Proposed Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area
Jan. 21st, 2015
by Natalie Wiest
I represented HCC on January 21 at the Bolivar Peninsula Nature Tourism Workshop sponsored by Houston Audubon Society (HAS) to bring together stakeholders for the purpose of expanding nature-based recreational opportunities, environmental education, and habitat conservation. HAS has seven properties on the Bolivar peninsula and High Island that are internationally renowned birding destinations.
This is one of the first steps in coordinating a cohesive educational and tourism experience on the peninsula and adjoining areas. I have enjoyed paddling the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and of course touted its virtues and the desirability of making it more user-friendly, accessible and visible. One of the takeaways from the meeting was information from another attendee that in fact there are passable waterways through the islands just north of the ICW cut. I have also paddled the bay side of those islands; to date not the Gulf coast by the peninsula, but there are many more places that provide nice places to paddle.
As a larger project for the upper Texas coast, National Parks and Conservation Association is proposing a Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area. (www.npca.org/about-us/regional-offices/texas/lone-star) . Here is a statement from their brochure that describes the drawing points: “Come see a side of Texas you’ve never seen before. A place with so many colorful songbirds… that the migrating flocks show up on radar. A place with hiking and kayak trails threading through watery cypress forests and cordgrass marshes. An angler’s saltwater soup of redfish, flounder and speckled trout. Some of the best winter surfing east of Calilfornia…And a Victorian town so historical and romantic that Glenn Campbell sang a love song to it.”
This project does not necessarily have large land acquisition plans, but will provide an overarching framework that will develop tourism and marketing and coordination among land mangers toward common goals and functions. From the Bolivar Nature Tourism meeting my notes include the following top-ranked projects, somewhat in order of preference (I have not received official notes as yet, so take this with a grain of salt): visitor information centers on both east and western end of the peninsula, possibly a third one mid-peninsula; development of good information, signage and mapping including smart phone apps; need for picnic areas and parking at jetties; getting the public on to conserved land without destroying it; bathrooms and showers at the beach.
Many partners support the Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area. Similar ventures include Padre Island National Seashore, Delaware Gap National Recreation Area, and the C&O Canal National Historic Park. For a more in depth look at the project, check out www.npca.org/assets/pdf/Opportunity_Knocks.pdf . Representatives from Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Peninsula Development Corporation, Bolivar Peninsula Cultural Development Association, Houston Audubon, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and BP (and probably others whose affiliation I did not catch) were in attendance at the workshop conducted by Justin Bates of the National Park Service.
I believe these are wonderful projects to be involved with and will recommend endorsement by Houston Canoe Club if/when we get to an appropriate stage of development.
- Natalie Wiest
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| The author, Natalie Wiest |