The nation's leading national park advocacy organization, the National Parks Conservation Association, today announced it has opened its first field office in Texas, appointing Suzanne Dixon as senior program manager of the Dallas office.
"Suzanne Dixon brings over eight years of experience and an extraordinary amount of energy, vision, and enthusiasm to our work in Texas," said Tom Kiernan, president of the nonpartisan national parks group.
The National Parks Conservation Association's scientific and management centers have worked extensively in Texas to identify the threats to the national parks' valued natural and cultural resources, and seek solutions through public and private advocacy and support. Dixon will work closely with the citizens of Texas to expand the National Parks Conservation Association's outreach and effectiveness throughout the state on behalf of the national parks.
"The National Parks Conservation Association is recognized leader of national park advocacy," Dixon said. "I am eager to make a difference for parks here in Texas."
Research has shown that national parks operate, on average, with only two-thirds of the needed funding-a system-wide shortfall in excess of $800 million annually. Additionally, in West Texas, Big Bend suffers from chronic air pollution. At Fort Davis National Historic Site, a subdivision may soon block the park's inspiring views. Big Thicket National Preserve is also threatened with development. Temple-Inland has announced it is going to sell 1.8 million acres in East Texas, which means that Big Thicket too, could be surrounded by subdivisions.
A native of Ireland, Dixon previously supervised NPCA's executive office at its Washington, D.C., headquarters. Dixon holds a Higher National Diploma in Leisure Management from Inchicore, Dublin, Ireland, and a Degree in Sociology of Sport from the University of Leicester, England.
The 13 national park sites in Texas are: Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument and Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Fritch; Amistad National Recreation Area in Del Rio; Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River in West Texas; Big Thicket National Preserve in Beaumont; Chamizal National Monument in El Paso; Fort Davis National Historic Site; Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Salt Flat; Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Johnson City; Padre Island National Seashore in Corpus Christi; Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site in Brownsville; and San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
Dixon can be reached at the National Parks Conservation Association's new Dallas office at 703-298-2973.
For more national park news, please visit http://www.npca.org/news_and_publications/
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