TB[E NEY GENERAL
OF EXAS
Mr. Will E. Odom Opinion No. C-748
Chairman, Parks and
Wildlife Commission Re: Whether the administration
John H. Reagan Bldg. of the Lyndon B. Johnson
Austin, Texas State Park Fund is an
operation of the Parks
and Wildlife Commission
Dear Mr. Odom: and related questions.
You have requested this office for an opinion
concerning whether the administration of the Lyndon B.
Johnson State Park Fund is a function and operation of
the Parks and Wildlife Commission, and whether the adminis-
trators of such fund have acted properly in refusing to
make public the names of donors to this fund and the
amounts of such donations when the donor has requested
that this information not be made public.
Article 978I'-3a,Vernon’s Penal Code, consoll-
dated the Game and Fish Commission and the State Parks
Board into one department to be known as the Parks and
Wildlife Department and the policy direction of such
department was vested In the Parks and Wildlife Commission.
Article 978f-3a further provided that all of the powers,
duties and authority previously vested in the State Parks
Board and the Game and Fish Commission should be transferred
to the Parks and Wildlife Department.
Section 5 of Article 978f-3a, provides in part
that:
II. . .that portion of the program admin-
istered by the Parks and Wildlife Department
which deals with the operation, maintenance,
and improvement of State Parks shall be fi-
nanced from the General Revenue Fund, the
State Parks Fund, other funds as mav be
authorized by law, and such donations,
grants, and gifts as may be received by
said Department. . . . ‘I (Emphasis added)
Article 6068, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, which here-
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. .
Mr. will E. Odom, Page 2 (C-748)
tofore dealt with the activities of the State Parks Board
and which Is now applicable to the Parks and Wildlife Com-
mission, provides in part that:
“The said Board shall solicit donations
to the State of tracts of land, large or small,
to be used by the State for the purpose of
Dubllc DaFks and/or recreational areas. and
said Board is hereby authorized to accept in
behalf of the State the title to any such
tract or tracts of land. . . .” (Emphasis
added)
Article 6069, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, which
heretofore dealt with the activities of the State Parks
Board and which Is now applicable to the Parks and Wild-
life Commission, provides in part that:
“Said Board shall make investigations of
any tract or tracts of land, of any size what-
soever, In the State with a view of determining
whether the same Is suitable for public park
purposes, and, the terms on which it can be
acquired. . . . The purpose of this law is
to initiate a movement looking to the establlsh-
ment eventually of a system of State Parks for
the benefit of the people, secured either by
donations or purchase, or established on any
land owned by the State available for such
purpose. . . .” (Emphasis added)
The foregoing statutes clearly reveal that one
of the functions of the Parks and Wildlife Commission and
the Parks and Wildlife Department is to encourage private
interests to contribute to the development of the State
Parks System by donations of land to the State of Texas
to be used for parks and recreational purposes. The
foregoing statutes, while encouraging such activities on
the part of the Parks and Wildlife Commission and the
Parks and Wildlife Department, do not specify any partic-
ular manner in which these activities will be carried out.
In your letter requesting this opinion, you have
made available to us a copy of the Constitution of the
Lyndon B. Johnson State Park Fund. The following are
excerpts from the Constitution of the Lyndon B. Johnson
State Park Fund:
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Mr. will E. Odom, page 3 (c-748)
. . . .
“The Fund is created and shall be operated
exclusively for charitable purposes. In further-
ance of such purposes it shall be the specific
object of the Fund to establish and maintain,
in cooperation with the County of Gillespie,
Texas, a state park for the State of Texas to
be known as the ‘Lyndon B. Johnson State Park.’
11. . . .
“The administrators of this Fund shall be
empowered to solicit funds, acquire property
and conduct such other ancillary activities
as are necessary and incidental to its purpose.
“Upon receipt of sufficient moneys to
purchase land and make the necessary improve-
ments, the park will be deeded to the State
of Texas, and this Fund will terminate its
existence.
8,
. . . .
“Upon termination or dissolution all remaining
assets of the Fund will be distributed to the Parks
and Wildlife Department of the State of Texas for
exclusively public purposes.” (Emphasis added) i
You have also stated in your letter requesting
this opinion that:
8,. . .the Parks and Wildlife Department has
nothing to do with the receiving of contributions
to the fund or the administration of the fund in
any manner whatsoever.
“The contributions are made to Will E. Odom,
Trustee, Lyndon B. Johnson State Park Found, and
the act is one of an Individual in a fiduciary
capacity, receiving donations and In turn purchas-
ing land from the funds so donated.
“The lands are then conveyed, without cost,
to the State of Texas, ‘Parks and Wlldlife Depart-
ment in perpetuity for use as a park. . . .
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Mr. Will E. Odom, page 4 (C-748)
“The only connection the members of the Parks
and Wildlife Commission have is In setting up the
trusteeship. . . .
“Many contributions have been made to the
fund with the understanding that the name of the
contributor and the amount of the contribution
would not be divulged to the public. The reason
for this, of course, is personal to the individual
contributor. I have felt that the request of any
donor for such anonymity was reasonable and a
privilege that should be accorded.
,1. . . .” (Emphasis added)
In view of the foregoing, we are of the opinion
that it is obvious that the "Lyndon B. Johnson State Park
Fund" Is not an operation or activity of the Parks and
Wildlife Department or the Parks and Wildlife Commission,
but is merely the means being used by private interests
to obtain donations of funds to purchase property which
will ultimately be deeded to the State of Texas for the
creation of a State park to be known as the "Lyndon B.
Johnson State Park.” Under the present arrangement, we
are of the further opinion that the Parks and Wildlife
Commission and the Parks and Wildlife Department will
have no Interest in the activities of the Lyndon B.
Johnson State Park Fund until such time as the property
to be used for such parks purposes Is deeded to the State
of Texas. The fact that members of the Parks and Wildlife
Commission are serving as administrators of the Lyndon 8.
Johnson State Park Fund is Immaterial as the Information
made available to us reveals that they are serving in such
capacity in their individual rather than governmental
capacity.
As the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park Fund Is
an activity of private Interests rather than of the Parks
and Wildlife Commission and the Parks and Wildlife Depart-
ment, It Is within the discretion of the administrators
of such fund to determine whether the names of donors and
the amounts of their contributions will be made public.
SUMMARY
-------
The administration of the Lyndon B. Johnson
State Park Fund, under the facts disclosed, is
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Mr. Will E. Odom, page 5 (c-748)
not an operation of the Parka and Wlldllfe Commls-
sion or the Parks and Wildlife Department. As
the administration of the Lyndon B. Johnson State
Park Fund is an operation of private interests
rather than an operation of the Parks and Wildlife
Commission or the Parks and Wildlife Department,
the disclosure of the names of donors to such
fund or the amounts of their contributions is
a matter for the discretion of'the administrators
of such fund.
Very truly yours,
WAGGONER CARR
Attorney General
PB: sck
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
W. V. Geppert, Chairman
John Banks
J. C. Davis
Wade Anderson
Ralph Rash
APPROVEDFOR THE ATTORNEYGENERAL
BY: T. B. Wrlght
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Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Combined Opinion