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Several State Parks Remain Closed Due to Hurricane Damage (Upper Coast)

TPWD is still digging out from under the damage wreaked by Hurricane Ike in September. While there was some facility damage to some structures managed by the coastal fisheries and wildlife divisions, the most severe destruction occurred at several state parks that were in the storm’s path. Here’s an update on the status of the affected parks and the employees who worked there:

• Sea Rim State Park: Remains closed to public — All facilities destroyed or damaged beyond repair — TPWD continues to evaluate losses and future options for park. All employees of Sea Rim were offered other assignments within the agency. Two classified and one hourly resigned.
• Galveston Island State Park: Remains closed to public — All facilities and infrastructure on Gulf side destroyed or damaged beyond repair — Bay side of park received severe damage; however, Nature Center and park maintenance building are repairable and will serve as a staging point for skeleton crew (3) remaining on site — Currently studying the possibility of limited public access on the Bay side with the assistance of the Friends of Galveston Island SP. Galveston Island State Park maintained a skeleton crew of three, two Park Police Officers and one Ranger III. All other employees were offered other assignments within the agency. Five classified and one hourly resigned. All classified employees that chose to resign will remain on TPWD payroll through December 31, 2008.
• Martin Dies Jr. State Park: Remains closed with an expected opening date of November 12 — Received severe tree loss — Corps of Engineers (Corps owns property) conducted a salvage timer operation — Contractors currently in park assisting with debris and damaged tree removal.
• Village Creek State Park: Remains closed to the public — sustained moderate tree loss and/or damage — Plans to reopen late November.
• Brazos Bend State Park: Closed 30 days — sustained moderate tree loss throughout the park — have currently documented over 2000 hours of staff and volunteer labor dedicate solely to Hurricane Ike debris removal. Park is now fully operational with minor tree removal still to be completed.
• San Jacinto Battleground State Historical Park: Closed 30 days — sustained moderate tree loss — Monument had minor wind driven rain infiltration — water damaged elevator and it remains closed for repairs — Battleship rode fine — Ship rose on mono-piles as designed — Flooding in the park store area — flooded to roof and destroyed all inventory — Building has been declared a total loss by TPWD and there are plans to demolish — Park restrooms flooded but are repairable — Temporary store has been opened on board the BB35 — Area east of the Monument is still closed for debris removal, however, the remainder of the park is open to the public.
• Lake Livingston State Park: Park opened to public October 19th — Severe tree loss — TPWD conducted a salvage timber operation — 20 loads (logging trucks) of logs removed — some clean up remains, but all areas of park open to public.
• Sheldon Lake State Park: Moderate tree loss — closed two weeks — Region 4 HQ housed for one month at the park's Environmental Learning Center while repairs where made to the R4 office in La Porte — Park now fully open to the public.

Rio Grande Flood Washes out Big Bend Ranch State Park Facilities (West)

The recent record-setting flooding of the Rio Grande has caused considerable damage to state park facilities along the river. State park staff had done a lot of work getting the park ready for increased public access. A restroom facility, interpretive signage, picnic tables and in one case, an entire campground have been washed away. TPWD expects to have all river campgrounds assessed, cleaned up and ready for visitors again by the end of the year, assuming it dries up enough to get heavy equipment into the area. Of even greater concern to the locals is the damage to FM 170, the scenic river drive between Lajitas and Presidio. The road is open to local traffic only and six miles east of Presidio the road is closed with a detour over a gravel road. There is a growing concern about the impact this is having on tourism to the Big Bend area. Despite these concerns, the flooding did have some positive environmental impacts, including clearing away a lot of salt cedar. As a result, you can now see the river in places where it had been hidden before.

New East Texas Fish Hatchery Construction Underway (East)

Construction of the new $27 million East Texas Fish Hatchery, expected to be completed in early 2010, is now underway.

The state-of-the-art facility on 200 acres just below Sam Rayburn Reservoir will replace the 70-year-old Jasper Fish Hatchery and provide at least 45 acres of fish production ponds capable of delivering up to 4.5 million fish annually for stocking in Texas public waters.

A groundbreaking ceremony near the site of the fish hatchery water intake structure was held in late August. (More information)

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