Commission Agenda Item No. 14
Presenter: Ted Hollingsworth
Action Item
Acceptance of Land Donation – Calhoun County
Approximately 17,351 Acres
August 21, 2014
I. Executive Summary: Staff will brief the Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) Commission on a long-term public-private partnership intended to result in the creation of a new 17,351-acre conservation and recreation facility in Calhoun County.
II. Discussion: For decades, the conservation community, including state and federal fish and wildlife agency staff, has studied and strategized conservation for the coastal bend region. Specific targets for conservation have included iconic species such as the Whooping Crane, hundreds of thousands of migratory waterfowl and millions of migratory songbirds, and a unique assemblage of wetland and upland communities found nowhere else on earth. Some of the rarest communities straddle a geological formation known as the Ingleside Barrier Sandplain. The Ingleside is a relic barrier island a few miles wide stretching from what is now Matagorda Bay southwest into Kleberg County. Habitats found there include coastal prairies, savannas, mature live oak forests, pothole wetlands and emergent marshes. One of the best remaining examples of this landscape is a 17,351-acre tract located in Calhoun County.
Now a coalition of public and private partners has identified the means to acquire the site for donation to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to be developed as a wildlife management area and state park or state natural area. The project includes funding for initial habitat restoration and an endowment for long-term habitat management.
III. Recommendation: The staff recommends the TPW Commission adopt the following motion:
“The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission authorizes the Executive Director to take all necessary steps to accept the donation of approximately 17,351 acres in Calhoun County for establishment of a new conservation and recreation facility.”
Commission Agenda Item No. 14
Exhibit A
Location Map for Calhoun County
