Planning Updates

Public Scoping Meetings - April and May 2007

Members of the public were invited to help the National Park Service develop a Comprehensive Management and Use Plan for El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail during a series of eight scoping meetings held in April and May of 2007. The National Park Service invited everyone with an interest in the trail and its history, possibilities for recreation and heritage tourism, resource protection, and other opportunities along the route to attend one or more of the scoping meetings.

Texas Trip – March 2008

Dr. Susan Boyle and Brooke Safford from the National Trails Intermountain Region (NTIR) office based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, traveled to Texas in late March 2008 to meet with various trail experts and to visit sites and segments along El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail. Accompanied by trail partners and land owners, the NTIR staff devoted most of their trip to southeast Texas. Some of the sites visited included "Paso de Piedra," a crossing on the Frio River close to Pearsall, "Brockman’s Crossing" of Cibolo Creek near Karnes City, and a ranch containing trail remnants in Goliad County.

Louisiana and Texas Trips – January and February 2009

A study team consisting of Dr. Susan Boyle, Dr. Jere Krakow (retired National Park Service), Jeff Williams (Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches) and Jim Bruseth (Texas Historical Commission) traveled along the trail in Louisiana and Texas to visit and assess trail-related sites and segments to determine eligibility for designation as "high potential sites" and "high potential segments." 

According to the National Trails System Act (P.L. 90-543), Section 12:

a)  high-potential sites are those historic sites related to the route or sites in close proximity thereto, which provide opportunity to interpret the historic significance of the trail during the period of its major use.; criteria for consideration as high potential sites include historic significance, presence of visible historic remnants, scenic quality and relative freedom from intrusion;

b)  high potential segments are those segments of a trail which afford high quality recreation experience in a portion of the route having greater than average scenic values or affording an opportunity to vicariously share the experience of the original users of a historic route.

The planning process determines if sites, trail segments, or associated resources are to be included as official components of the national historic trail. “High potential” lists are compiled based on information available when the Comprehensive Management Plan is being prepared, and should not be regarded as complete, conclusive, or final. Lists may be amended to add or remove properties, as appropriate.

As with other national historic trails, high potential sites and segments give understanding to visitors about resources and settings that evoke a sense of what it was like during the historic period along El Camino Real de los Tejas. A variety of locations exist to interpret the trail and a matrix of experiences in the management plan would assist visitors with trip planning along the routes.

Accompanied by various trail partners and experts, the study team spent a total of 14 days traveling from Natchitoches, Louisiana, to the border towns of Laredo and Eagle Pass, Texas.

Comprehensive Management Plan/Environmental Assessment

The draft Comprehensive Management Plan and Environmental Assessment (CMP/EA) is in development. To assist in the preparation of the draft CMP/EA, four studies have been completed for the "Affected Environment" section of the EA. These include: 1) an ethnohistory of the general area encompassed in the designated routes; 2) an inventory of the cultural resources in Texas along the congressionally-designated routes; 3) an inventory of cultural resources in Louisiana along the congressionally-designated route; and 4) a data acquisition study for the major natural resources topics. This data was collected primarily through contracts and cooperative agreements.

Writing of the draft CMP/EA is currently underway.

A scoping report (June 2007) with details of the public meetings and comments is available.

A planning newsletter (spring 2007) and a national historic trail map are available.

A DVD "On the Road to Partnerships" (November 2007) about the national historic trail and the planning process is available.

You may also visit a website dedicated to the trail's planning process at:

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/elte

Please return and visit this web page in the future for planning updates.