Van Zandt named Walking County of Texas, burn ban remains

Van Zandt County walking and exercise enthusiast Bob Moore and members of multiple economic development corporations from around the county came together Oct. 13 to ask commissioners to proclaim Van Zandt County the “The Walking County of Texas.”

The proclamation stated that Van Zandt County “has 5,400,000,000 steps walked in Canton and the county during First Monday each and every year… and that the cities and towns in the county have developed unique walking programs as an ongoing working example for promoting the importance of walking in America.”

Moore, a walking, exercise and nutrition guru, presented each commissioner and Judge Don Kirkpatrick with their own walking sticks during the meeting.

Kirkpatrick then proclaimed the county was hereby recognized as “The Walking County of Texas.”

Burn ban

Dry conditions, changes in temperature and long stretches of dry weather forced Kirkpatrick to place an impromptu burn ban on the county Oct. 6.

At the Oct. 13 meeting, County Fire Marshal Chuck Allen advised commissioners that the burn ban would need to be continued because of dry conditions.

The county is at the “top of the threshold” and should remain under a burn ban until significant rains come, Allen said.

Van Zandt County is at a 758 level out of 800 in the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, Allen said.

“I would encourage the court to keep the burn ban in place,” he said. “We are at a high level in the drought index and we are predicting that number to rise. Right now, we are at a 758 and in two weeks, we will be at a 780 more than likely. We are at the top of the threshold right now. Until we receive significant rains, my recommendation is to keep Van Zandt County under a burn ban until further notice.”

Commissioners approved Allen’s request and instituted a burn ban until further notice. 

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