Conservation in Texas
Texas is part of the Central Flyway and provides important winter habitat for waterfowl that are produced in the U.S. and Canadian prairies. Texas is unique in that it winters 90% of duck populations and 75% of snow goose populations found in the Central Flyway. Rice fields, prairie wetlands and associated coastal marshes provide important habitat for hundreds of thousands of white-fronted geese, several species of diving ducks, mottled ducks, and other species of puddle ducks. DU has worked to conserve over 155,000 acres of waterfowl habitat throughout Texas since 1985. DU’s Texas CARE Initiative seeks to protect and restore an additional 62,500 acres in Texas. Our goal is to conserve habitat to secure the future of waterfowl throughout Texas and North America. Your support of DU will help us achieve that goal.
Texas Habitat Projects
Ducks Unlimited and Partners Conserve 35,000 Acres Along the Texas Gulf Coast
RICHMOND, Texas, July 24, 2006 – The Texas Prairie Wetlands Project (TPWP) reached a benchmark of 35,000 wetland acres conserved along the Texas Gulf Coast. The program’s success is due to the strong partnership forged among Ducks Unlimited, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and private landowners.
“We established the TPWP in 1991 to help achieve waterfowl population and habitat goals established by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan,” said DU Director of Conservation Programs for Texas Ed Ritter. “The primary objective of this program is to work with private landowners to restore, enhance and protect shallow-water wetlands throughout a 28-county focus area along the Texas Gulf Coast.”
SAN BERNARD NWR MARSH RESTORATION
Early this past spring, Ducks Unlimited volunteers and staff, the USFWS, and Reliant Energy collaborated in an effort to restore tidal wetland habitat on the Riverbend marsh of San Bernard NWR. Two-dozen DU volunteers literally got their hands dirty planting smooth cordgrass in two important areas of the marsh.
As with many areas along the Texas coast, foraging by snow geese has denuded a significant portion of the marsh. Historically, there was plenty of wetland habitat for snow geese to feed on periodically, then move on to greener pastures while the wetlands slowly recovered. Unfortunately, rising snow goose populations during the past decade have severely stressed the fragile coastal marsh ecosystem. Large goose eat-outs, coupled with increased salinity levels and increased tidal energy flow, result in further loss of vegetation and a continuing cycle of marsh degradation. These conditions make it difficult if not impossible for marsh vegetation to recover, and prohibit the growth of beneficial submergent plants such as wigeon grass...