El Paso hikers and backpackers could soon be able to trek to the top of the Christmas Mountains and take in panoramic views of Big Bend National Park.

The area will be opened to the public while state officials work on a deal to sell the land to a federal agency that will allow hunting on the property, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson said Tuesday.

The Texas School Land Board, in a meeting Tuesday, rejected two private bidders' offers to purchase the land, which is adjacent to Big Bend National Park, about 300 miles southeast of El Paso.

Patterson ignited controversy over the mountainous desert region last year when he sought private owners to buy the 9,000-acre tract, which was donated to the state in 1991 by the Conservation Fund.

The original deed from the Conservation Fund envisioned that the area would remain in public hands unless the organization approved the sale to a private owner.

Critics argued the land should remain publicly owned and that Patterson was reneging on the state's deal with the Conservation Fund.

Last week, the National Park Service submitted a plan to add the Christmas Mountains to Big Bend National Park.

The board's decision to reject private offers seemed initially to open the door to that proposal. But Patterson, a staunch gun-rights advocate, said he would sell the land only to an owner that would allow firearms.

The National Park Service does not permit hunting in its parks, but Patterson said agencies such

as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service allow it.

"Federal ownership and hunting in the Christmas Mountains are not mutually exclusive," he said.

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said the land should go to the National Park Service because it has the resources to manage the land.

"What makes the most sense is to put it in the National Parks," Shapleigh said. "They understand the mountain range; they have the personnel trained."

Patterson said it could take more than a year to decide whether the land should remain under Texas' ownership, be transferred to a federal agency or be sold to a private owner.

In the meantime, Patterson said he would open to the public a one-mile stretch of the land connecting the Christmas Mountains to Big Bend park. Now, there is no public access to the land.

He also said he would work with other state agencies to allow dove hunting in the area as soon as this fall.

Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com; 512-479-6606.