More News
Trash Bash 2010: Thank you volunteers for a successful event!
On March 27, 2010, 150 Galveston Bay Foundation volunteers cleaned Sims Bayou for the annual Trash Bash event. Starting from Glenbrook Park, Reveille Park, and Sims Woods, GBF volunteers cleaned 4 miles of shoreline collecting more than 90 bags of trash (for over 1,800 pounds of trash)! Additionally this year, GBF made a substantial effort to collect aluminum cans and plastic bottles for recycling; volunteers collected 17 bags of recyclables! After the cleanup, volunteers enjoyed lunch, door prizes, and the drumming of Angel Quesada "and some special helpers" at Glenbrook Park. Thank you to all the volunteers who came out Saturday!
Upper Gulf Coast Oyster Waters TMDL Implementation Plan
The Galveston Bay Foundation is initiating a community-driven effort to lower the bacteria levels in the waters of Galveston Bay. We need your help and input to develop reduction measures and a monitoring plan to lower the fecal coliform concentrations in six segments of the Upper Gulf Coast: Upper Galveston Bay, Trinity Bay, East Bay, West Bay, Lower Galveston Bay, and Chocolate Bay. The bacteria levels have reached critical levels in some areas and we must take action to ensure the long-term health of our waters. For more information and workgroup meeting schedules, please visit our TMDL page.
GBF's Get Hip to Habitat Program in The Daily News
The Get Hip to Habitat program of the Galveston Bay Foundation recently made Galveston County's The Daily News. Get Hip to Habitat brings our education and marsh restoration initiatives together in one program. With this program, GBF works closely with students and teachers to establish a salt marsh wetland nursery on their school campus grounds and later transplant their established grasses to Galveston Bay wetlands. Read the full news story here!
TPWD's Abandoned Crab Trap Removal Event
Galveston Bay Foundation staff and volunteers assisted the Texas Parks and Wildlife with their 8th annual Texas Abandoned Crab Trap Removal Program. The event spans over a 10-day period in February when all Texas bays are closed to crabbing with crab traps, and any traps left in the bay are presumed to be abandoned and considered litter under state law, thus allowing volunteers to legally remove any crab traps they find. On February 20, GBF staff and volunteers helped remove over 175 abandoned crab traps from Trinity Bay.
GBF Accepts Presidential Award for Contributions at North Deer Island
On December 2, 2009, the North Deer Island Protection Team received the Coastal America Partnership Award-the only environmental award of its kind given by the President of the United States-for their efforts to protect the most important colonial water bird rookery on the upper Texas coast: North Deer Island. The project spanned over nine years and protected 1.7 miles of North Deer Island's rapidly eroding shoreline. GBF was a partner on the project along with Audubon Texas, NRG Energy, EPA Gulf of Mexico Program, EPA Region-6, Houston Audubon Society, Texas Commission of Environmental Quality--Galveston Bay Estuary Program, Texas General Land Office, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The full press release is viewable here. Congratulatory letter from President Obama is available here.
LEFT: GBF President, Bob Stokes, accepting the award from Eileen Sobeck, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, US Department of Interior. RIGHT: GBF staffers celebrating the award.
GBF Applauds New EPA Timetable for Critical San Jacinto River Dioxin Cleanup
GBF has issued a press release applauding a new Environmental Protection Agency timetable requiring two companies to clean up a submerged industrial dumpsite that has been leaking a cancer-causing chemical, dioxin, into the San Jacinto River and Galveston Bay. Read the related article on the Galveston County Daily News website, or read the press release here.
Marsh Planting is Final Step for Burnet Bay Restoration Project
Work on the Burnet Bay Wetlands Restoration Project broke ground in June, and we are proud to announce that all of the mounds have been planted with marsh grass. This project will restore over 30 acres of intertidal wetlands. Our latest "Marsh Mania" event was held Friday, November 6th with volunteers from ConocoPhillips. Here's the video from the restoration event:
Strategies For Future Hurricane Mitigation: A Galveston Bay Foundation Position Paper
Hurricane Ike caused terrible loss of life, injuries, property destruction, and environmental harm to the Galveston Bay region. In response to this devastation, several proposals have been made which seek to limit damage from a future storm. The Galveston Bay Foundation urges that any solutions proposed to limit damage from future storms go through a full environmental review and recognize the importance of the natural environment, including our bay marshes, seagrasses and oyster reefs. Please click here to read more about our position on these proposed solutions.
We're getting "Hip to Habitat" with Lanier Middle School, featured on Channel 39 News
"Get Hip to Habitat" is a program of the Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF) that brings our education and marsh restoration initiatives together in one program. With this program, GBF works closely with students and teachers to establish a salt marsh wetland nursery on their school campus grounds and later transplant their established grasses to Galveston Bay wetlands. Lanier Middle School was recently featured on Channel 39 News. Check out the news footage here!
GBF working with TPWD, FWS, and local residents to restore oyster reefs
As a result of Hurricane Ike, half of the oyster reefs in Galveston Bay were destroyed. Recently, the Galveston Bay Foundation teamed up with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and local residents to restore oyster reefs in Galveston Bay. Click here to read recent coverage by the Galveston County Daily News on this effort.
2009 LyondellBasell Bike Around the Bay: photos and footage posted
Thank you to all the riders and volunteers who came out to the 2009 LyondellBasell Bike Around the Bay on October 10-11, 2009! Approximately 500 riders took on two days and 150 miles of bay area cycling, and we are already looking forward to a 2010 ride. Photos and footage from the 2009 event are available at Talk of the Bay. For more information about Bike Around the Bay, please visit bikearoundthebay.org.
100+ Take Part in September's Marsh Restoration Project at Burnet Bay
On September, 19, 2009, the Galveston Bay Foundation hosted a marsh restoration project at Burnet Bay in Baytown, Texas. Thanks to all of the volunteers from ITC and Mitsui USA who came out to replant marsh vegetation! Upon completion of the marsh planting, the project will restore over 30 acres of intertidal wetlands.
Houston Green Scene @ Marsh Mania
Support GBF and other non-profits through EarthShare of Texas
You can help support the Galveston Bay Foundation through a workplace giving pledge through Earth Share of Texas, who represents us as well as 70 other non-profits across Texas. If you are a participating employee, you can find the Galveston Bay Foundation's Earth Share codes here. Thank you!
Marsh Mania Featured on Channel 39's Going Green with Yolanda Green
GBF recently had the opportunity to meet with Yolanda Green of Channel 39 (KIAH)'s "Going Green" to discuss our annual Marsh Mania event. The program aired on June 13 and 14 and can be viewed online by clicking here.
