Third Quarter 2014 - Texas Conservation Alliance

Texas Conservation Alliance
Conservation Progress
From the Board
By Mack Turner, Chairman
When I was a boy, my grandfather took
me fishing for bass and crappie on a
small lake in East Texas. After we caught the fish,
they were cleaned and fried -- and delicious! Today
on the Neches River, and at Lakes Sam Rayburn,
Toledo Bend, Caddo, and B.A. Steinhagen, the State
advises that young women and children not eat bass
or crappie. This is due to high levels of mercury in
the water.
The vast amount of the mercury in the lakes comes
from coal-fired power plants. Four of the nation's
top five mercury emitting power plants are located
in East Texas. Mercury is dangerous for young
children, and to the fetuses of young mothers
who eat mercury-contaminated fish.
Thankfully, there is good news on the
way. Rules are being put in place that will limit
mercury emissions from coal-fired power
plants. Some day we will again be able to safely eat
bass and crappie from our favorite East Texas rivers
and lakes. Hooray!
David Gray and Nancy Bateman Given
Lifetime Achievement Award
Third Quarter 2014
Order Your
FREE
5-Minute
DVD Today!
Cutting-edge filtration
processes are changing the face
of water supply in Texas, and
throughout the world. TCA's new
video, Water Recycling: A Crucial
Solution for the Future of Texas, shows
that ultrafiltration and reverse
osmosis, combined with
ultraviolet light and other
disinfection, produces
water purer than most
we drink today.
Water Recycling: A Crucial
Solution for the Future of Texas
Order your FREE DVD by sending an
email to [email protected], or call
512-777-9730.
Visit TCAtexas.org/water-recycling to
watch the video online.
At its Annual Meeting, TCA honored David Gray and
Nancy Bateman with its highest award, the Ned and Genie Fritz Lifetime Achievement Award.
David and Nancy have been fighting the Trinity tollroad for more than 20
years. This has meant years of analyzing lengthy documents, attending
endless hearings, recruiting supporters, and organizing campaigns out of
their house. Dave debated the mayor and lobbied elected officials. Their
persistence has paid off - the tollroad is widely believed to be dead.
David Gray and Nancy Bateman
Dave gave signal service to TCA serving as Chairman during the
transition years between when TCA was known as “Ned Fritz’s group”
and when it took on its current structure. He continues to serve as a TCA
board member as we build on Ned and Genie’s amazing legacy.
TCA Co-Founder Genie Fritz, Chairman Mack Turner, Vice Chair Richard LeTourneau, and Executive
Director Janice Bezanson jointly presented David and Nancy with a beautiful wooden bench, with a
commemorative plaque.
Conservation Progress
Third Quarter 2014
Major Newspapers Publish TCA
Op-Ed on Carbon Emissions
TCA Annual Meeting Features Broad
Range of Projects
The Austin American Statesman and San
Antonio Express News have published a
guest column written by TCA in support of
a rule proposed to limit carbon emissions
from coal-fired power plants.
40% of the country’s carbon
pollution is from coal-fired
plants and Texas has more such
plants than any other state.
TCA members gathered at the HartMorris Conference Center of the
Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center
in Athens on September 20 for a fun
Annual Meeting highlighting a
number of TCA’s projects.
Allen Forshage, Director of the
Fisheries Center, welcomed
TCA members and discussed
the impacts the drought has
had on fish and recreation.
Visit TCAtexas.org/carbon-emissions to
read TCA’s op-ed piece, and support the
EPA’s efforts to limit carbon emissions.
TCA Promotes Alternatives to
Cedar Ridge Reservoir
TCA-generated news stories in the Abilene
Reporter News and Abilene TV stations
pointed out some of the problems with
building a reservoir proposed by Abilene
for water supply. The proposed Cedar
Ridge Reservoir would cost $285 million.
TCA commissioned a hydrologist to study
the evaporative losses from the project. He
found that, if built, the new reservoir would
lose an average of about 16,000 acre-feet
per year (AFY) to evaporation, about 26%
of the water flowing into the lake.
“There are lowercost options for
developing
the
same
water,”
TCA’s
Janice
Bezanson
told
reporters. “Water could
be pumped from the
Clear Fork of the Brazos,
where the new reservoir is proposed, and
stored in an existing water supply lake
called Hubbard Creek. Or it could be
brought from Possum Kingdom Reservoir,
which is downstream of the proposed Cedar
Ridge site.”
Janice praised Abilene for a new water
recycling facility the City is developing,
saying recycling is the way to go, not
building a new reservoir.
Page 2
Jarratt Willis
Special highlights of the day were
introduction of TCA’s new video, Water
Recycling: a Crucial Solution for the Future of Texas, and a
hands-on education activity that got rave reviews. Ben Jones,
the Director of the Trinity River Audubon Center (TRAC), and
Jarratt Willis, TCA’s Teaching Intern in its partnership
with TRAC, showed attendees
how to capture and identify
macro-invertebrates from a
nearby pond.
TCA Board Member Bruce
Walker, Director of the Big
Thicket Association, and
Michael Banks, Co-Chair of
Friends of the Neches River,
celebrated new State Paddling
Group photo: Janice Bezanson
Trails on the Neches River.
(left), Richard LeTourneau,
Larry Shelton, TCA’s Forests
David Gray, Nancy Bateman,
Director, reported on TCA’s
Mack Turner, and Genie Fritz
successes at protecting
sensitive habitats on national
forests in Texas. TCA Chairman Mack
Turner and Executive Director Janice
Bezanson summarized a number of
issues, particularly TCA’s support for
limiting carbon emissions from coalfired power plants.
You Can Help Monitor the
Impacts of Climate Change
Ben Jones
TRAC Director
Texas projects need volunteers
to observe alterations in bird migration
cycles, blooming seasons for flowering
plants, and expansion of the range of
plants and animals.
To learn more about how you can help,
visit TCAtexas.org/citizen-scientist.
TCAtexas.org
Page 3
Two Land Protection Projects Completed
Texans completed two land
protection projects recently
that have conservationists
excited.
Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department (TPWD) is
partnering with the TPW
Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and
The Conservation Fund to acquire the
17,351-acre Powderhorn Ranch in Calhoun
County, to protect its remarkably-unspoiled
coastal land, forests of coastal live oak, and intact wetlands.
Much of the $50 million price comes from the Gulf
Environmental Benefit Fund, a $2.5 billion fund created
with money BP and Transocean agreed to pay in plea
agreements following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The acquisition comes after a decades-long effort to find a
way to protect the tract from looming development. “It has
been one of those Holy Grails of coastal conservation," said
Carter Smith, TPWD executive director. TPWD plans to
create a state park and wildlife management area open for
public use.
In East Texas, the Texas Forest Service and The Nature
Conservancy have completed a conservation easement
protecting 4,785 acres in Longleaf Ridge region, with much
of the funding coming from the federal Forest Legacy
program. The new easement is located north of Jasper on
land managed by Campbell Global.
The project is part of a broader
effort to restore native longleaf
pines to East Texas. Longleaf pine
produces such valuable timber that
lumber from virgin trees is still
salvaged from old buildings and
reused.
But much of the area
originally in longleaf has been
converted to other, faster-growing
pine species.
TWDB Requires Quantification of
Impacts of Marvin Nichols
The Texas Water Development Board
(TWDB) has instructed the Region C Water
Planning Group, which plans water supply
projects for the Dallas-Fort Worth-North
Texas area, to quantify the impacts the
proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir would
have on agricultural and natural
resources. The quantification report is due
November 3rd.
Th e
TWDB
decision is part
of a courtordered conflict
resolution
p r o c e s s
between Region
C and the Region D
Water
Planning
Group, which plans
water supply needs
for northeast Texas. The proposed Marvin
Nichols Reservoir would involve damming
the Sulphur River, located in Region
D. The reservoir is heavily opposed by the
Region D Planning Group and the people of
northeast Texas.
At a hearing before TWDB, the spokesman
for Region D cited state laws requiring that
impacts on agricultural and natural
resources be quantified at the planning
stage. The Region C Group had merely
ranked the environmental impacts of the
reservoir project
on a high-medium-low scale, with no
specifics.
TCA will be commenting on the
quantification report when it is released.
TCA founder Ned Fritz popularized
the name “Longleaf Ridge” and
called attention to the area’s springfed creeks, hilltop views, pitcherplant bogs and Catahoula barrens
(rock outcrops). At TCA’s urging,
national forest land in the vicinity
has been designated the Longleaf
Ridge Special Management Area.
Serving Texas Conservation for More Than 40 Years
Texas Conservation Alliance
P.O. Box 822554
Dallas, TX 75382
Office: 512-777-9730
Austin Office: 512-327-4119
Email: [email protected]
The State Affiliate of the
National Wildlife Federation
Conservation Progress
Third Quarter 2014
Aransas Pathways is Stellar Recreation Asset
A project led by TCA Board Member Dr. Earl Matthew and his wife Lonnie is a tribute to the
value of persistence! Aransas Pathways, a collection of nature areas, hiking trails, historical
sites, kayak launch points, biking trails, and bird and wildlife watching spots, has become a
major tourist draw for the Rockport area.
Dr. Earl
Developing Aransas Pathways has led to protection of habitat for migratory birds and
Matthew
local wildlife, and has afforded countless outdoor recreation opportunities for Texans
and Texas visitors. It started more than a decade ago when the local land trust,
Aransas First, wanted to build some nature trails. The City of Rockport, Aransas County, and a local
developer also had plans for trails. Earl and Lonnie put together a Green Corridor Community, with
reps from the City, Master Naturalists, the Birding Club, and others. Over time, they shepherded the
project as the City of Fulton, the Aransas County Historical Society, biking groups, kayakers, and the county
navigation district cam on board.
Funding came from an unexpected source, when voters turned
down a new convention center. The Chamber of Commerce
supported using the venue tax planned for the convention center
for the Green Corridor project and it
was renamed Aransas Pathways. The
project has become a showpiece of
how interests can work together to
attract tourists, protect wildlife, and
provide exceptional opportunities
Find the Aransas Pathways Map at for outdoor recreation.
TCAtexas.org/aransas-pathways