From the July issue of Texas Co-op Power Magazine
See photos at http://www.texas-ec.org/texascooppower/current_month/system/feature1.aspx
When he arrived the first day of April 2008, Rolf Nussbaumer scattered the contents of a bag of dog food around the travel trailer that would serve as his temporary home on the Fennessey Ranch outside Refugio. One of 20 professional photographers competing in the Pro-Tour of Nature Photography, Nussbaumer counted on the chow to help attract subjects for his photos.
“Mammals are the toughest to photograph,” he says. “Most are nocturnal. Deer on this ranch are shy. Coyotes and bobcats take a lot of luck. I knew I’d be photographing raccoons, possums and skunks, things you attract with food.
“It isn’t enough to get a photograph,” he adds. “It has to be a good photograph.” Nussbaumer should know: The 2008 winner also took top honors in the first Pro-Tour, in 2006, in the Hill Country. Officials with Images for Conservation Fund (ICF) select 20 professional photographers and 20 landowners, randomly pair the two, and give them 30 days to shoot pictures. The idea is to promote wildlife photography and land conservation by offering the largest wildlife photography purse in the world—$160,000 in total. The 2008 photography competition focused on the Coastal Bend. The competition is held every other year.
The 3,500-acre Fennessey Ranch is blessed with lots of natural water, including nine miles of Mission River front, a 200-acre freshwater marsh and wetlands. With water so readily available, Nussbaumer knew resident wildlife would be unimpressed by the inviting ponds typically used to attract animals to photo blinds. At one blind on the ranch, though, he noticed squirrels. So he put out pecans and soon had four squirrels visiting regularly. Because squirrels aren’t really impressive mammals, photographically speaking, Nussbaumer wanted to photograph them doing something spectacular to impress the judges.
“I hooked a vine up to a tree over to a cup of pecans,” he says. “After the squirrels got used to using that, I separated the vine so they would jump. At first the squirrels just jumped to the ground, so I put some plastic lids on the ground to discourage that.” His efforts paid off in the form of an impressive shot of a squirrel in midair.
To photograph birds, Nussbaumer tried luring them with seed, but feral hogs wreaked havoc on the feeders, and grackles stole what the hogs missed. So he concentrated on the ranch’s marsh, building
a floating blind to get close to the avian action. On the last day of the competition, he shot photos of a grebe with a crayfish in its mouth and a Purple Gallinule. “The last day was my lucky day,” he says. “I took six of the 60 pictures I submitted on that day.”
The abundance of water at least made the amphibian category relatively easy, and insects are never a problem, he says: “Wherever you are, you’ll get those.”
Fennessey owner Brien O’Connor Dunn represents 176 years of family ownership of this land. The ranch still runs cattle and sells hunting leases, but in 1991 began offering birding and educational trips and leasing photography blinds.
Photographers, professional or otherwise, rent the blinds for $100 per day. The ranch also offers guided group tours and group bird-watching for spring and fall migration and hawk migrations. “We made more off photographers last year than cattle,” says Sally Crofutt, the ranch’s general manager. “Animals are worth more alive now. We don’t shoot coyotes, or birds of prey, and we don’t kill rattlesnakes.”
As Dunn puts it, “You can kill a turkey once, but you can take its picture a thousand times.”
That pretty well sums up the philosophy behind the Pro-Tour. “There’s not enough money to purchase adequate land to preserve habitat in Texas,” says ICF founder John Martin. “But nature photography is a $4 billion industry. The Pro-Tours are about making wildlife valuable to landowners.” Nussbaumer and Fennessey Ranch shared $51,000 for their first-place prize in the 2008 Pro-Tour.
Thanks to the growing popularity of nature photography and its economic impact, other landowners are changing their attitudes and land practices. But it can be a tough transition. “The photography market is a tough nut to crack,” Crofutt cautions. “You can’t just put a photographer in your deer blind. It takes a lot of work.”
The Pro-Tour multiplies that work. “If Rolf wanted a hole dug, we dug it,” she says. “He asked for a generator, and we had one for him the next day. People ask why we win, and one reason is we work hard.”
Success takes much more than simply snapping pictures, in other words. Nussbaumer rose most mornings before sunup, took pictures all morning, then had lunch and perhaps a nap. In the afternoon, he explored the ranch for photo opportunities, often making lists of requests for Crofutt. In the evenings, he began taking pictures again, frequently working until midnight.
“I enjoy the contests. You get lots of stock photos that would cost a lot to do on your own,” Nussbaumer says. Nature photographers often have to spend a lot of money to travel to and within a location in order to get marketable photographs, and it usually takes a long time to earn that money back. The Pro-Tour offers a chance to work for a month at little or no expense.
Thirty days, though, isn’t all that long to capture professional images. “You see National Geographic photos, and they (the photographers) were out there five or six months,” Nussbaumer says. “So you can’t waste time on things that might not work out. You concentrate on the things you can get.”
Nussbaumer, a former furniture maker from Switzerland, met his future wife, Karen, in 2000 when he was photographing Bald Eagles in Alaska. After visiting her in Texas, he read about and decided to enter the five-month Valley Land Fund’s Wildlife Photo Contest in the Rio Grande Valley in 2002. The prize money and exposure from winning that event launched his career as a professional photographer. “Going into the Valley competition, I had no clue about what to expect or what would work,” he says. “After a few competitions, you get a better idea. It really helps.”
The couple, now married, recently welcomed a baby, and Nussbaumer took a short break from photography. At their home outside New Braunfels, though, deer wander through the backyard and birds and squirrels crowd a half-dozen feeders scattered around the house. So when he’s ready to pick up the camera again, Nussbaumer won’t have to look far for subjects.
SIDEBAR: PRO-TOUR BY THE NUMBERS
Twenty photographer/landowner teams compete in the one-month tournament. Each team submits images from each of five divisions: 1) birds; 2) mammals; 3) reptiles, amphibians and fish; 4) invertebrates (insects and arachnids); and 5) landscapes, plants and flowers. To qualify as a professional photographer, an individual must have made at least 80 percent of his or her earned income for the past three years from nature photography or have won a qualified competition. Landowners with 1,000 acres or more of diverse habitat may apply.
Laredo will host the 2010 Pro-Tour, which will take place along the South Texas border in eight counties. A grand prize of $40,000 will be shared by the landowner/photographer. Cash prizes are awarded through 10th place, and additional money—$500 per picture—is awarded for a selection of 100 individual photographs chosen by the judges. The entry fee is $1,200 for photographers and $2,200 for landowners. Prize money comes primarily from sponsors. Books from the 2008 competition are available for purchase and are scheduled to be delivered in October. They can be ordered from the ICF website, www.imagesforconservation.org. For more information, call the ICF at (956) 381-1264 or go to www.fennesseyranch.com.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sea Turtles in Texas
Excerpts from article in the June 2009 issue of Texas Highways.
Long before human feet touched the sandy shores of the western Gulf of Mexico, tens of thousands of female sea turtles visited every summer to lay their eggs. Hatchlings emerged weeks later and scurried into the sea. After 10 or 15 years, many returned to make their own nests and repeat the cycle.
For millennia, this rhythm continued for green, hawksbill, loggerhead, leatherback, and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. But as the coast developed in the 20th Century, life grew difficult for sea turtles. They drowned in fishing nets. People hunted and killed the turtles or ate their eggs. Development on beaches discouraged turtles from nesting. By the latter half of the 20th Century, all five of these species were listed as threatened or endangered, and by the 1970s, sightings of nests on Texas shores were few and far between. All along the coast, only the Kemp’s ridleys, once the most common Gulf species and now the most critically endangered, nested in any appreciable numbers. Nearly every one of those few hundred nests was dug on a remote beach in Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Then a dedicated international cadre of scientists, government officials, businesses, and citizens sprang into action. The Mexican beach—about 180 miles south of Brownsville—gained protection, and from 1978 to 1988, scientists took eggs from there, incubated them in sand from North Padre Island, and released the baby ridleys on the island in hope of reestablishing nesting in Texas.
In 1986, with the possibility that some of those turtles had reached maturity, Donna Shaver, Chief of the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery at Padre Island National Seashore, began patrolling the beaches for signs that any had returned to nest. Shaver, along with staff and volunteers, continued to patrol for 10 years, occasionally finding a nesting turtle but none that bore a living tag—a small piece of undershell implanted in the upper shells of released turtles. Then, in 1996, Shaver responded to a report of a nesting ridley and found what she’d been looking for at last.
“I brushed the sand off her carapace and saw the living tag,” Shaver says. “I looked three times to be sure. I was ecstatic, after a decade of patrols not finding any, to finally see the first one. To know this was one I had hatched and she had come back! To me it symbolized real hope for the future, the real possibility that what we worked for all those years would come to fruition.” Until that day, scientists had only hoped that nesting could be reestablished in Texas; now they had confirmation. More turtles have returned each year since and, in 2008, 195 Kemp’s ridley nests were found on the Texas coast, 104 of them on North Padre Island.
In Mexico, several thousand Kemp’s ridleys now arrive annually between March and August.
Fortunately, you needn’t trek to the middle of nowhere for an encounter with sea turtles. They have become a major tourist draw on the Texas coast, and this tourism contributes in a big way to the sea turtle’s continuing recovery.
“Public participation is very important,” Shaver says. “The public finds up to half the nests documented on the Texas coast each year, and it’s critical that people know what to do when they see a turtle.” Tours and hatchling releases also provide important opportunities to educate people about threats to sea turtle survival and how simple changes in behavior can help protect them.
Saving Sea Turtles
Want to help endangered sea turtles? Go on vacation.
Okay, it’s not quite that simple. But almost, provided your activities include visiting a place that supports sea turtle conservation.
* Wherever you go, drive carefully on the beach.
* In Texas, report nesting turtles immediately to the statewide hotline (866/TURTLE-5), and don’t approach or disturb turtles.
* From March through August, keep lights low in your beach condo and anywhere around the beach; too much light can discourage nesting turtles, and confuse hatchlings.
* Never throw trash in the water or on the beach, especially anything plastic, which can kill turtles that try to eat it, says Donna Shaver. Pick up plastic bags, bottles, and other trash you see on the beach.
* Unintentional capture during recreational and commercial fishing remains the main cause of ridley mortality, says Shaver. Choose local seafood when possible, preferably caught using turtle-friendly gear (ask if the shrimp boat uses a turtle excluder device). When boating, watch for turtles, and if you see them, slow down. If you spot turtles while fishing, move elsewhere so you won’t accidentally catch or snag one.
A non-profit organization, SEE Turtles, offers trips to sea turtle destinations around the world.
Long before human feet touched the sandy shores of the western Gulf of Mexico, tens of thousands of female sea turtles visited every summer to lay their eggs. Hatchlings emerged weeks later and scurried into the sea. After 10 or 15 years, many returned to make their own nests and repeat the cycle.
For millennia, this rhythm continued for green, hawksbill, loggerhead, leatherback, and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. But as the coast developed in the 20th Century, life grew difficult for sea turtles. They drowned in fishing nets. People hunted and killed the turtles or ate their eggs. Development on beaches discouraged turtles from nesting. By the latter half of the 20th Century, all five of these species were listed as threatened or endangered, and by the 1970s, sightings of nests on Texas shores were few and far between. All along the coast, only the Kemp’s ridleys, once the most common Gulf species and now the most critically endangered, nested in any appreciable numbers. Nearly every one of those few hundred nests was dug on a remote beach in Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Then a dedicated international cadre of scientists, government officials, businesses, and citizens sprang into action. The Mexican beach—about 180 miles south of Brownsville—gained protection, and from 1978 to 1988, scientists took eggs from there, incubated them in sand from North Padre Island, and released the baby ridleys on the island in hope of reestablishing nesting in Texas.
In 1986, with the possibility that some of those turtles had reached maturity, Donna Shaver, Chief of the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery at Padre Island National Seashore, began patrolling the beaches for signs that any had returned to nest. Shaver, along with staff and volunteers, continued to patrol for 10 years, occasionally finding a nesting turtle but none that bore a living tag—a small piece of undershell implanted in the upper shells of released turtles. Then, in 1996, Shaver responded to a report of a nesting ridley and found what she’d been looking for at last.
“I brushed the sand off her carapace and saw the living tag,” Shaver says. “I looked three times to be sure. I was ecstatic, after a decade of patrols not finding any, to finally see the first one. To know this was one I had hatched and she had come back! To me it symbolized real hope for the future, the real possibility that what we worked for all those years would come to fruition.” Until that day, scientists had only hoped that nesting could be reestablished in Texas; now they had confirmation. More turtles have returned each year since and, in 2008, 195 Kemp’s ridley nests were found on the Texas coast, 104 of them on North Padre Island.
In Mexico, several thousand Kemp’s ridleys now arrive annually between March and August.
Fortunately, you needn’t trek to the middle of nowhere for an encounter with sea turtles. They have become a major tourist draw on the Texas coast, and this tourism contributes in a big way to the sea turtle’s continuing recovery.
“Public participation is very important,” Shaver says. “The public finds up to half the nests documented on the Texas coast each year, and it’s critical that people know what to do when they see a turtle.” Tours and hatchling releases also provide important opportunities to educate people about threats to sea turtle survival and how simple changes in behavior can help protect them.
Saving Sea Turtles
Want to help endangered sea turtles? Go on vacation.
Okay, it’s not quite that simple. But almost, provided your activities include visiting a place that supports sea turtle conservation.
* Wherever you go, drive carefully on the beach.
* In Texas, report nesting turtles immediately to the statewide hotline (866/TURTLE-5), and don’t approach or disturb turtles.
* From March through August, keep lights low in your beach condo and anywhere around the beach; too much light can discourage nesting turtles, and confuse hatchlings.
* Never throw trash in the water or on the beach, especially anything plastic, which can kill turtles that try to eat it, says Donna Shaver. Pick up plastic bags, bottles, and other trash you see on the beach.
* Unintentional capture during recreational and commercial fishing remains the main cause of ridley mortality, says Shaver. Choose local seafood when possible, preferably caught using turtle-friendly gear (ask if the shrimp boat uses a turtle excluder device). When boating, watch for turtles, and if you see them, slow down. If you spot turtles while fishing, move elsewhere so you won’t accidentally catch or snag one.
A non-profit organization, SEE Turtles, offers trips to sea turtle destinations around the world.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Coast Guard
From the Summer 2009 issue of Wildflower Magazine
Leaving coastline in its natural state is key to protection
After Hurricane Katrina, Russ Marane, president of the St. Simons Land Trust in Georgia, viewed aerial photographs of a two-mile-wide barrier island off the Mississippi coast. On the island’s seaward side, the storm completely flattened trees for about a quarter-mile inland. Trees in the next quarter-mile lost their tops, but on the backside of the island trees remained fully intact. Behind that island, and in contrast to the rest of the coast, “Not a single structure was damaged,” Marane says. “It’s one of the best examples I’ve seen of why you don’t touch barrier islands.”
Coastal landscapes – barrier islands, dunes, wetlands, grassy marshes, woodlands and mangroves – provide protection from the winds, waves and storm surges. This protection is worth an estimated $23.2 billion per year, according to Robert Costanza, Ph.D., professor at The University of Vermont. “Coastal wetlands reduce the damaging effects of hurricanes by absorbing storm energy in ways that neither solid land nor open water can,” he says. “Coastal vegetation also decreases surges and waves and maintains shallow water depths, which has the same effect.”
Wetlands also serve as filters, cleaning rainwater before sending it out to the ocean or aquifer. By contrast, water quickly runs off pavement and other impervious surfaces, carrying with it fertilizers, pesticides, oil, heavy metals and other chemicals. This pollution is directly related to the amount of impervious cover and is the leading threat to water quality nationwide.
A natural coastline is also more durable than an altered one. Wetland systems and mangroves reduce shoreline erosion by retaining sediment, a function especially critical where dams and levees reduce the flow of sediment from rivers. Beach dunes serve as reservoirs of sand, slowing erosion and replenishing beaches. Artificial seawalls, ironically, contribute to further erosion. In response, communities often rebuild beaches with sand dredged from the ocean floor. This sand is different from what occurs on the beach naturally, thus disrupting vegetation and wildlife. This approach also damages the marine environment and is very expensive. “It would be more sensible and economical to leave dune systems intact,” says David Godfrey, executive director of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, “and keep development far enough behind them to account for normal and storm-wrought changes on the beach.”
It is far too late, of course, to leave much of the U.S. coastline in its natural state. However, better development practices can preserve many benefits of those natural systems. Three key practices, according to Texas SeaGrant and the Gulf Coast Institute, are creating compact development, controlling stormwater run-off, and preserving as much open or natural space as possible.
“The one thing that does the most by far is compact development,” says John Jacob, associate professor, Texas A&M University, and director of the Texas Coastal Watershed Program. “Nothing else comes close.” Compact development may create more impervious cover on a few acres, but it results in less overall. For example, a typical suburban layout of four units per acre for 1,000 houses would cover 250 acres. At 10 units per acre, those same 1,000 homes occupy 100 acres. A 20-house-per-acre development, such as townhomes, occupies only 50 acres. “Fifty is a big difference from 250,” Jacob says. “And you get a more interesting neighborhood, with the benefits you get from bringing people together and the natural environment around you. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina is a development of Crescent Resources, and it clusters development in three villages on 20,000 acres. Patty Kennedy, executive director of the non-profit Palmetto Bluff Conservancy, says, “We are developing in areas where settlement had historically occurred.” Much of the rest of the land is left undisturbed.
Building more compact communities allows developers to protect dunes, wetlands and open space – and to enjoy their benefits – says John Kuriawa, a coastal management specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean and Coastal Resource Management Office on the Chesapeake Bay. “Sprawl clearly results in degradation of water.”
Kuriawa explains that people can take action at every level. Individuals can leave trees and reduce the size of driveways. Subdivisions can put in narrower roads, permeable pavement and swales. The city or regional level offers the opportunity to protect large areas of natural landscape. “One of the best things is to convert existing impervious cover to accommodate growth, rather than allowing it to spread and cause death by a million cuts,” Kuriawa says. “An abandoned mall can be redeveloped into mixed use with open space.”
One of the most important tools, he adds, is for communities to protect and encourage the use of native plants and trees.
“Natural landscapes need little maintenance. You don’t have to mow, edge, fertilize or water once they are established,” says Meg Whitmer, landscape architect and director of the Land to Sea Initiative at the Ocean Research and Conservation Association. “The best thing is to gently place your home among what is there naturally.”
That was the approach the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas took in building Mustang Island Conference Center, a dining hall and two dorms connected by boardwalks. “We looked at the buildings more as a ship at sea, parting the waters and leaving no evidence behind,” says David Richter, FAIA, LEED AP, of Richter Architects in Corpus Christi. “One of the most beautiful plants that grows on the island is a vine. We designed the buildings the way that vine meanders across the ground.” In the space underneath the elevated buildings, where it is too shady for native plants to grow, he put permeable surface for parking with a moveable perimeter.
“Outside of that perimeter, we didn’t do anything. We didn’t bring in one plant or do any kind of landscaping,” Richter says. “In my opinion that is not done enough on barrier islands.”
Native plants help minimize runoff by mimicking natural hydrologic processes, says Darla Inglis, Ph.D., lead for the central coast office of The Low Impact Development Center, especially when combined with measures such as rain barrels, cisterns, rain gardens, green roofs and permeable pavement.
In the Florida panhandle, St. Joe Company uses native plants in developed areas and prohibits grass lawns for individual homes, according to wildlife biologist Jim Moyers, community development naturalist for WaterSound and WaterColor communities. This reduces run-off; what remains is collected in ponds. “All the run-off from WaterSound Beach goes to five large ponds, which takes energy out of the run-off, decreases erosion and settles out the crud from the streets,” Moyers says. “These are also landscaped with native wetland plants to mimic a natural wetland, so they also have wildlife enhancement value.”
Palmetto Bluffs requires residential rainwater harvesting. It also actively preserves natural space by requiring a 100-foot setback along the riverfront and by prohibiting clearing. In addition, on a 500-acre parcel approved for 100 homes, the company planned only 10 lots and placed about half of the acres under conservation easement.
St. Joe Company has set aside coastal dune areas, explains Moyers, in some cases to conserve federally listed endangered species. “But we treat this area as a community amenity. It has value as a visual amenity and in some cases protection for development behind it. We get a lot of benefits from keeping the dunes – the plant and animal species that inhabit those systems, a great vista from the developed area and that protection from Mother Nature.” Hurricanes Ivan in 2004 and Dennis in 2005 proved that the approach works. “All we lost was the front half of tall dunes, the natural landscape – which regenerates – and boardwalks over the dunes, which are easily replaced. We didn’t lose any real property – houses or hardened structures.”
At Asilomar Conference Center, on 107 acres of state park land near Pacific Grove, California, structures built in the 1920s were situated behind the dunes. Those dunes, however, suffered from decades of heavy use. Beginning in the 1990s, a restoration project removed non-native plants, planted natives and installed boardwalks.
“Asilomar is a classic example of coastal development with dune restoration, buildings set back from the ocean and a boardwalk through the dunes,” says Travis Longcore, science director of The Urban Wildlands Group. “Current developments could learn from this.”
One lesson – the importance of preserving or restoring native vegetation – applies even in urban areas. San Francisco Bay, the largest and most ecologically important estuary on the U.S. Pacific Coast, could hardly be called a natural system after more than a century of drainage, pollution and alteration. Fortunately, intense efforts by an alliance of public agencies, nonprofit organizations and citizen groups have restored hundreds of acres of native habitat, including native flowering eelgrass, Zostera marina. The grass provides nursery habitat for fin fish and crabs, as well as keystone habitat for bay scallops, and it contributes to improved water quality.
An even larger eelgrass restoration project in The Nature Conservancy’s 38,000-acre Virginia Coast Reserve began more than a decade ago. The effort is a joint partnership between The Nature Conservancy and the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences and relies heavily on volunteers to collect seeds in the spring for planting in the fall. The project has planted more than 200 acres, and the grass has spread on its own to cover roughly 1,450 acres, says Barry Truitt, chief scientist for the Virginia Coast Reserve.
The health of this underwater prairie, like that of all coastal systems, depends on water quality. Water quality is affected by everything that happens on the land, and that, of course, depends on us.
Leaving coastline in its natural state is key to protection
After Hurricane Katrina, Russ Marane, president of the St. Simons Land Trust in Georgia, viewed aerial photographs of a two-mile-wide barrier island off the Mississippi coast. On the island’s seaward side, the storm completely flattened trees for about a quarter-mile inland. Trees in the next quarter-mile lost their tops, but on the backside of the island trees remained fully intact. Behind that island, and in contrast to the rest of the coast, “Not a single structure was damaged,” Marane says. “It’s one of the best examples I’ve seen of why you don’t touch barrier islands.”
Coastal landscapes – barrier islands, dunes, wetlands, grassy marshes, woodlands and mangroves – provide protection from the winds, waves and storm surges. This protection is worth an estimated $23.2 billion per year, according to Robert Costanza, Ph.D., professor at The University of Vermont. “Coastal wetlands reduce the damaging effects of hurricanes by absorbing storm energy in ways that neither solid land nor open water can,” he says. “Coastal vegetation also decreases surges and waves and maintains shallow water depths, which has the same effect.”
Wetlands also serve as filters, cleaning rainwater before sending it out to the ocean or aquifer. By contrast, water quickly runs off pavement and other impervious surfaces, carrying with it fertilizers, pesticides, oil, heavy metals and other chemicals. This pollution is directly related to the amount of impervious cover and is the leading threat to water quality nationwide.
A natural coastline is also more durable than an altered one. Wetland systems and mangroves reduce shoreline erosion by retaining sediment, a function especially critical where dams and levees reduce the flow of sediment from rivers. Beach dunes serve as reservoirs of sand, slowing erosion and replenishing beaches. Artificial seawalls, ironically, contribute to further erosion. In response, communities often rebuild beaches with sand dredged from the ocean floor. This sand is different from what occurs on the beach naturally, thus disrupting vegetation and wildlife. This approach also damages the marine environment and is very expensive. “It would be more sensible and economical to leave dune systems intact,” says David Godfrey, executive director of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, “and keep development far enough behind them to account for normal and storm-wrought changes on the beach.”
It is far too late, of course, to leave much of the U.S. coastline in its natural state. However, better development practices can preserve many benefits of those natural systems. Three key practices, according to Texas SeaGrant and the Gulf Coast Institute, are creating compact development, controlling stormwater run-off, and preserving as much open or natural space as possible.
“The one thing that does the most by far is compact development,” says John Jacob, associate professor, Texas A&M University, and director of the Texas Coastal Watershed Program. “Nothing else comes close.” Compact development may create more impervious cover on a few acres, but it results in less overall. For example, a typical suburban layout of four units per acre for 1,000 houses would cover 250 acres. At 10 units per acre, those same 1,000 homes occupy 100 acres. A 20-house-per-acre development, such as townhomes, occupies only 50 acres. “Fifty is a big difference from 250,” Jacob says. “And you get a more interesting neighborhood, with the benefits you get from bringing people together and the natural environment around you. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina is a development of Crescent Resources, and it clusters development in three villages on 20,000 acres. Patty Kennedy, executive director of the non-profit Palmetto Bluff Conservancy, says, “We are developing in areas where settlement had historically occurred.” Much of the rest of the land is left undisturbed.
Building more compact communities allows developers to protect dunes, wetlands and open space – and to enjoy their benefits – says John Kuriawa, a coastal management specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Ocean and Coastal Resource Management Office on the Chesapeake Bay. “Sprawl clearly results in degradation of water.”
Kuriawa explains that people can take action at every level. Individuals can leave trees and reduce the size of driveways. Subdivisions can put in narrower roads, permeable pavement and swales. The city or regional level offers the opportunity to protect large areas of natural landscape. “One of the best things is to convert existing impervious cover to accommodate growth, rather than allowing it to spread and cause death by a million cuts,” Kuriawa says. “An abandoned mall can be redeveloped into mixed use with open space.”
One of the most important tools, he adds, is for communities to protect and encourage the use of native plants and trees.
“Natural landscapes need little maintenance. You don’t have to mow, edge, fertilize or water once they are established,” says Meg Whitmer, landscape architect and director of the Land to Sea Initiative at the Ocean Research and Conservation Association. “The best thing is to gently place your home among what is there naturally.”
That was the approach the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas took in building Mustang Island Conference Center, a dining hall and two dorms connected by boardwalks. “We looked at the buildings more as a ship at sea, parting the waters and leaving no evidence behind,” says David Richter, FAIA, LEED AP, of Richter Architects in Corpus Christi. “One of the most beautiful plants that grows on the island is a vine. We designed the buildings the way that vine meanders across the ground.” In the space underneath the elevated buildings, where it is too shady for native plants to grow, he put permeable surface for parking with a moveable perimeter.
“Outside of that perimeter, we didn’t do anything. We didn’t bring in one plant or do any kind of landscaping,” Richter says. “In my opinion that is not done enough on barrier islands.”
Native plants help minimize runoff by mimicking natural hydrologic processes, says Darla Inglis, Ph.D., lead for the central coast office of The Low Impact Development Center, especially when combined with measures such as rain barrels, cisterns, rain gardens, green roofs and permeable pavement.
In the Florida panhandle, St. Joe Company uses native plants in developed areas and prohibits grass lawns for individual homes, according to wildlife biologist Jim Moyers, community development naturalist for WaterSound and WaterColor communities. This reduces run-off; what remains is collected in ponds. “All the run-off from WaterSound Beach goes to five large ponds, which takes energy out of the run-off, decreases erosion and settles out the crud from the streets,” Moyers says. “These are also landscaped with native wetland plants to mimic a natural wetland, so they also have wildlife enhancement value.”
Palmetto Bluffs requires residential rainwater harvesting. It also actively preserves natural space by requiring a 100-foot setback along the riverfront and by prohibiting clearing. In addition, on a 500-acre parcel approved for 100 homes, the company planned only 10 lots and placed about half of the acres under conservation easement.
St. Joe Company has set aside coastal dune areas, explains Moyers, in some cases to conserve federally listed endangered species. “But we treat this area as a community amenity. It has value as a visual amenity and in some cases protection for development behind it. We get a lot of benefits from keeping the dunes – the plant and animal species that inhabit those systems, a great vista from the developed area and that protection from Mother Nature.” Hurricanes Ivan in 2004 and Dennis in 2005 proved that the approach works. “All we lost was the front half of tall dunes, the natural landscape – which regenerates – and boardwalks over the dunes, which are easily replaced. We didn’t lose any real property – houses or hardened structures.”
At Asilomar Conference Center, on 107 acres of state park land near Pacific Grove, California, structures built in the 1920s were situated behind the dunes. Those dunes, however, suffered from decades of heavy use. Beginning in the 1990s, a restoration project removed non-native plants, planted natives and installed boardwalks.
“Asilomar is a classic example of coastal development with dune restoration, buildings set back from the ocean and a boardwalk through the dunes,” says Travis Longcore, science director of The Urban Wildlands Group. “Current developments could learn from this.”
One lesson – the importance of preserving or restoring native vegetation – applies even in urban areas. San Francisco Bay, the largest and most ecologically important estuary on the U.S. Pacific Coast, could hardly be called a natural system after more than a century of drainage, pollution and alteration. Fortunately, intense efforts by an alliance of public agencies, nonprofit organizations and citizen groups have restored hundreds of acres of native habitat, including native flowering eelgrass, Zostera marina. The grass provides nursery habitat for fin fish and crabs, as well as keystone habitat for bay scallops, and it contributes to improved water quality.
An even larger eelgrass restoration project in The Nature Conservancy’s 38,000-acre Virginia Coast Reserve began more than a decade ago. The effort is a joint partnership between The Nature Conservancy and the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences and relies heavily on volunteers to collect seeds in the spring for planting in the fall. The project has planted more than 200 acres, and the grass has spread on its own to cover roughly 1,450 acres, says Barry Truitt, chief scientist for the Virginia Coast Reserve.
The health of this underwater prairie, like that of all coastal systems, depends on water quality. Water quality is affected by everything that happens on the land, and that, of course, depends on us.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Wave Riders
As a teenager, I spent a good part of each summer strolling the sand at Galveston. On the radio, The Beach Boys sang about California girls, and Hollywood movies always featured perfect waves and Pacific Ocean sunsets, but that didn’t make surfers on Texas beaches any less cool. Despite surfing’s influence on the pop culture of my youth, though, I never got around to trying surfing myself.
As an adult, I love the beach as much as ever, and my kids fell under the ocean’s spell at an early age. And they wanted to surf. After trying boogie boards and body surfing, we discovered that Texas has surfing camps and lessons for all levels and ages. The instructors confidently vow that just about anyone can surf, and they deliver on that promise.
Surfing, you see, quickly becomes addictive. After catching one wave, surfers want to catch another—one that’s bigger, or that goes farther. Then one more, and still another, and just one last wave, until an entire afternoon is gone and no one has uttered the words ‘I’m bored’—though I may have whimpered ‘I’m tired’ a time or two.
Weeklong camp suits kids perfectly, allowing time for thorough instruction and plenty of practice. Camp also provides opportunities for activities like creating a giant surfboard raft, building sandcastles, and playing games on the beach.
For those without a week to spare, or families that want to learn together, individual or small-group lessons are an alternative.
In Texas these days, there are at least two reasons that more boards are hitting the water. First, surfers no longer scoff at Texas waves, in part thanks to Texas Surf Camp’s Morgan Faulkner himself. He holds two national surfing titles, 22 Texas titles, and other assorted accolades; is a former member of the U.S. Surfing Team; and is now a professional competitor in the World Qualifying Series. Faulkner credits much of his success to learning on the unpredictable waves off Port Aransas. “If you can surf in Texas, you can surf anywhere,” he says. While no one is likely to confuse Texas surf with that of Hawaii or California, there are plenty of waves to ride—and the water is warm enough that surfers rarely need a wetsuit.
Second, folks are realizing you don’t have to be young, buff, and a little rebellious to surf.
Surf shops do cultivate that image, and it probably attracts a fair number of teens to the sport. But there are plenty of, ahem, mature surfers out there, and there’s plenty of ocean for everyone.
Cool photo at http://tinyurl.com/pkhe6m
See the full article in June 2009 issue of Texas Highways, which also has my article on sea turtles.
As an adult, I love the beach as much as ever, and my kids fell under the ocean’s spell at an early age. And they wanted to surf. After trying boogie boards and body surfing, we discovered that Texas has surfing camps and lessons for all levels and ages. The instructors confidently vow that just about anyone can surf, and they deliver on that promise.
Surfing, you see, quickly becomes addictive. After catching one wave, surfers want to catch another—one that’s bigger, or that goes farther. Then one more, and still another, and just one last wave, until an entire afternoon is gone and no one has uttered the words ‘I’m bored’—though I may have whimpered ‘I’m tired’ a time or two.
Weeklong camp suits kids perfectly, allowing time for thorough instruction and plenty of practice. Camp also provides opportunities for activities like creating a giant surfboard raft, building sandcastles, and playing games on the beach.
For those without a week to spare, or families that want to learn together, individual or small-group lessons are an alternative.
In Texas these days, there are at least two reasons that more boards are hitting the water. First, surfers no longer scoff at Texas waves, in part thanks to Texas Surf Camp’s Morgan Faulkner himself. He holds two national surfing titles, 22 Texas titles, and other assorted accolades; is a former member of the U.S. Surfing Team; and is now a professional competitor in the World Qualifying Series. Faulkner credits much of his success to learning on the unpredictable waves off Port Aransas. “If you can surf in Texas, you can surf anywhere,” he says. While no one is likely to confuse Texas surf with that of Hawaii or California, there are plenty of waves to ride—and the water is warm enough that surfers rarely need a wetsuit.
Second, folks are realizing you don’t have to be young, buff, and a little rebellious to surf.
Surf shops do cultivate that image, and it probably attracts a fair number of teens to the sport. But there are plenty of, ahem, mature surfers out there, and there’s plenty of ocean for everyone.
Cool photo at http://tinyurl.com/pkhe6m
See the full article in June 2009 issue of Texas Highways, which also has my article on sea turtles.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Hotels that Help
From the summer issue of Virtuoso Life Magazine
by Melissa Gaskill
New York City resident Krista Krieger recently participated in rhino research while on safari at South Africa’s andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, a collection of lodges discreetly placed among 56,800 acres of abundant wildlife and magnificent scenery. Rangers at the reserve notch each rhino’s ears for easy identification and insert a microchip in their horns to help track their whereabouts. Krieger’s group patrolled the bush by jeep, searching for an unmarked rhino, which the preserve veterinarian shot with a sedative dart. “Darting the rhino was very exciting,” she says. “I got to touch the rhino and inject it with antibiotics.” Krieger, veteran of a number of safaris, cites Phinda’s program as a good example of how effective management can bring back a devastated population of animals.
It’s also a good example of an emerging travel trend: volunteering on vacation. In 2007, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service, more than 3.7 million Americans volunteered away from home. Even more telling, in an MSNBC poll, 95 percent of those who volunteered on vacation said they’ll do it again.
“The opportunities for volunteering on vacation have probably increased a hundredfold in the past five years,” says David Clemmons, founder of VolunTourism.org.
“Participating in a volunteer experience can make a trip personally enriching and much more meaningful,” says Sue Stephenson, vice president of Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s Community Footprints program, which offers volunteering through Give Back Getaways at many of its properties. “It deepens the experience of visiting a unique place. Our guests describe it as inspirational and educational, and say they never felt so appreciated.”
Here are a few of the growing number of hotels offering the opportunity to combine good times with good works.
Mandarin Oriental, Miami
Everglades Restoration
The Mandarin Oriental, Miami on Brickell Key works closely with Everglades National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site – and so can you. Hotel guests can grab a box lunch and hop in a hybrid vehicle to drive to the park, about an hour away, where they spend the morning helping park staff restore Everglades habitat, perhaps planting native South Florida trees in areas affected by invasive plants or removing those invasive species. After lunch, a ranger leads a tour of the park, pointing out alligators, herons, and other wildlife, and showing participants how to “slog,” or wade through shallow waters like the locals. Doubles from $245, including breakfast and a $100 spa credit (Everglades transfers and box lunches extra).
King Pacific Lodge, British Columbia
A Whale of a Time
A luxury eco-lodge floating off Princess Royal Island in British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest, this hotel offers educational programs about the area’s orca and humpback whales through a partnership with the North Coast Cetacean Society (NCCS). Now guests can serve as research assistants on NCCS outings, helping scientists photograph individual whales for identification and gathering data on whale location and movement. After their departure, participants receive regular reports detailing sightings and progress of the whales they studied during their visit. “The lodge has long supported our work on the complex social and physical relationships of humpback whales,” says NCCS’s Janie Wray. “This new program forges an enduring association between these animals and guests.” Doubles from $3,841 for three nights, including all meals and beverages and a welcome sake set.
The Fairmont Acapulco Princess
Sea Turtle Sanctuary
From August to January, several species of endangered sea turtles nest on beaches near this iconic 15-story pyramid rising from the lush tropical landscape. The hotel collects and protects turtle eggs, and to date has released more than 150,000 hatchlings into the Pacific Ocean, often with the help of guests. Ecologist Vincente Batalla explains the sea turtle’s life cycle and threats to its survival, then lets guests select a turtle from among 50 or so hatchlings, release it on the sand, and shepherd it safely into the water. Without assistance, Batalla says, many hatchlings would not make it past hazards that include tourists and lights, which can disorient the turtles. Guests name their hatchling and receive a certificate and a turtle cookie created by the hotel chef. Doubles from $193, including breakfast and a $100 spa credit.
Four Seasons Resort
Saving the Sonoran
From this complex of Southwestern-style casitas and serene pools high in the dramatic Sonoran Desert landscape, take a hike – a desert preservation hike, that is. The guided walk in adjacent Pinnacle Peak Park concludes with guests planting a buckhorn cholla cactus, Fairy Duster, or other native plant. On the hike John Loleit, coordinator for the city park, shares his wealth of knowledge about the area’s signature plants, animals, archaeology, and geology, pointing out, for example, edible plants and those used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes. “People see the desert in a different light after the hike,” he says. “And because most plants here are long-lived, people can come back in five or ten years and see the one they planted. It gives them a nice connection with this place, a feeling that they helped out.” Doubles from $195, including breakfast.
http://www.virtuosolife.com/hidden/article/?ArticleID=2b67a05e-13db-44ce-a13a-e4418f881ab7
by Melissa Gaskill
New York City resident Krista Krieger recently participated in rhino research while on safari at South Africa’s andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, a collection of lodges discreetly placed among 56,800 acres of abundant wildlife and magnificent scenery. Rangers at the reserve notch each rhino’s ears for easy identification and insert a microchip in their horns to help track their whereabouts. Krieger’s group patrolled the bush by jeep, searching for an unmarked rhino, which the preserve veterinarian shot with a sedative dart. “Darting the rhino was very exciting,” she says. “I got to touch the rhino and inject it with antibiotics.” Krieger, veteran of a number of safaris, cites Phinda’s program as a good example of how effective management can bring back a devastated population of animals.
It’s also a good example of an emerging travel trend: volunteering on vacation. In 2007, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service, more than 3.7 million Americans volunteered away from home. Even more telling, in an MSNBC poll, 95 percent of those who volunteered on vacation said they’ll do it again.
“The opportunities for volunteering on vacation have probably increased a hundredfold in the past five years,” says David Clemmons, founder of VolunTourism.org.
“Participating in a volunteer experience can make a trip personally enriching and much more meaningful,” says Sue Stephenson, vice president of Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s Community Footprints program, which offers volunteering through Give Back Getaways at many of its properties. “It deepens the experience of visiting a unique place. Our guests describe it as inspirational and educational, and say they never felt so appreciated.”
Here are a few of the growing number of hotels offering the opportunity to combine good times with good works.
Mandarin Oriental, Miami
Everglades Restoration
The Mandarin Oriental, Miami on Brickell Key works closely with Everglades National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site – and so can you. Hotel guests can grab a box lunch and hop in a hybrid vehicle to drive to the park, about an hour away, where they spend the morning helping park staff restore Everglades habitat, perhaps planting native South Florida trees in areas affected by invasive plants or removing those invasive species. After lunch, a ranger leads a tour of the park, pointing out alligators, herons, and other wildlife, and showing participants how to “slog,” or wade through shallow waters like the locals. Doubles from $245, including breakfast and a $100 spa credit (Everglades transfers and box lunches extra).
King Pacific Lodge, British Columbia
A Whale of a Time
A luxury eco-lodge floating off Princess Royal Island in British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest, this hotel offers educational programs about the area’s orca and humpback whales through a partnership with the North Coast Cetacean Society (NCCS). Now guests can serve as research assistants on NCCS outings, helping scientists photograph individual whales for identification and gathering data on whale location and movement. After their departure, participants receive regular reports detailing sightings and progress of the whales they studied during their visit. “The lodge has long supported our work on the complex social and physical relationships of humpback whales,” says NCCS’s Janie Wray. “This new program forges an enduring association between these animals and guests.” Doubles from $3,841 for three nights, including all meals and beverages and a welcome sake set.
The Fairmont Acapulco Princess
Sea Turtle Sanctuary
From August to January, several species of endangered sea turtles nest on beaches near this iconic 15-story pyramid rising from the lush tropical landscape. The hotel collects and protects turtle eggs, and to date has released more than 150,000 hatchlings into the Pacific Ocean, often with the help of guests. Ecologist Vincente Batalla explains the sea turtle’s life cycle and threats to its survival, then lets guests select a turtle from among 50 or so hatchlings, release it on the sand, and shepherd it safely into the water. Without assistance, Batalla says, many hatchlings would not make it past hazards that include tourists and lights, which can disorient the turtles. Guests name their hatchling and receive a certificate and a turtle cookie created by the hotel chef. Doubles from $193, including breakfast and a $100 spa credit.
Four Seasons Resort
Saving the Sonoran
From this complex of Southwestern-style casitas and serene pools high in the dramatic Sonoran Desert landscape, take a hike – a desert preservation hike, that is. The guided walk in adjacent Pinnacle Peak Park concludes with guests planting a buckhorn cholla cactus, Fairy Duster, or other native plant. On the hike John Loleit, coordinator for the city park, shares his wealth of knowledge about the area’s signature plants, animals, archaeology, and geology, pointing out, for example, edible plants and those used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes. “People see the desert in a different light after the hike,” he says. “And because most plants here are long-lived, people can come back in five or ten years and see the one they planted. It gives them a nice connection with this place, a feeling that they helped out.” Doubles from $195, including breakfast.
http://www.virtuosolife.com/hidden/article/?ArticleID=2b67a05e-13db-44ce-a13a-e4418f881ab7
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Trips To Bountiful
For the enlightened and adventurous traveler, serendipity transforms every trip: Hiking a new trail and rounding a bend to encounter an unexpected vista, journeying to a destination you’ve heard about—or visiting a familiar place with someone who’s never been—without an agenda. Or, in the case of pursuing Texas wildflowers, finding yourself surprised with the splashes and brushstrokes of red, blue, orange, and purple that appear in the landscape.
From year to year, nature’s wildflower displays vary dramatically. Rainfall (or lack there--of), the timing of the first freeze, the length of warm spells-—all these weather-related factors determine the palette in each spring’s bloom. And human actions, such as mowing, irrigation, and development, also play a role.
In any given year, wildflowers will bloom—some time, some place—in Texas. When, where, and in exactly what types and quantities—well, finding the answer to that question creates the thrill of the chase. We’ve selected four driving routes that, based on the predictions of experts at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, should offer some of this year’s best wildflower viewing (we selected for variety, too).
See the print edition for additional information on compelling roadside stops, places to stay, and other attractions, so you’ll have fun on your road trip no matter what.
Brenham/Chappell Hill
Set aside a few hours to enjoy this 90-mile drive that scrawls a rough figure-8 around the Brenham area in Washington County. Start from Brenham and
head northeast on Texas 105 through rolling hills, pastures, stands of oaks, and blooming flowers such as purple coneflower, verbena, beardtongue, coral bean, skullcaps, and prairie parsley. A few miles from the city limits, look off to the right for the Monastery Miniature Horse Farm, where the Franciscan Poor Clare nuns maintain a herd of cute, waist-high horses.
If you’re in no hurry, visit Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, home of the Star of the Republic Museum and Barrington Living History Farm. However, be forewarned. You’d need an entire day to do it justice. Because wildflowers rule this excursion, hustle back to scenic, flower-lined FM 1155.
Drive slowly down the single street that passes through Chappell Hill’s quaint business district. Turn right at US 290 and take the Austin exit in Brenham to remain on 290 roughly 14 miles to the turn-off for Burton, FM 1697. Pay attention, because this stretch of highway often provides some of the lushest bluebonnet spreads in the entire state. Also look for Indian paintbrush, yellow wild indigo, thistles, blue-eyed grass, rattlesnake flower, blanket flower, and rosinweed.
In Independence, stop in Old Baylor Park on the side of the road. Site of the original Baylor University, the park now boasts excellent bluebonnet photo ops. Other usual suspects rounded up here include primroses, lyre leaf sage, prairie Brazos mint, and mayhaw trees. Turn right on FM 50, which takes you back to Texas 105 and Brenham.
Big Bend
This rough and winding route puts many miles on your vehicle, but the visual treats will prove more than enough reward. In the morning, take RM 170 west to the Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center, a source of information on points of interest along the scenic River Road, including Big Bend Ranch State Park. The Center’s herbarium houses 1,100 plant specimens discovered by noted Texas botanist Barton Warnock, plus exhibits on area geology, natural history, and a
2 ½-acre desert garden.
Armed with know-ledge, continue west toward Presidio. Look for blooming cacti, Big Bend bluebonnets, blind cactus, rainbow cactus, cat claw, strawberry pitaya, nama or fiddleleaf, bicolor fan mustard, ocotillo, cenizo, desert marigolds, and rock nettles. Stop to hike Closed Canyon, a narrow slot canyon, where you may spy hechtia, and the Rancherias Canyon Trail to observe unique riparian denizens, including marsh centaury.
In addition to wildflowers, look for herds of pronghorn antelope. The drive on US 90 east to Alpine is dominated by grasslands where yucca and sotol bloom in the spring. In Alpine, have lunch or dinner at La Trattoria, celebrated for authentic Italian fare. Then turn on Texas 118 South back toward Terlingua. Along this scenic road, look for Mexican buckeyes and more wildflowers in the mid-elevations, and flowering desert scrub in lower areas.
Northeast Texas, Caddo Lake State Park, Cass County
You’ll begin and end this wildflower drive in Marshall, which offers numerous accommodations on US 59, including a handful of B&Bs. Head north along Texas 43 from Marshall to Karnack, and you may see bull thistle, coreopsis, and, at the edge of the woods, beardtongue. In low-lying areas, keep your eyes peeled for common rose mallow and giant coneflower, the latter with yellow blooms that can soar six feet high. Take FM 2198 to Uncertain, where crimson clover and coreopsis often bloom, along with partridge pea, downy phlox, bluebonnets, Mexican hats, and wild indigo.
Heavily wooded Caddo Lake State Park curves around Saw Mill Pond and connects to Lake Caddo. On park trails, look for blooming Spanish moss; rent a canoe or kayak and paddle past floating bladderwort, blooming cabomba, fragrant water lily, and American lotus among the moss-shrouded bald cypress trees.
Make your way back to Texas 43 and continue north to Atlanta, then take US 59 to Linden. Along the way, look for coreopsis, crimson clover, spiderwort, phlox, and bachelor buttons gracing the landscape. Continue on Texas 155 to the tiny town of Avinger, then Texas 49 to Jefferson. A bustling port in the 1840s, Jefferson faded when the railroad arrived in Marshall, but you’ll find plenty of mansions turned B&Bs, as well as the historic Excelsior House and Jefferson Hotels, both famously haunted. Consider a bayou boat tour or a ride on a paddlewheel steamer on Caddo Lake, then treat yourself to French cuisine at the Stillwater Inn Restaurant. Or, to keep the pie theme going, visit House of Pies, then take US 59 back to Marshall. Other flowers likely to show themselves along this route include Indian paintbrush, larkspur, red buckeye, butterfly weed, and black-eyed Susans.
Franklin Mountains
This route follows Loop 375, or the Trans-Mountain Road, through Franklin Mountains State Park, at 37 square miles, the nation’s largest urban park—all of it within El Paso’s city limits.
West of El Paso on Interstate 10, take the Canutillo/Trans-Mountain Road (Loop 375) exit and drive 3.8 miles to the park entrance. The Northern Chihuahuan Desert vegetation here includes lechuguilla, sotol, ocotillo, several types of yucca, and many cactus species. Some plant species found here, such as the Southwest barrel cactus, grow nowhere else in Texas. The Trans-Mountain Road reaches 5,120 feet elevation and passes the Ron Coleman Trail, a hike that affords up-close looks at blooming cacti. Fields of bright yellow mountain poppies, one of the park’s most spectacular sights, can best be seen on the eastern slope of the Franklins at the El Paso Museum of Archeology—providing, of course, the weather co-operates. Hike the short Sneed’s Cory trail in the Tom Mays Unit to see pineapple cactus, Chihuahuan fishhook cactus, and agave. This area offers additional trails, picnic sites, and primitive camping; the park also has RV sites. And, remember to visit the store located at park headquarters in McKelligon Canyon on the east side of the park.
For more dramatic and sweeping vistas, consider a ride on the Wyler Aerial Tramway. Take in the view of El Paso from here at 4,692 feet, and check out the cactus garden. An observation platform at the top affords 360-degree views of the park you just traversed, plus glimpses of three states and two countries.
This is just the highlights. See the full article and beautiful photos in the April issue of Texas Highways magazine!
From year to year, nature’s wildflower displays vary dramatically. Rainfall (or lack there--of), the timing of the first freeze, the length of warm spells-—all these weather-related factors determine the palette in each spring’s bloom. And human actions, such as mowing, irrigation, and development, also play a role.
In any given year, wildflowers will bloom—some time, some place—in Texas. When, where, and in exactly what types and quantities—well, finding the answer to that question creates the thrill of the chase. We’ve selected four driving routes that, based on the predictions of experts at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, should offer some of this year’s best wildflower viewing (we selected for variety, too).
See the print edition for additional information on compelling roadside stops, places to stay, and other attractions, so you’ll have fun on your road trip no matter what.
Brenham/Chappell Hill
Set aside a few hours to enjoy this 90-mile drive that scrawls a rough figure-8 around the Brenham area in Washington County. Start from Brenham and
head northeast on Texas 105 through rolling hills, pastures, stands of oaks, and blooming flowers such as purple coneflower, verbena, beardtongue, coral bean, skullcaps, and prairie parsley. A few miles from the city limits, look off to the right for the Monastery Miniature Horse Farm, where the Franciscan Poor Clare nuns maintain a herd of cute, waist-high horses.
If you’re in no hurry, visit Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, home of the Star of the Republic Museum and Barrington Living History Farm. However, be forewarned. You’d need an entire day to do it justice. Because wildflowers rule this excursion, hustle back to scenic, flower-lined FM 1155.
Drive slowly down the single street that passes through Chappell Hill’s quaint business district. Turn right at US 290 and take the Austin exit in Brenham to remain on 290 roughly 14 miles to the turn-off for Burton, FM 1697. Pay attention, because this stretch of highway often provides some of the lushest bluebonnet spreads in the entire state. Also look for Indian paintbrush, yellow wild indigo, thistles, blue-eyed grass, rattlesnake flower, blanket flower, and rosinweed.
In Independence, stop in Old Baylor Park on the side of the road. Site of the original Baylor University, the park now boasts excellent bluebonnet photo ops. Other usual suspects rounded up here include primroses, lyre leaf sage, prairie Brazos mint, and mayhaw trees. Turn right on FM 50, which takes you back to Texas 105 and Brenham.
Big Bend
This rough and winding route puts many miles on your vehicle, but the visual treats will prove more than enough reward. In the morning, take RM 170 west to the Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center, a source of information on points of interest along the scenic River Road, including Big Bend Ranch State Park. The Center’s herbarium houses 1,100 plant specimens discovered by noted Texas botanist Barton Warnock, plus exhibits on area geology, natural history, and a
2 ½-acre desert garden.
Armed with know-ledge, continue west toward Presidio. Look for blooming cacti, Big Bend bluebonnets, blind cactus, rainbow cactus, cat claw, strawberry pitaya, nama or fiddleleaf, bicolor fan mustard, ocotillo, cenizo, desert marigolds, and rock nettles. Stop to hike Closed Canyon, a narrow slot canyon, where you may spy hechtia, and the Rancherias Canyon Trail to observe unique riparian denizens, including marsh centaury.
In addition to wildflowers, look for herds of pronghorn antelope. The drive on US 90 east to Alpine is dominated by grasslands where yucca and sotol bloom in the spring. In Alpine, have lunch or dinner at La Trattoria, celebrated for authentic Italian fare. Then turn on Texas 118 South back toward Terlingua. Along this scenic road, look for Mexican buckeyes and more wildflowers in the mid-elevations, and flowering desert scrub in lower areas.
Northeast Texas, Caddo Lake State Park, Cass County
You’ll begin and end this wildflower drive in Marshall, which offers numerous accommodations on US 59, including a handful of B&Bs. Head north along Texas 43 from Marshall to Karnack, and you may see bull thistle, coreopsis, and, at the edge of the woods, beardtongue. In low-lying areas, keep your eyes peeled for common rose mallow and giant coneflower, the latter with yellow blooms that can soar six feet high. Take FM 2198 to Uncertain, where crimson clover and coreopsis often bloom, along with partridge pea, downy phlox, bluebonnets, Mexican hats, and wild indigo.
Heavily wooded Caddo Lake State Park curves around Saw Mill Pond and connects to Lake Caddo. On park trails, look for blooming Spanish moss; rent a canoe or kayak and paddle past floating bladderwort, blooming cabomba, fragrant water lily, and American lotus among the moss-shrouded bald cypress trees.
Make your way back to Texas 43 and continue north to Atlanta, then take US 59 to Linden. Along the way, look for coreopsis, crimson clover, spiderwort, phlox, and bachelor buttons gracing the landscape. Continue on Texas 155 to the tiny town of Avinger, then Texas 49 to Jefferson. A bustling port in the 1840s, Jefferson faded when the railroad arrived in Marshall, but you’ll find plenty of mansions turned B&Bs, as well as the historic Excelsior House and Jefferson Hotels, both famously haunted. Consider a bayou boat tour or a ride on a paddlewheel steamer on Caddo Lake, then treat yourself to French cuisine at the Stillwater Inn Restaurant. Or, to keep the pie theme going, visit House of Pies, then take US 59 back to Marshall. Other flowers likely to show themselves along this route include Indian paintbrush, larkspur, red buckeye, butterfly weed, and black-eyed Susans.
Franklin Mountains
This route follows Loop 375, or the Trans-Mountain Road, through Franklin Mountains State Park, at 37 square miles, the nation’s largest urban park—all of it within El Paso’s city limits.
West of El Paso on Interstate 10, take the Canutillo/Trans-Mountain Road (Loop 375) exit and drive 3.8 miles to the park entrance. The Northern Chihuahuan Desert vegetation here includes lechuguilla, sotol, ocotillo, several types of yucca, and many cactus species. Some plant species found here, such as the Southwest barrel cactus, grow nowhere else in Texas. The Trans-Mountain Road reaches 5,120 feet elevation and passes the Ron Coleman Trail, a hike that affords up-close looks at blooming cacti. Fields of bright yellow mountain poppies, one of the park’s most spectacular sights, can best be seen on the eastern slope of the Franklins at the El Paso Museum of Archeology—providing, of course, the weather co-operates. Hike the short Sneed’s Cory trail in the Tom Mays Unit to see pineapple cactus, Chihuahuan fishhook cactus, and agave. This area offers additional trails, picnic sites, and primitive camping; the park also has RV sites. And, remember to visit the store located at park headquarters in McKelligon Canyon on the east side of the park.
For more dramatic and sweeping vistas, consider a ride on the Wyler Aerial Tramway. Take in the view of El Paso from here at 4,692 feet, and check out the cactus garden. An observation platform at the top affords 360-degree views of the park you just traversed, plus glimpses of three states and two countries.
This is just the highlights. See the full article and beautiful photos in the April issue of Texas Highways magazine!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)