TFFC Facts and History

TFFC includes a visitor center with educational exhibits and aquariums, recreational fishing ponds, Hart-Morris Conservation Center with meeting facilities, wetland trail, and freshwater fish production hatchery. As home base for the Toyota ShareLunker program, TFFC is known as the "Big Bass Capital of the World". Annual visitation is more than 40,000, with more than 25,000 participating in fishing while visiting.

TFFC by the numbers:

  • 106 acres
  • 23,000 square foot Visitor Center
  • 300,000 gallons of aquaria
  • 24,000 square feet of indoor hatchery and laboratories
  • 3 acres of public fishing ponds
  • 1.2-mile wetland trail
  • 25,000-gallon dive tank aquarium
  • 56 species of fish and reptiles on display in natural habitats

History

The Edwin L. Cox, Jr., Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center opened in November 1996 and was named after a former chairman of the Parks and Wildlife Commission. The state-of-the-art hatchery production facility was completed in spring 1999 with 45 ponds covering 37 acres.

TFFC was the first project of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. It was built as a joint venture with the Parks and Wildlife Foundation, ShareLunker Foundation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the City of Athens, Athens Economic Development Corporation, Athens Municipal Water Authority, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and many private contributors.

TFFC History

Funding

When opened, the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center was an $18 million facility built without the use of state funds even though it belongs to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Many public and private entities worked with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation to raise the needed financial support.

Much of the funding came from the Sport Fish Restoration Fund, a federal program funded by excise taxes on fishing gear and tackle purchases. The City of Athens provided a financial package worth $4,063,000, at the time, the largest single gift ever made to a conservation project in the state of Texas. Additional support came from the ShareLunker Foundation, Inc., the Athens Municipal Water Authority, the Athens Economic Development Corporation and a number of private entities and individuals.

Grants from corporations, conservation organizations and individuals continue to be a vital source of funds for TFFC programs. Contributors include the Dallas Safari Club, Trinity Valley Electric Cooperative, Exxon/Mobil Corporation, the Freshwater Anglers Association, the Hillcrest Foundation, the Effie and Wofford Cain Foundation, Texas Black Bass Unlimited and TXU. The Texas Department of Transportation funded much of the work on the wetlands trail. Bass Pro Shops founder John L. Morris provided TFFC with a challenge grant of up to $650,000 for money raised during 2004-2005 for the Hart Morris Conservation Center. A multi-million dollar renovation of the visitors center and other facilities was completed with private funds in 2025.

Donors to TFFC

  • Anheuser-Busch Foundation
  • Athens Economic Development Corporation
  • Athens Municipal Water Authority
  • Bass Pro Shops
  • Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s Outdoor Fund
  • Berry F. Cox Family Foundation
  • Billy Powell
  • Bliss-Murski Sales
  • Brookshire Grocery Company
  • Bryan Foods
  • Caldwell Zoo
  • Club Limited
  • Coca-Cola
  • Corrigan-Goddard Foundation
  • Dallas Safari Club
  • Effie & Wofford Cain Foundation
  • Effie Marie Cain
  • Elder Hardwoods
  • Estate of Beatrice Payne
  • Exxon/Mobil
  • First State Bank of Athens
  • Friends of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center
  • Frito-Lay
  • G2 Contractors
  • Gary Grant Sales Company, Inc.
  • Ginger Murchison Foundation
  • Gordon W. & Pauline Dopson
  • Granville C. & Gladys H. Morton Fund
  • Gulf States Toyota
  • Hildebrand Fund
  • Hill Feinberg
  • Hillcrest Foundation
  • Jack Brittingham
  • Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation
  • James Wright
  • Joanie and Arch “Beaver” Aplin, III
  • Kathie and Ed Cox
  • Kraft General Foods
  • National Rifle Association
  • OAR Foundation
  • Oshman Foundation
  • Parker Drilling Company
  • Perry R. Bass
  • Rather Outdoors
  • Ray and Mandy Murski
  • Rex G. Howell
  • Richard M. and Gloria A. Hart
  • Robert G. Brittingham
  • Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
  • Sabine River Authority
  • Stewards of the Wild, Dallas Chapter
  • Sunny and Tisha Vanderbeck
  • Texas Black Bass Unlimited, Inc.
  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation
  • Texas Pacific Land Corporation
  • The Austin Blake Howell Foundation
  • The Ben and Maytee Fisch Foundation
  • The Brunswick Foundation
  • The John M. O'Quinn Foundation
  • The Orvis Company
  • The Patrick Sands Family
  • The Rosewood Foundation
  • Toyota
  • Trammell Crow Company
  • TXU
  • Union Sportsmen’s Alliance
  • Virginia L. Murchison
  • Walter & Sheila Umphrey Foundation
  • Wharton Family
  • William Diebel Memorial
  • William E. Armentrout Foundation
  • William J. Hill
  • Zebco