Commercial Roofing Contractors in Lake Dallas, TX

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Fairfield Lake State Park, 96 miles south of Dallas, is expected to close permanently by the end of the month because its landlord is selling the land.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department received a lease termination notice from the owners, Vistra Corp., which had operated the Big Brown coal power plant at that location until the plant shuttered in 2018. Vistra is selling its 5,000-acre property to Dallas-based real estate developer Shawn Todd and his firm, Todd Interests, for $110.5 million.

Todd announced the land will be turned into an exclusive gated community, which includes multimillion-dollar homes and a private golf course, The Dallas Morning News and Bloomberg reported.

Fairfield isn’t the only state park on borrowed land. There are 14 other public parks, like Cedar Hill, Lake Whitney and Ray Roberts Lake, that could face a similar fate.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Chair Arch “Beaver” Aplin III said the agency attempted to purchase the state park site, but neither the company nor the buyer would consider selling part or all of the land to the state. The park includes 1,460 acres of land and the 2,400-acre Fairfield Lake.

A renowned fishing spot, the lake attracts anglers who fish for bass, crappie, perch, catfish, tilapia and red drum. The lake is also popular for swimming and kayaking, while the surrounding land offers 15 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horse riding. With close to 250 species of birds recorded — including the bald eagle — the park is a bird-watching heaven.

For more than 50 years, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department leased land for the state park from energy companies, Vistra and Luminant. Since 1976, the state has invested $72 million in renovations and improvements to the park.

“This is an unprecedented loss of a state treasure for Texans,” said David Yoskowitz, executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “The demand for outdoor recreation exceeds supply in Texas, so losing even one state park is a setback for all of us who enjoy publicly accessible lands.”

The department said the park will close permanently Feb. 28. The Vistra spokesperson said the state will have 120 days from Feb. 13 — the date the lease termination was sent — to vacate the property. During that time, park staff will begin to remove equipment, relocate staff members to other parks and cancel upcoming camping reservations. More than 2,700 people had already reserved spots for dates after Feb. 27, according to a press release.

Aplin said the selling of the parkland was a surprise and will have a huge impact on Fairfield, a town of about 2,800 people.

“They had been a coal-producing plant for some 40 or 50 years,” he said. “So when they decided to shut down, we didn’t see that coming. … [We] had no way of knowing.”

A Vistra spokesperson said the company has leased the land to the state at no cost and gave the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department a two-year notice that it intended to terminate the lease effective October 2020. The spokesperson said Vistra encouraged the state to submit a bid to buy the entire property — but the state did not submit a bid.

Since 2016, Irving-based corporation Vistra has closed or announced the closure of 19 coal plants as what was once the state’s largest electricity generator pivoted to solar power, investing about $850 million toward seven solar projects in Texas.

“This is one of their big attractors in their community,” Aplin said of the Fairfield area. “People come to the park and shop in the town of Fairfield. We had 83,000 people come to the park last year. It’s a big deal, not only for our agency, but for the community and Freestone County.”

State Rep. Angelia Orr, R-Itasca, whose district includes the park, filed a bill Tuesday that, if passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, would allow the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to use eminent domain to seize the park’s land.

Orr said lawmakers also are working on a bill to prevent more state parks from being closed.

“This treasured piece of Texas has blessed our local families and countless visitors for generations, and losing it is hard to comprehend,” she said. “I join park lovers in Freestone County and across the state in expressing my sincere disappointment in hearing this news. As a result, we are now working on legislation to prevent this from ever occurring in any of our other beautiful state parks going forward.”

Luke Metzger, executive director of the advocacy group Environment Texas, said it was especially tragic that the park will close during the 100-year anniversary of the state park system.

“Our state parks are sacred to us as Texans,” Metzger said. “Unfortunately, this loss means fewer nights camped, fewer fish reeled in and fewer memories with our families.

“Texas desperately needs more state parks, not fewer,” he added.

State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, who chairs the Business and Commerce Committee voiced his displeasure Tuesday.

“Today’s heartbreaking announcement of the closing of Fairfield Lake State Park is a tremendous loss for Freestone County and all Texans who enjoy our state’s unique parklands,” he said. “It is unfortunate that Vistra and this private developer were unable to come to an agreement that would have allowed the state of Texas to purchase the park from Vistra to maintain it for future generations of Texans.”

Disclosure: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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Texas and federal regulators have failed to uphold Clean Air Act obligations

DALLAS — Yesterday, Sierra Club sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to implement a federal plan to eliminate harmful levels of sulfur dioxide pollution from Luminant’s Martin Lake coal plant, as required by the Clean Air Act. EPA has dodged obligations to bring Martin Lake and other Texas power plants into compliance with the Clean Air Act’s sulfur dioxide safeguards for more than a decade.

“Martin Lake is the worst sulfur dioxide and mercury polluter in the entire country,” said Misti O’Quinn, Sierra Club’s Organizing Representative for the Beyond Coal Campaign in Texas. “Failure to implement a plan to keep our air clean puts lives at risk from Rusk County to Dallas County. EPA needs to do its job and protect the health and environment of Texas residents.”

Sulfur dioxide is a dangerous chemical that can harm lung function, worsen asthma attacks, and put sensitive groups – like people with heart disease – at extreme risk. In response to a lawsuit for failing to implement the Clean Air Act’s sulfur dioxide protections, EPA determined in 2016 that levels of sulfur dioxide surrounding the Martin Lake coal plant fail to meet national health-based standards, making the air unhealthy to breathe. Since then, Texas’s own monitoring data has confirmed these routine violations.

Martin Lake is the only significant source of dangerous sulfur dioxide in the Longview area. Under the Clean Air Act, if a polluter fails to meet the air safety standards independently, and the state fails to require pollution reductions necessary to meet the standard, the EPA is obligated to enforce the law by implementing a federal clean-up plan. But EPA has not done so. And Martin Lake still does not have common-sense pollution controls, like modern scrubbers used across the industry, to reduce pollution to safer levels in compliance with national air quality standards.

“Under the Clean Air Act, Texas had an obligation to ensure that the Martin Lake area came into compliance with EPA’s sulfur dioxide limits no later than 2021,” said Emma Pabst, a representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. “The state refused to do anything and has instead opted to join with Luminant – the same wealthy corporation that is selling Fairfield Lake State Park to developers – and fight the EPA’s determination that Martin Lake needs to clean up. The Clean Air Act is clear: EPA must now finish the job and step in with a federal plan.”

Sierra Club’s lawsuit will force EPA to implement a federal plan that requires Martin Lake to reduce emissions and come into compliance with national, health-based sulfur dioxide safeguards. EPA generally has 60 days to file an answer to the complaint.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — From mountains and canyons to forests and swamps, the vast scale of Texas provides so many natural wonders.

Across the Lone Star State, there are 87 state parks, natural areas and historic sites currently operated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

The first parks were opened to the public in the 1930s and the newest, Old Tunnel State Park, opened in 2012. TPWD also has plans to develop five sites into future state parks.

Fairfield Lake State Park, meanwhile, is set to permanently close at the end of February.

TPWD splits the state into seven ‘natural regions,’ each of which is home to several state parks. The Prairies & Lakes region is home to 22 parks, more than any other region. The South Texas Plains region is home to the fewest, with seven parks.

Across the system, state parks welcomed more than nine million visitors in Fiscal Year 2022. The Prairies & Lakes region recorded the most visitors, with more than 3.1 million across its 22 parks.

The Hill Country region welcomed more than 2.3 million visitors across 16 parks, while the Pineywoods and Panhandle Plains regions each saw more than one million visitors.

State parks in the Big Bend Country region saw the fewest number of visitors, with around 464,000. Those numbers do not include visitors to Big Bend National Park, which alone saw more than half a million visitors in 2021, a record high for the park.

But which individual state park gets the most visitors? Explore for yourself using our interactive table below, or keep scrolling to see our top 10 countdown.

10. Inks Lake State Park

TPWD calls Inks Lake State Park a Hill Country gem, with “sparkling blue water, colorful rock outcrops and striking sunsets.” The park welcomed 232,690 visitors in FY 2022.

9. Guadalupe River State Park

While many people enjoy swimming at Guadalupe River State Park, TPWD says the park is more than just a swimming hole, saying “beautiful scenery and colorful history await.” The park welcomed 238,841 visitors in FY 2022.

8. Dinosaur Valley State Park

TPWD says dinosaur footprints were left in the mud at the edge of an ancient ocean. At Dinosaur Valley State Park, you can literally walk in their tracks. The park welcomed 243,001 visitors in FY 2022.

7. Brazos Bend State Park

If you’re looking for a “wild” experience, TPWD says to check out Brazos Bend State Park, calling it a “nature lover’s paradise.” The park welcomed 272,837 visitors in FY 2022.

6. Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

Climbing the giant granite dome “is almost a rite of passage for Texans,” TPWD says. But there’s more to the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area than just the dome. “The scenery, rock formations and legends are magical, too!” The park welcomed 307,686 visitors in FY 2022.

5. Cedar Hill State Park

Just 20 miles from downtown Dallas, Cedar Hill State Park feels like “a world away from the city,” TPWD says. The park includes a lake, a working farm from the 1800s and rugged limestone hills. The park welcomed 324,420 visitors in FY 2022.

4. McKinney Falls State Park

TPWD says McKinney Falls State Park, within the city of Austin, features “rugged beauty.” Onion Creek flows over limestone ledges and trails wind through the Hill Country woods. The park welcomed 335,332 visitors in FY 2022.

3. Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Palo Duro Canyon State Park is referred to by TPWD as the “Grand Canyon of Texas.” In fact, it’s the second-largest canyon in the U.S., behind only — you guessed it — the Grand Canyon. The park welcomed 442,242 visitors in FY 2022.

2. Garner State Park

Swimming, dancing and hiking are some of the highlights at Garner State Park. TPWD says “fun traditions and beautiful scenery” bring people back time after time. The park welcomed 517,317 visitors in FY 2022.

1. Ray Roberts Lake State Park

TPWD calls Ray Roberts Lake State Park a “natural playground.” You can escape the bustle of the DFW Metroplex and “get back to nature.” The park welcomed 885,173 visitors in FY 2022.

Stay tuned — we’ll be counting down the top 10 least-visited state parks next week!

Texas is home to thousands of lakes, ponds, and other waterways, some man-made and some natural. These amazing places are often important recreational and civic resources, making them essential to the long-term viability of a region. Today, we are going to learn about one of the largest lakes in Texas, Lewisville Lake. This reservoir has been around for nearly 100 years and continues to be an important feature of the landscape. Let’s get started and discover: How deep is Lake Lewisville in Texas?

The Depth and Size of Lewisville Lake in Texas

Lewisville Lake is a large man-made lake (reservoir) located in the northern part of Texas, in the United States. The lake has a maximum length of 11 miles (18 kilometers), a maximum width of 4.24 miles (6.82 kilometers), and a surface area of 29,592 acres. This makes Lewisville Lake one of the largest lakes in Texas. It covers an area roughly that of the city of San Francisco.

The maximum depth of Lewisville Lake is 67 feet (20 meters), which is about the height of a six-story building. The lake has a water volume of 555,000 acre-feet, which is equivalent to about 723 billion gallons of water. This is enough water to cover an area of 29,592 acres to a depth of one foot.

The surface elevation of Lewisville Lake is 522 feet (159 meters) above sea level, which is higher than the surrounding terrain. This makes the lake a popular spot for recreational activities such as boating, fishing, and water sports.

Where is Lewisville Lake?

Lewisville Lake is located in North Texas, in the United States. It sits on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River in Denton County, near the city of Lewisville. The lake is conveniently located in the heart of North Texas, nearly in the middle and to the north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area.

One of the nearby points of interest is Lake Ray Roberts, located north of Lewisville Lake. The Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (LLELA) Nature Preserve is situated to the south of the lake. Lewisville, the city after which the lake is named, is found to the south and western shore of the lake.

The History of Lewisville Lake

Lewisville Lake in Texas has a rich history, dating back to the early 20th century. The W.E. Callahan Construction Company finished the Garza Dam in 1927, creating Lake Dallas. This dam was 10,890 feet long and had a 567-foot service spillway. It also had a capacity of 194,000 acre-feet, with around 43 miles of shoreline. It served as the primary water source for the city of Dallas for 31 years.

However, in the 1940s, it became clear that the region needed increased water storage capabilities and more flood control for the wet seasons. Congress passed the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1945, which began the construction of the project in the Trinity River basin. Engineers worked on the Garza-Little Elm Dam between 1948 and 1954. The super-structure combined Lake Dallas, Hickory Creek, and Little Elm Creek into one.

At 32,888 feet long, the Lewisville Dam was officially completed in 1955, and the Garza Dam was subsequently released in 1957 to create the new lake, which was named the Garza-Little Elm Reservoir. The Garza-Little Elm Reservoir would eventually be renamed Lewisville Lake, which is what it is known as today.

During later construction, workers stumbled upon an archaeological site and found ancient artifacts dating to Paleo-Indian people groups from 36,000 B.P. (before present). Although later studies in 1978 concluded that the original dating was contaminated, and an updated date of c. 12,000 B.P. was subsequently used.

The Wildlife of Lewisville Lake

Lewisville Lake is home to a diverse population of fish and other aquatic wildlife.

The lake is known for its abundance of largemouth bass, which is the most popular fish in Texas. Spotted bass and white and hybrid striped bass are also found in the lake. White crappie is also a predominant fish species in the lake and provides the most fishing activity by the numbers.

The lake is also home to excellent blue and channel catfish fisheries. The lake’s shoreline and some coves provide small stands of pondweed that can support the fish’s prime habitat. Anglers can also enjoy targeting hybrid striped bass, which is periodically stocked by the TPWD (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department) to provide more sport fish.

Unfortunately, the lake (along with many others in Texas) is suffering from an invasive species, the zebra mussel. Boaters are warned to take extra precautions before traveling to other water bodies by thoroughly cleaning, draining, and drying their boats, trailers, live wells, and other gear to prevent the spread of these mussels. These mussels are harmful to native aquatic ecosystems because they reproduce rapidly and can outcompete native species for food and habitat. They also filter large amounts of water, which can disrupt the food web and change the water chemistry in ways that are detrimental to native species. Additionally, zebra mussels can cause significant economic damage by clogging water intake pipes at power plants, municipal water treatment facilities, and industrial facilities, which is the prime reason that Lewisville Lake exists in the first place.

Colby is a freelance writer from Charlotte, North Carolina. When he isn't distracted by his backyard birdfeeder, you can find him camping, exploring, and telling everyone around him about what he's recently learned. There's a whole world to learn about and Colby is content to spend his life learning as much as he can about it!

Vector Brewing in Lake Highlands is officially the best brewpub in Texas.

At the Texas Craft Brewers Cup, Vector won two gold medals and a silver for its beers, good for a special bonus trophy: Brewery of the Year.

“It’s a cool feeling,” says Craig Bradley, one of Vector’s owners. “We always viewed awards as, they are what they are—they’re not going to sell beer. But it is great validation for what we do and the hard work we put into our beer.”

The Texas Craft Brewers Cup, part of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, is an annual competition-slash-meetup in which the state’s breweries enter their best efforts across a range of categories, from light lagers to “decadent beers” (the latter was won this year by something called “Pear Blueberry Crumble Super Smoothie Beer”). In total, 52 judges tasted 852 different beers from 147 producers. They then handed out gold, silver, and bronze medals in 27 categories.

Vector entered six brews. Its two gold medal winners were Pho Sho, a pho-inspired beer in the “field and fruit” category for drinks with fruit, vegetable, or herb additives; and Moonsmoke, an ultra-light smoked lager in a nearly extinct German style called Lichtenhainer. Open Rhythms, an American pale ale, got a silver among pale ales.

“Moonsmoke is our little baby,” Bradley says. “It’s a very old German-style beer that uses smoke and a little tart acidity. It’s such a weird beer. We tell people, ‘You’re not going to like this on first sip. It takes about four to five sips until you’re like, “Oh, I do want to keep drinking this.”’ It’s a Texas beer. We love smoked foods in Texas, so why not have a little tart smoke in beer?”

Vector was not the only Dallas-area winner this weekend, by the way: Deep Ellum’s Neato Bandito won gold for best golden or blond ale, and Lakewood Brewing’s Lion Share X was named the best barrel-aged brew. A full list of Dallas-area medalists is at the end of this story.

But Vector’s total medal haul was big enough to net it the Brewery of the Year award in the brewpub size category, for businesses producing 600 or fewer barrels each year. The trophy for best larger craft brewery went to Houston’s True Anomaly Brewing. For context: in 2022, the Dallas Observer reported that Peticolas Brewing makes around 5,000 barrels a year. Deep Ellum makes ten times more than Peticolas does—or almost a hundred times more beer than Vector produces.

“I don’t know that I care about being in every grocery store,” Bradley says. “This is more my speed.”

On Sunday, to celebrate Vector’s wins, I stopped by the brewpub and sampled two of the prizewinners: Open Rhythms and Pho Sho.

Both beers are triumphs. Pho Sho is made with a long list of classic pho ingredients, including lemongrass, ginger, shiitake mushrooms, and cardamom, but it really doesn’t taste like all of that. Daringly, head brewer Tomás Gutierrez radically revised the recipe for the competition batch, but his rewrites paid off.

Pho Sho doesn’t taste like pho, which may be a relief to many drinkers. Instead, the lime comes through most prominently of all, along with a touch of Thai basil. It’s bright, crisp, and has the yeasty funk of some Belgian saisons and wits. Actually, though, the drink it tastes most like is a shandy. In Germany, they have a summertime habit of mixing a lager with a bit of 7 Up. Pho Sho tastes a lot like that.

Open Rhythms is even easier to love. It pushes hard on hop flavor and aroma without being especially bitter.

“Pale ales kind of get a bad rap,” Bradley says. “They’re not a flashy IPA or a hazy IPA. But we still love them. Sierra Nevada is a classic American beer. Open Rhythms is a beer we came out of the gate with.”

Vector also entered its light beer, Bullpen, and two pilsners, Bo and Mountain Child, the former Bohemian-style and the latter an Alpine-inspired German version. They lost out, but Bradley says that the Vector team was still impressed when they saw their competition: some of the most celebrated beers in Texas. Two of the light beers that topped Bullpen are made by fellow Dallas-area breweries ODD Muse and Celestial Beerworks.

“Most times you go to brewery awards, and IPAs, pale ales, and hazy IPAs are the top entered beers,” Bradley explains. “In Texas, pilsner is the top entered beer. In Texas, if you enter a lager, it’s going to be hard competition. We love that kind of competition.”

The Texas Craft Brewers Cup is only in its second year, but the competition is already a tour-de-force show of strength for our state’s beer industry. This year’s winners range from Lubbock and Amarillo to Pearland and Marble Falls.

For Vector Brewing, there’s an added sweetness to the recognition. The brewpub almost failed before it opened when its small business loans were held up by the 2018-19 federal government shutdown. It then managed to finally open its doors—in March 2020. To stay alive, Vector’s founders and brewers stayed true to themselves.

“We were like, we’ve gotten this far, what’s a little global pandemic?” Bradley recalls. “We’re a family business. We’ve sunk everything into it. Failure was not an option. We have a really close-knit team and some awesome folks who have poured everything into this place. So let’s not compromise, let’s not cut corners.”

The result, this weekend, was a new trophy case.

Dallas-Area Winners at the Texas Craft Brewers Cup

Armor Brewing Co., Allen

Celestial Beerworks, Dallas

Deep Ellum Brewing Company, Dallas

Lakewood Brewing, Garland

ODD Muse Brewing, Farmers Branch

Rollertown Beerworks, Celina

Siren Rock Brewing, Rockwall

Vector Brewing, Dallas

White Rock Alehouse, Dallas