Officials work to clean up Martin Dies Jr. State Park following Hurricane Rita

JASPER — An East Texas version of the mythical phoenix, a new Martin Dies Jr. State Park is rising from its pile of rubbish wrought by Hurricane Rita.

Remember the Rita mess you spent weeks or months cleaning up at your own home? Multiply that by 705 acres, and you have an idea of the intensive recovery effort that enabled partial re-opening Easter weekend.

Told it would take a year to re-open the park, complicated by sewer and water lines jerked free of earthen tunnels, the five rangers said "that was unacceptable" as they took upon themselves the arduous work load, said Texas Parks and Wildlife Department naturalist interpreter Katherine Crippens.

"We had an agreement that when we would break for lunch we would sit down facing what we had accomplished," she said of the mammoth amount of work. "There were always two rangers who took turns pulling up the others (spirits)."

Crippens, a former kindergarten teacher who earned a masters degree at Stephen F. Austin State University in wildlife interpretation, said driving a dump truck wasn't in her plans when she made her career change. But drive a dump truck she did in order that her more skilled co-workers could operate chainsaws and backhoes to uncover roads, trails and bridges buried beneath pines and hard oak.

"It was such a beautiful park; it'll be beautiful again," she paused, looking at a reversed camp sign number "911" in the Walnut Ridge Unit on the northside of U.S. 190.

The stripped 60-year-old mixed forest once adorned in thick draping swags of Spanish moss, now devoid of walnut trees, will never look the same, "at least not in my lifetime," she said.

Originally called Dam B Park by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after the site chosen to build Lake Steinhagen a decade earlier, it was officially renamed on Sept. 1, 1965 after the former state senator of Lufkin whose public service career focused on the state park system.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission bestowed the honor "in recognition of the relentless influence on the broad outdoor recreational movement by Senator Martin Dies Jr.," park history states.

After Rita, the Corps, which still holds the park land deed, decided to harvest damaged or leaning timber. Although the private logger was careful, often two more trees were destroyed in the process of removing one, Crippens said.

Logging completed, rangers put out a call for help, holding its first "Volunteers in the Parks Program" on May 20, when 16 volunteers contributed a total 66 hours of work.

The more open canopy will encourage grass growth — a benefit to the food web, including black bears which have been spotted north and south of the park.

"It's just a matter of time before they are here, this perfect habitat for them," she said of the former inhabitants hunted into extinction for their fat needed to grease wheels, hinges, and gears.

Now, the park and its water dependent critters are coping with a new challenge after the Corps drained Lake Steinhagen to kill off invasive vegetation.

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MARTIN DIES STATE PARK STATISTICS

— Gate open — 7:30 a.m. -10 p.m.

— Quiet hours — 10 p.m. - 6 a.m.

— Park size — 705 acres

— Park opened — 1965

— Park renamed — 1966

— Lake size — 10,000 acres

— Lake impounded — 1951

— Elevation — 221 ft.

— Entry fee — $3/day/person 13 and older, 12 and under free, $2/day 65 and older

— Playgrounds — 3

— Boat ramp —5

— Boat dock —1

— Lighted fishing pier — 2

— Canoe/kayak rental — $10-$45

— Boat rental — $15-$75

— Bicycle rentals — $2/hour

— Multi-use trails — 4 miles

— Nature Interpretive Trail — 5 miles

— Interpretive Tour fee — $2 adult, $1 children 6-12

— Water hookup campsite fee —$10 /night

— Electric and water hookup campsite fee — $15/night

— Screened shelter fee — $20/night

— Mini-cabins — 2

— Mini-cabin, air-conditioned — $45/day

— Dump stations — 2

— Sales tax generated — $6,774

— 2006 park budget — $479,488

— 2005 park revenue — $353,895

— Movie screen/outdoor amphitheater — 4' x 6' stage

— Impact on sales — $1.35 million

— Annual visitors —115,336

— No. of resident alligators — hundreds

— No. of jobs created — 59.8

— Miles west of Jasper — 12

— Miles from Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation — 30

— Reservations — (512) 389-8900

— Park information — (409) 384-5231

Due to the lake being drained by the Corps of Engineers, water facilities including fishing piers, boat ramps, and swimming areas will be closed until October 2006. Otherwise, normally:

— Bird Watching — Yes

— Wildlife Viewing/Interpretation — Yes

— Camping — Yes

— Picnic — Yes

— Hiking — Yes

— Biking — Yes

— Swimming — Yes

— Sandy beach — Yes

— Showers — Yes

— Fishing — Yes

— Fish Cleaning Facilities — Yes

— Boat rentals — Yes

— Water Ski-ing — Yes

— Full hook-ups — Yes

— Showers — Yes

— Dump station — 2

— Group shelter & Lodge rentals — Yes

— Dining Hall — Yes

— Public Phone — Yes

— Gift shop — Yes

— Nearest City — Jasper

— Nature Center — Yes

Martin Dies Jr. State Park: from Texas 63 go south on FM 777 before entering Jasper, turn west on U.S. 190, park headquarters on left before Lake Steinhagen.