted.
The growing backlog of needed repairs at Bastrop State Park is adding up in the millions. The Friends of Lost Pines State Parks, a volunteer organization, was created to help with fundraising and some maintenance.
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State of disrepair
News 8 Austin's Catie Beck reports from Bastrop State Park.
 
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The park’s total operating budget in 2005 was about $757,000. However, the park generated $701,000 - just shy of breaking even.
Park ranger Roger Shelton said the majority of the park's funding comes from the nearby public golf course. But at the pro shop, Shelton said "the roof is rotted to the point that it is basically soil for the fern to grow in."
Pricilla Schaefer volunteers at the park in exchange for a spot to camp. She says the parks are falling apart and need all the help they can get.
"Everything is wearing out at one time. One of the bathrooms here has to be replaced every few days just from pouring water," she said.
Speaking of leaking water, Lake Bastrop can't even hold water most of the time because of a leaking dam that's been broken for three years. Recent rainfall has helped for now, but the lake has been so dry that the Texas Wildlife and Fisheries Department has refused to stock the lake with fish, leading to another missed opportunity for revenue.
Park employees say they're sometimes forced to fix things that should be replaced, like barbecue grills in the camping grounds. The foundation of almost every building is cracked, and employees do everything they can to give then illusion that everything is normal.
"We do a good job of covering up some major problems that a park visitor really won't see, [but] we're on the brink of losing a whole state park legacy," Shelton said.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has appealed to the Legislature for more funding. HB 12 would authorize the state to spend all of the estimated $105 million collected annually on sporting goods sales taxes to revitalize the parks system.
The Legislature dedicated the sporting goods tax to that purpose in 1993. But it's raided the fund to spend on other needs. Just $20.6 million from the fund went to state parks last year.
