DRAFT
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
COASTAL PROGRAM
REGIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN
Stewardship of Fish and Wildlife
Through Voluntary Conservation
Region 2
Texas Gulf Coast
FY 2012-2017
Table of Contents Introduction 2
Guiding Principles 2
Overview of the Ecoregion 4
Habitats 4
Threats 5
Issues 7
Southwest Regional Coastal Program Strategy 7
Regional accomplishments under the previous plan 8
Revising the plan 9
Focal species and habitat goals 9
Goal One: Conserving Habitat 14
Regional objectives 14
Key strategic activities 14
Performance measures 15
Conservation actions 16
Geographic focus areas 16
Upper Texas Coast Focus Area 18
Coastal Bend Focus Area 20
Laguna Madre Focus Area 22
Region 2 Five-year performance targets 23
External Factors 24
Goal Two: Broaden and Strengthen Partnerships 25
Regional objectives 25
Key strategic activities 26
Performance measures and Accomplishment Targets 27
External Factors 27
Goal Three: Improve Information Sharing and Communication 28
Regional objectives 28
Key strategic activities 28
Performance measures and Accomplishment Targets 29
External Factors 30
Goal Four: Enhance Our Workforce 31
Regional objectives 31
Key strategic activities 31
Performance measures and Accomplishment Targets 32
External Factors 33
Goal Five: Increase Accountability 33
Regional objectives 33
Key strategic activities 34
Performance measures and Accomplishment Targets 35
External Factors 35
Supporting Activities and Initiatives 35
Stakeholder Involvement 37
Appendix A: Species Population Goals 38
Appendix B: Supporting Conservation Plans 39
Appendix C: References 43
Appendix D: Coastal Program Partners 45
Appendix E: Coastal program Science Support Needs 46
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Introduction
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) created the Coastal Program in 1986 to address the
serious issues, and the economic and ecological importance of our Nation’s coastal ecosystems.
In 2011, the Coastal Program is celebrating its 25th
year of conserving habitats for fish and
wildlife in some of the most vital coastal regions of the United States. The Coastal Program
(Program) began in Texas, in Galveston Bay, in 1992. By 1995, the Program expanded to
include the entire Texas Gulf Coast.
The Program has proven that a voluntary approach to coastal habitat conservation works. By
providing technical assistance, funding and other resources to partners including federal, state
and local agencies, and private landowners, the Program nationally has restored 251,000 acres of
coastal wetlands and coastal upland habitat, permanently protected nearly 2 million acres of
coastal habitat, and restored 1,700 miles of riparian and in-stream habitats in the Nation’s coastal
regions. Since its inception in Texas, the Program has restored nearly 100,000 acres and
protected over 10,000 acres of coastal habitats. In addition to the fish and wildlife resources,
coastal ecosystems provide services that support economies, public health and community
resiliency.
Despite the numerous gains made in conserving coastal habitat by the Coastal Program, its
partners and other similar voluntary incentive-based programs, threats to coastal ecosystems
have become even more challenging. Growing coastal populations and accompanying
development, freshwater demands, pollution and climate change pose numerous and complex
threats to coastal wetlands and the fish and wildlife they support in Texas and other parts of the
United States. Given the magnitude of these threats, there is now, more than ever, a strong need
for public-private partnerships to protect and restore coastal wetland habitats. This is the vision
of the Coastal Program: Stewardship of fish and wildlife through voluntary conservation.
This strategy document is an effort to define how the Coastal Program in the Service’s
Southwest Region will carry out the mission of the Service and follow the vision for the Program
for the benefit of fish, wildlife and their habitats on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Guiding Principles
The Southwest Region’s Coastal Program’s effort to succeed in its mission and accomplish the
goals and objectives described in this document depend of these five guiding principles:
1) Ethics and integrity
2) Customer service
3) Cooperation
4) Strategic Habitat Conservation
We will seek regular feedback from our stakeholders and partners to make sure we are staying
true to these principles as later described in the outcomes of this plan.
Ethics and Integrity
It is expected that the Program staff and leadership will exemplify the highest standards of ethics
and integrity. The success of the Program relies on building trust and credibility with our
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partners. The Coastal Program in Texas has built trust among a diverse group of partners and
stakeholders over its nearly 20-year history. Maintaining that trust and building it in new
potential partners is vital to the longevity and success of the Program and more importantly the
conservation efforts it supports. We will treat our partners and stakeholders fairly and honestly
and maintain the ethical standards established by the Department of the Interior (DOI).
Customer Service
Customer service is the central part of our mission and our organizational name. Providing good
customer service is simply doing what we say we will and responding to the needs of our
partners in a timely fashion. Our Program will strive to provide the best possible customer
service and technical assistance to our peers, partners and personnel. We will provide timely and
honest answers to inquiries and make ourselves available to assist both existing and potential
partner organizations to the greatest extent practicable.
A key aspect of the Coastal Program is our ability to provide technical assistance to federal or
state agencies, non-profit organizations, local governments, private landowners and businesses.
By providing technical assistance, we often help cooperators accomplish significant conservation
actions that our financial assistance alone cannot. Good customer service is the principle that
makes our technical assistance activities successful.
Cooperation
The Program is dependent on strong collaborative partnerships, held together by the principles
above, to succeed at conservation. We recognize that the Coastal Program alone cannot address
the significant challenges that face coastal fish and wildlife resources today. In fact, no single
agency or organization can. Thus, working together, everyone accomplishes more. Our staff is
experienced at helping people come together to forge and implement collaborative solutions that
meet local and regional needs for fish and wildlife stewardship. Our partners and the Program
have been widely recognized for the significant conservation actions and the diverse cooperative
partnerships that completed them together.
We will maintain an open and engaging attitude, continue in existing cooperative relationships
and projects, and seek new and more effective means to deliver cooperative conservation for the
benefit of federal trust resources in Texas.
Strategic Habitat Conservation
Strategic Habitat conservation (SHC) is a way of thinking and of doing business that requires us
to set biological goals for priority species populations, allows us to make strategic decisions
about our work, and encourages us to constantly reassess and improve our actions. These are
critical steps in dealing with a range of landscape-scale
resource threats such as development, invasive species, and
water scarcity. These threats are all magnified by
accelerating climate change.
SHC incorporates five key principles in an ongoing process
that changes and evolves:
Biological Planning (setting targets),
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Conservation Design (developing a plan to meet the goals),
Conservation Delivery (implementing the plan),
Monitoring and Adaptive Management (measuring success and improving results), and
Research (increasing our understanding)
Strategic habitat conservation is designed to meet 21st Century conservation challenges by
ensuring that we accomplish the right things, in the right places, at the right times based on
sound science. These efforts parallel changes occurring across the conservation and science
communities as states, tribes, nongovernmental organizations, and other stakeholders recognize
similar challenges and work together to preserve our nation’s fish and wildlife heritage. The
Program and our partners operate in a constantly changing natural, economic, social and political
environment. In the face of many challenges, we will seek to strategically allocate our resources,
while remaining flexible to adapt and respond to change. Flexibility is a strength of the
Southwest Region's Coastal Program and our partners as we address conservation needs of fish,
wildlife, and their habitats along the Texas Gulf Coast.
Overview of the Ecoregion
The Texas Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes Ecoregion is extremely diverse in the types of
habitats and organisms it supports (The Nature Conservancy 2002). This diversity is driven
primarily by rainfall and temperature. The 370-mile Texas coast arcs from an east-west to north-
south orientation and experiences winter freezes to 3 digit summer temperatures. Rainfall is
approximately 50 inches in the east and just over 20 inches at its southern end. Interior to the
coast lies the very wide and flat coastal plain that is comprised primarily of Pleistocene and
Holocene unconsolidated sediments deposited when the area was inundated by the sea. With the
last ice age, the sea retreated and allowed the current bays and estuaries to be eroded. With the
decline of the ice age, the Gulf of Mexico rose to an elevation that now fills these bays and
estuaries. The coastal plain is dissected by streams and rivers which run to the coast and bring
water, sediments and nutrients from the interior of Texas into 7 major estuaries. Texas has
extensive barrier island complexes that are dynamic and evolving. Due to these diverse geologic
and hydrologic conditions, diverse plant communities have evolved that support a wide array of
animal species (Britton and Morton 1989). Incorporated into the Gulf Coast Prairies and
Marshes Ecoregion are three major populated areas (Houston-Galveston, Corpus Christi and
Brownville-Harlingen) that comprise a significant part of Texas populace and its required
infrastructure.
Habitats
A variety of wetlands exist in the coastal region of Texas. They include expansive salt marshes
and seagrass meadows, tidal flats, freshwater marshes and swamps or bottomland forests. These
wetland resources are often found in very close proximity on the landscape. The location and
extent of these wetland types are strongly correlated with the average annual precipitation
gradient observed along the Texas coast. As such, the upper coasts boast broader expanses of
coastal salt marsh, brackish marsh and oyster reefs where precipitation and freshwater inflows
are higher. Conversely, seagrass beds and tidal flats exist in greater extent in the south Texas
coast where salinities are higher and precipitation is less.
Coastal marshes are some of the most productive ecological systems that exist. These marshes
perform important ecosystem functions such as maintaining water quality and mitigating storm
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surges from the Gulf of Mexico. They also provide food and shelter for numerous commercially
and recreationally important fishery species such as blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) and red drum
(Scienops ocellatus), and wildlife species such as shorebirds, migratory waterfowl and colonial
waterbirds. In Texas, 4.1million acres of wetlands existed in the mid 1950’s. By 1992, an
average annual net loss of 5,700 acres of wetlands had occurred. Most losses are attributed to
subsidence, channelization, agriculture, and urban/rural development (Moulton et al., 1997)
The upland habitats that dominate the Texas coast include the gulf coast prairies, riparian forests
(often considered wetlands and described above), live oak – redbay woodlands, islands used as
rookeries by colonial nesting birds and the brushlands of South Texas.
In Texas, coastal prairie once covered nearly 4 million acres. It is estimated that less than 1% of
this grassland remains in a relatively pristine condition (McFarlane, 1995). Loss has been
attributed to conversion to other uses and the interruption of important ecological processes, such
as fire, needed to maintain the prairie ecosystem. This vast area of coastal prairie was
interspersed with numerous palustrine marshes. These prairies and wetlands were, and still are,
vitally important to numerous grassland birds as well as wintering waterfowl and resident
mottled ducks.
In south Texas, native brushlands dominated by Tamaulipan thornscrub species provide
important habitat for endangered cats (ocelots Leopardus pardalis and jaguarondi Herpailurus
yaguarondi), plants and numerous migratory bird species. This area is dominated by chaparral,
or brushland habitat, and characterized by the abundance of thorny plants. It is estimated that as
much as 95% of the brushlands have been lost in the lower Rio Grande Valley (Tremblay et al.,
2005). These losses are attributed to agriculture and urbanization. Similarly, on the mid and
upper Texas coast, coastal forests have been cleared or fragmented, and the Chenier woodlands
of the upper Texas coast are essentially gone (Gosselink et al., 1979).
Threats
The population of the Texas Gulf Coast is approximately 7,700,000. Based on projections
developed under the State Water Plan (TWDB, 2007), the population of this ecoregion will
double in the next 50 years to approximately 14,400,000. This will mean that our current
infrastructure and resource demands will also increase substantially to support the increased
population and the pressures and impacts for fish and wildlife resources will be considerable.
Undeveloped natural habitats and agricultural lands will be at risk of conversion and
fragmentation to support this growing population.
Although these population and growth estimates sound very daunting, they represent threats that
unfortunately are not uncommon to the Texas coast. Associated with development will be
effects that include:
Habitat fragmentation and loss
Changes in hydrology, water allocation and sediment budgets
Invasive species proliferation
Changes in lands use
These threats however are serious as most coastal species occupy a limited landscape and space
is limited.
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Climate Change: Overlaying all of threats, and perhaps, the biggest long-term threats to coastal
Texas wildlife habitats is climate change and sea-level rise. It could affect precipitation patterns,
air and water temperatures and freshwater inflows patterns. There is much uncertainty related to
climate change models but it is very clear that sea-level is rising along the Texas coast, based on
the period of record (Table 1). Areas most immediately threatened by sea-level rise include
coastal marshes and wind-tidal flats which provide critical habitat to many migratory shorebirds
and waterbirds which depend on the Texas coast for wintering or stop-over habitats. Our
program will consider climate change and particularly sea level rise in project decisions.
A new potential threat to coastal species is the proliferation of wind energy projects. The Texas
Coastal Bend is a favorable place for wind turbine development due to its consistent winds and
flat topography. This region is important to migratory birds because it is situated between the
Central and Mississippi flyways, thus acting as a conversion point for both. As a result, most of
North America’s long distance migrants (80%) must pass through the Coastal Bend of Texas.
The size and scope of current and proposed wind energy projects has the potential to fragment
habitat for trust species, cause avoidance of suitable habitat, and could cause direct mortality
associated with collisions.
All of these stressors are currently affecting fish and wildlife resources on the Texas and on the
coast. They are expected to continue in the coming years and perhaps increase at an
unprecedented rate. It is paramount for the Program and its partners to maintain their ability to
Table 1: Linear mean sea level (MSL) trends and 95% confidence intervals in mm/yr
Station Name First
Year
Year
Range
For all data
to 2006
Previously
Published Trends
MSL
Trend
+/- 95%
Confidence
Interval
MSL
Trend
+/- 95%
Confidence
Interval
Sabine Pass, TX 1958 49 5.66 1.07 6.54 1.40
Galveston Pier 21, TX 1908 99 6.39 0.28 6.50 0.32
Galveston Pleasure Pier, TX 1957 50 6.84 0.81 7.39 1.03
Freeport, TX 1954 53 4.35 1.12 5.87 1.45
Rockport, TX 1948 59 5.16 0.67 4.60 0.81
Port Mansfield, TX 1963 44 1.93 0.97 2.05 1.48
Padre Island, TX 1958 49 3.48 0.75 3.44 1.10
Port Isabel, TX 1944 63 3.64 0.44 3.38 0.53
Source: NOAA, abbreviated from http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/msltrendstable.htm
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adapt and be flexible by using multiple conservation strategies and/or developing new ones so
that we remain effective in such a changing environment.
Issues
While coastal fish and wildlife species are facing the threats above, the Coastal Program and the
conservation community as a whole are facing its own issues.
The number one issue is the downturn in the national economy and the United States budget
concerns. The outlook for future budgets for conservation programs in the USFWS and other
agencies is expected to be significantly reduced in the next few years. The State of Texas, many
private foundations and businesses are also dealing with budget reductions. However, the
Coastal Program and its partners are resourceful and persistent and continue to strive to deliver
quality on-the-ground conservation for which we have been nationally recognized.
Additional issues the Program and conservation partners are facing include:
Capacity to deliver conservation projects within and outside of Program. Having
experienced and available staff and project leaders is a limitation in many agencies and
organizations. The Coastal Program, where practical, can provide technical assistance to
help meet this need.
Scientific and financial support for routine and project-specific monitoring of
conservation actions. Biological monitoring of project results has been a serious
funding issue. Through cooperative relationships such as the LCC we hope to improve
our project specific monitoring to better inform future conservation actions.
Rate of change exceeds our ability to adapt. When threats increase and the rate of
change is accelerating, it can be difficult to modify conservation strategies with multiple
partners and stakeholders and keep up with the change. This is exacerbated by lags in
funding priority changes in government and other sources.
Outreach of the Program. Partners and stakeholders both inside the FWS and outside
may have a limited understanding of the full capabilities, services and accomplishments
of the Coastal Program. Their awareness, support and engagement are critical for the
Coastal Program to overcome conservation’s challenges.
We address in this plan objectives to manage these threats and issues.
Southwest Regional Coastal Program Strategy
At the heart of the Service’s vision and priorities is the conservation and management of its
federal trust species: migratory birds; threatened and endangered species; inter-jurisdictional
fish; certain marine mammals; and, species of concern. The Coastal Program can positively
address many of the challenges these species face in our coastal ecosystems. Our approach is to
engage partners to cooperatively conserve and protect valuable fish and wildlife habitat on their
property and in their communities. We do this by providing funding, technical support and
planning tools needed to make on-the-ground conservation affordable, feasible, and effective.
The Coastal Program began our effort to develop a strategic plan to focus and guide our
conservation actions in 2006. A five-year plan covering fiscal years of 2007 to 2011 was
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established. This regional strategic plan is a revised and updated version of our previous plan
and will cover fiscal years 2012-2017.
These five major goals remain at the core of our strategy:
Conserving Habitat
Restore and protect priority habitats to increase and maintain Federal Trust Species populations
Broaden and Strengthen Partnerships
Accomplish our work through voluntary partnerships
Improve Information Sharing and Communication
Collaborate and share information and concerns with others
Enhance Our Workforce
Our employees are our most important resource
Increase Accountability
Measure, assess, and report on the effectiveness, efficiency and fiscal integrity of our program
Our partners are critical to achieve these goals by providing guidance, information, and
managing project implementation. The revision of this plan includes input from stakeholders
and partners on internal and external factors that would impact the Programs’ current
performance and future accomplishments. That input provided valuable direction for the design
and content of this document. Prevailing themes of Program strengths expressed by stakeholders
included on-the-ground accomplishments, flexibility, technical expertise, and responsiveness to
the needs and values of property owners and local communities.
Regional accomplishments under the previous plan
The first Strategic Plan established for the Coastal Program was in effect for fiscal years 2007
through 2011. During that time period, the Coastal Program in Texas had significant
accomplishments that allowed us to exceed most of our conservation targets. The Program, with
its conservation partners, protected a total of over 3,500 acres and restored or enhanced over
35,000 acres of coastal upland and wetland habitat.
Included in these accomplishments was the completion of some large or unique conservation
projects. One of those completed projects was the Bahia Grande Restoration Project. This
project restored hydrological connectivity and fishery access to nearly 10,000 acres of bays and
lagoon in our Laguna Madre Focal Area. The project returned a dry, dusty bay basin into
wetland benefiting the community as well as fish and wildlife. It was one of the largest
restoration projects of its kind in the Nation at the time.
Another large project completed during this period was the East Bay Shoreline Protection and
Restoration Project. This collaborative effort of federal and state agencies, nongovernmental
organizations and private industry protected nearly 8,000 acres of diverse coastal habitats along
East Bay from severe erosion and degradation. Project partners placed more than three miles of
erosion control structures along the East Bay shoreline of Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.
These structures provided critical protection to one of the most remote and pristine areas in the
Galveston Bay system. The project was a huge success and has been perpetuating significant
accretion that will help extend the life of the project and make it more resilient to future erosion
and rising sea levels.
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North Deer Island is the most significant colonial waterbird nesting island in the Upper Texas
Coast. An effort led by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to restore and protect the
island came to completion in 2008. The project protected the nesting site for the now de-listed
brown pelican and approximately 20 other waterbird species. Over 2,500 pair of brown pelicans
now nest on the island, up from zero prior to 1999.
Each of these project examples took eight or more years to complete from initial concept to
finding funding and final construction. They were only possible because of the perseverance and
support (technical and financial support) of a multitude of organizations, agencies and
individuals. The conservation benefits of each project were significant for wildlife and fisheries
in the area. The resource benefits and diverse partnerships of these projects brought them
National attention and multiple awards. Bahia Grande and North Deer Island were recognized
by the Office of the President of the United States and given Coastal America’s Partnership
Award. The Secretary of the Interior bestowed the Department’s Cooperative Conservation
award to the East Bay Shoreline restoration project. They have each received additional regional
or national awards.
The role of the Coastal Program and its staff in each of these projects was significant. Although
it is not frequent that we can help our partners implement a 10,000-acre project like at Bahia
Grande, our Program will continue to work with and support partners to conserve coastal fish,
wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
Revising the plan
Using input from our partners and stakeholders, this plan describes objectives, key activities and
performance measures developed to support our five strategic goals. The five major goals
outlined in this plan are designed to lead to the ultimate outcome of the Coastal Program:
increasing and/or maintaining Federal Trust Species populations. Progress towards this
outcome will be measured primarily by the on-the-ground accomplishments intended to benefit
target species populations. The Service will enlist the help of partner organizations and agencies
to further our knowledge and understanding of the species response to the strategic habitat
conservation actions described in this plan.
This version of the Strategic Plan’s notable revisions include modifications to geographic focus
areas; increased emphasis on climate change and relative sea level rise; Strategic Habitat
Conservation; incorporation of a communications plan; changes in supporting initiatives; and
more clearly defined goals for workforce and partnership capacity planning.
Focal species and their habitats
The challenges to addressing threats and issues facing federal trusts species on the Texas coast
are numerous and daunting; therefore, the Coastal Program will focus its resources to meet
specific goals and objectives. Using focal species is an approach to priority setting and can also
be used to measure success. Focusing efforts on species that have significant needs is a logical
approach. However, a challenge remains because most if not all habitats along the coast are in
decline and the numbers of trust species with significant needs are quite numerous; 49 species of
birds for this Ecoregion (2003). While some species may be used as indicators or representative
species for a particular habitat type, there are significant gaps in the knowledge on how
environmental conditions affect a species’ population size. Despite these challenges and
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limitations, the Program will use focal species as a metric not only to prioritize but to measure
success.
Building on the conservation planning of other programs and organizations, the Coastal Program
will target our assistance to support on-the-ground conservation actions over the next five years
on a subset of federal trust species represented below in Table 2. The conservation actions taken
to benefit the habitat needs of this suite of species will benefit a host of other wildlife, both
resident and migratory. Representative focal species are listed in Table 2 based on habitat
categories. It should be noted that not all habitats are listed and that species may depend on
multiple habitats at different times during their life cycle. Additionally, species selected are
anticipated to be easy to document (or have significant studies demonstrating habitat benefits), in
order to measure success.
The Coastal Program will continue to support the Service’s objectives to conserve federally-
listed threatened or endangered species. We also intend to support the conservation work for
species listed by the State of Texas. Those species listed below (Table 3) are those that the
Coastal Program will seek opportunities to collaborate with partners to improve habitat
conditions. The Coastal Program has accomplished numerous projects to improve habitats for
the benefit of current or future populations of listed species and will continue to look for those
opportunities.
Table 2: Focal species based on habitat categories. Coastal Tallgrass Prairie
and its emergent wetlands
Coastal Riparian and
Bottomland Forests
Estuarine marsh habitat
Submerged aquatic
vegetation habitat
Mottled duck
Loggerhead shrike
Northern harrier
Eastern meadowlark
Northern pintail
LeConte’s Sparrow
Lesser yellowlegs
Northern bobwhite
Black rail
Northern aplomado falcon
Prothonotary warbler
Swainson’s warbler
Little blue heron
Rafinesque big-eared bat
Great blue heron
Northern parula
Cerulean warbler
Wood duck
Seaside Sparrow
Clapper rail
Brown pelican
Reddish egret
Black rail
Black skimmer
American oyster catcher
Speckled seatout
Blue crab
Diamondback terrapin
Whooping Crane
Mottled duck
Redheads
Red drum
Southern flounder
Oyster Reef habitat
Beachridge, dune and
sand flat habitat
Tamaulipan thornscrub
and associated wetlands
Eastern oyster
Southern flounder
Black drum
Piping plover
Wilson plover
Snowy plover
Lesser yellowlegs
Black Rail
Red knot
Audubon’s oriole
Ocelot
Jaguarundi
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Table 3: Protected species on the Texas Gulf Coast
Federally Listed Species State Listed Species (excludes federally-listed species)
Northern aplomado falcon (E) Brown pelican (E)
Attwater's prairie chicken (E) Reddish egret (T)
Whooping crane (E) White-faced ibis (T)
Gulf Coast jaguarondi(E) Texas indigo snake (T)
Ocelot (E) Texas tortoise (T)
Slender rushpea (E)
Black-lace cactus (E)
South Texas ragweed (E)
Kemp's Ridley sea turtle (E)
Texas ayenia (E)
Piping plover (T)
Texas prairie dawn (T)
(E) Endangered (T) Threatened
Unfortunately only a few of our focal species have established and scalable population or habitat
objectives. They include some federally listed threatened or endangered species, state listed
species or species of national economic interest. The Gulf Coast Joint Venter indentified
population goals and habitat requirements for priority bird species found within our geographic
focus areas. These species include Northern bobwhite, LeConte’s sparrow, loggerhead shrike,
seaside sparrow, long-billed curlew, western sandpiper, stilt sandpiper, buff-breasted sandpiper,
and short-billed dowitcher. For these species there is not adequate conservation design to allow
downscaling of the habitat requirements to our geographic focal areas. The need for additional
science support for these and other federal trust species on the Texas coastal is an issue we will
share with the Gulf Coast Prairie LCC and cooperate to address. Appendix E contains of list of
the science support needs for some of these species.
Below we describe the available population and habitat goals for our focal species. Specific
goals, where scalable to the focus area level will be listed in the geographic focal area discussion
section of this document. In Appendix A is a complete list of the known populations goals for
Texas coastal species.
Waterfowl: The Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV) has three initiative areas that encompass the
Texas Gulf coast. Those initiative areas are the Chenier Plain, Texas Mid-Coast and Laguna
Madre Initiative areas. With the exception of Goliad County in the Coastal Bend focus area, all
of our focal areas are within these GCJV’s initiative area. The GCJV has set population goals
for 16 species of waterfowl and describes habitat objectives for each of these initiative areas
(Wilson, B.C., and C.G. Esslinger. 2002).
A separate plan has been prepared for the mottled duck, a year-round resident of the Texas Gulf
coast, which established a population target for habitat conservation for the mottled duck.
(Wilson, B.C. 2007). The Coastal Program will assist in fulfilling the habitat needs to help
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support the population goals for our waterfowl focus species, the mottled duck, redheaded ducks
and northern pintails as outlined by the GCJV.
Whooping Crane: The whooping crane, listed as federally endangered, once occupied the
coastal marshes of both Texas and southwest Louisiana. Now the entire migratory flock of
approximately 279 cranes winter in the central Texas coast in the Coastal Bend Geographic focal
area. The population goal for down-listing the whooping crane is 1,000 birds. Based on an
average territory size of 500 acres and individuals each territory supports, 3.6 individuals (Stehn,
T. and F. Prieto, 2010), 1,000 cranes will need 138,889 acres of suitable wintering habitat.
Currently, only 32,000 acres are protected on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and adjacent
private lands with conservation easements. In order to conserve the available area for a down-
listed population of whooping cranes, an additional 107,500 acres needs to be protected of which
a small portion is thought to be State-owned submerged lands. The acquisition, easement or fee
title, of this acreage is estimated to cost nearly $100,000,000.
The Coastal Program has limited financial ability to aid in these acquisitions. We must rely on
other programs, partners, and funding sources to protect enough habitat for down-listing
whooping cranes. The Program assists with and funds habitat improvement projects on lands to
benefit whooping cranes. It is our goal to assist partners using other funding sources to protect
15,000 acres of potential whooping crane habitat over the next 5 years. In addition, our goal is to
develop cooperative agreements for habitat improvement projects on approximately 1,000 acres
each year for the next 5 years. These goals are a significant step to insuring the habitat is
available for the expanding whooping crane flock. The down-listing or ultimate recovery of the
whooping cranes will require availability of wintering habitat in both the Coastal Bend and the
Upper Texas Coast geographic focal areas.
Attwater’s Prairie Chicken (APC): The APC is federally listed as engendered. It occupies
coastal prairie that once dominated the Texas coastal plain and southwest Louisiana. As
described in other parts of this document, roughly 1% of the former extent of this habitat
remains. The Upper Texas Coast and Coastal Bend geographic focal areas include habitat
occupied by APC.
The recovery goal for Attwater’s prairie chicken (APC) is 6,000 breeding adults. It is estimated
that this populations will require 300,000 acres of coastal prairie consisting of less than 10 to 25
% woody cover. To contribute to the needs of APC’s the Coastal Program’s goal is to implement
grassland improvement projects on 5,000 acres of coastal prairie per year for the next 5 years.
This goal falls well short of the habitat requirements as stated above and highlights the need to
increase program funding.
Coastal Program efforts to benefit APCs will focus on maintaining existing grasslands and
controlling brush to expand and connect fragmented grassland blocks. The Coastal Bend
geographic focal area contains the largest contiguous blocks of coastal prairie remaining in
Texas and therefore the Program expects the bulk of our APC habitat conservation work will
occur here and to a lesser extent in the Upper Texas Coast area.
Northern Aplomado Falcon: Northern aplomado falcon is a resident species whose range once
extended throughout much of Mexico into the Texas coastal prairie and the southwestern U.S. It
was extirpated from the U.S. by 1952, and then reintroduced in 1995 in South Texas. The
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downlisting criterion in the Aplomado Falcon Recovery Plan is 60 nesting pairs (U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (1990). Currently there are 25 known nesting pair within the Laguna Madre
Focus Area and 15 known nesting pair within the Coastal Bend Focus Area. Each nesting pair
requires approximately 2,000 acres of coastal prairie and tidal flats, with scatter yucca.
The Coastal Program’s goal is to realize an increase of 10 nesting pair in each focal area. Our
approach for northern aplomado falcons in the Laguna Madre and Coastal bend focal areas is to
improve habitat by reducing brush, providing nesting structure and maintaining open grasslands
on approximately 3,000 acres annually for the next 5 years.
Reddish Egret: The reddish egret is among the priority species identified for habitat planning,
implementation, and evaluation by the Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV) partnership. It is also
listed by the State of Texas as threatened. Conservation planning by the GCJV for reddish egrets
indicated that breeding habitat and foraging habitat were the most likely limiting factors. The
current global population for reddish egrets is estimated at between 2,500 and 3,000 breeding
pairs (Green 2006). Informed by the SE Waterbird Plan, historical records from the GCJV
region, and assumed habitat potential of the region, the GCJV Waterbird Working Group
selected a Reddish Egret population objective of 2,000 breeding pairs in Texas.
Reddish Egrets typically nest in mixed-species colonies on coastal islands and forage in shallow,
salt-water habitats. Both natural and artificial (dredge material deposition) islands are used for
nesting colony sites (Lowther and Paul 2002). High priority reddish egret colonies exist in all
three Coastal Program focal areas. By focusing on priority island projects that address erosion
and improve habitat conditions, reduce human disturbance, and control predators it is estimated
the population could expand towards the goal of 2,000 nest pairs in Texas. The Coastal
Program’s goal is to address reddish egret habitat needs in all three focal areas on approximately
400 acres of nesting islands over the next 5 years.
Ocelot: The ocelot is a federally listed endangered cat with only two known breeding
populations in the United States, in the Tamaulipan thornscrub habitat found in the Laguna
Madre Focal area. According to the Ocelot Recovery Plan, the population goal for Texas is three
core populations with 75 individuals in each (a total of 225 individuals). Based on recent habitat
based population viability analysis a population of 225 ocelots will require an estimated 37,050
acres of habitat (Haines, et. al., 2006). Approximately 13,837 acres of suitable habitat occur in
Willacy and Cameron counties which can support an estimated 82 ocelots (Haines et al., 2006).
Thornscrub restoration in south Texas can cost on average $350.00 per acre and can take up to
40 years to mature. We estimate the cost of restoring an additional 23,000 aces of habitat to cost
$8,050,000.
Coastal Program funds alone can only address a small fraction of this conservation need. Our
goal is to restore 200 acres of thornscrub habitat to benefit ocelot and other species per year for
the next 5 years. We will continue working with partners to acquire and protect existing habitat
as well as restore area to expand core populations and create corridors between habitat patches.
14
GOAL 1: CONSERVING HABITAT
The Coastal Program protects, enhances, and restores fish and wildlife habitat by providing
assistance to our conservation partners. Cumulatively, the acres of habitat contribute to the
sustainability of Federal Trust Species. Achieving results at the local level, we conduct
community education and outreach, establish conservation based partnerships, and provide
technical and financial assistance to our partners to implement projects. The direct assistance
our Program biologists provide to the staff of agencies, organizations, as well as private
individuals has positive impacts to trust resources, and builds relationships within the
conservation community and the general public.
Regional Objectives
The Region 2 Coastal Program’s expected outcome of this goal is to maintain or increase the
abundance of Federal Trust species through habitat restoration or enhancement activities. To
accomplish this, the Coastal Program will pursue the following objectives.
1. Review and refine Geographic Focus Areas. The Coastal Program has developed
geographic focus areas based on the needs of Federal Trust Species and capacity with
partners to deliver conservation actions. Each of the geographic focus areas (Figure 1)
described below includes a more detailed description of specific types of habitat work
which benefit our Federal Trust Species.
2. Set habitat acreage goals for each Geographic Focus Area to meet focal and Trust species
needs. We will consider the habitat objectives of focal and trust species described
previously along with the capability of the Program, partners and issues to set targets for
each focal area.
3. Develop cooperative projects which result in on-the-ground habitat conservation. We
will pursue collaborative projects to protect, restore, enhanced or maintain habitat for
federal trust resources.
4. Assess project benefits and improve conservation design. Understanding the results of
conservation actions on the habitats and the species they are intended to support will
inform and improve our conservation delivery. Financial support for monitoring is a
significant limitation for both the Program and its partners which is intended to be
addressed through establishment of the Gulf Coast Prairie LCC.
Key Strategic Activities
To address this goal (Goal 1: Conserving Habitat), the following key strategic activities will be
implemented.
Review and refine Geographic Focus Areas.
Every five years, reevaluate the geographic focus area boundaries and make revisions as
needed.
Include stakeholder and partner input during the development and review of the
Geographic Focus Areas.
Publish focal areas in the Service’s Habitat Information Tracking System (HabITS)
15
Set habitat acreage goals for each Geographic Focus Area.
Use focal species when appropriate. Establish habitat targets for each focal area. These
objectives should be categorized by acres of wetlands or uplands protected, restored,
enhanced, established or maintained as defined in HabITS.
Solicit stakeholder input and comments on focus areas, focal species and trust resource
habitat targets. These targets should complement the strategic conservation plans of our
partners.
Publish targets for each focal area in HabITS.
Develop cooperative projects which result in on-the-ground habitat conservation.
Provide direct financial assistance to partners to support on-the-ground project
implementation. Our primary mechanism to do this will be cooperative agreements but
private lands agreements or grant agreements may be used where appropriate.
Remain engaged and involved with our partners to assist each cooperator and facilitate
successful project completion.
Provide prompt administrative support for our cooperators. Facilitate timely execution of
new agreements, promptly review and process reimbursements, and effectively oversee
project and agreement requirements.
Provide technical assistance to our partners including habitat assessment, project design,
consultation and coordination throughout project implementation, identification of
additional potential project partners, grant writing and assistance with permits, as
necessary.
Assess project benefits and improve conservation design.
Work with partners to increase project monitoring. Collaborate with partners to develop
monitoring protocol for projects to assess biological results.
Identify, seek, and obtain financial or technical support for biological monitoring and
assessment as part of the SHC framework.
Submit science needs to the GCP LCC, GCJV, academic and other science support
organizations and institutions and work with partners to meet those needs (See Appendix
E). As the LCC develops, we will communicate our science needs to the LCC Steering
Committee for their consideration and prioritization. Where possible we will cooperate
to meet the needs.
Performance Measures
Performance will be measured by the amount of habitat provided for trust species through
restoration or protection projects as well as through efforts to ascertain the status of the species
for which these projects are designed to benefit. Over the course of the five-year period covered
by this plan, we hope to work with internal and external partners to improve efforts to monitor
the status and trends these Federal Trust Species. Understanding this information will help guide
the strategy and objectives of this goal.
The goal of conserving habitat will be measured by the following:
The acreage of upland habitats conserved.
The acreage of wetland habitats conserved.
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Conservation Actions
Effective habitat conservation and restoration utilizes a wide array of project approaches. The
Coastal Program draws from a diverse suite of project approaches to improve habitat for the
benefit of resident and transient species which depend on Texas’ diverse coastal habitats. Some
examples include:
Oyster reef restoration which may include modification to existing reef sites or complete
restoration of historic sites.
Coastal prairie restoration through periodic burning, mowing, propagation and planting.
Invasive or exotic species removal such as, Giant salvinia, Chinese tallow tree, Guinea
grass, Norway rat, or feral pig.
Shoreline erosion protection using living shoreline techniques.
Hydrologic restoration or management of either tidal or freshwater flows; e.g. culvert
installation, water control structures, ditch plugging, siphons, etc.
Beneficial use of dredged material to create marshes or other habitats.
Restoration of natural sedimentary processes associated with coastal environments.
Transplanting and re-introduction of native plant species such as seagrasses, prairie,
shrubs or forests to re-establish historic plant diversity which in turn supports specific
trust species.
Restoration or enhancement of wetland features within terrestrial, riparian, shoreline and
aquatic habitats
Rehabilitation of agricultural fields into historic habitats such as coastal prairie or forests.
Enhancing nesting opportunities with platforms or nest boxes.
Land conservation by easement or acquisition???
We will rely on our field experience with this suite of tools to benefit federal trust species and
their habitats in the geographic focal areas described below.
Geographic Focus Areas The Southwest Region’s Coastal Program has been very successful at developing partnerships to
address and deliver conservation projects. However, limits in budgets prevent us from
addressing every coastal resources issue in all parts of the expansive Texas Gulf Coast.
Therefore we will continue to use geographic focus areas and focal species to make the best use
of our staff and financial resources. With the input of our partners and the use of existing habitat
and species conservation plans, the Coastal Program has modified our three geographic areas
(Figure 1). Changes reflect new conservation objectives, elevated threats or issues, and updated
Federal, State, and local conservation plans.
17
Figure 1. Location of Coastal Program Focus Areas on the Texas Coast.
18
In some cases large portions of each of these focus areas have received very little attention even
though they represent places with significant benefit to priority coastal species. These places
within the larger focus area represent locations where the Coastal Program will develop new
partnerships or expand existing partnerships. These areas are identified and described further
under Goal 2 of this plan.
Each of the geographic focus areas are presented below describing the types of habitat, focus
species and conservation targets.
UPPER COAST FOCAL AREA
Overview
The Upper Coast Focal Area contains a diverse range of habitats that in turn support a wide
range of federal trust resources. The Upper Texas Coast Focus Area is approximately 1.5
million acres in size, and extends from the Texas-Louisiana boundary to the Colorado River
mouth (Figure 2).
Historically, the diverse range of
important habitats included:
Coastal Tallgrass Prairie
including emergent
freshwater wetlands on
approximately 40% on
this habitat.
Riverine floodplain and
coastal forests that
includes cypress tupelo
swamp, sloughs, and
hardwood wetlands.
Estuarine marshes
including sand flats,
intertidal flats, brackish
to freshwater tidally
connected wetlands.
Submerged aquatic
vegetation beds
including both
freshwater and saltwater species.
Oyster reefs within estuarine systems with Galveston Bay being of national significance.
Beach, interdunal, and dune habitats associated with barrier islands.
Instream and riparian habitats associated with coastal rivers, bayous and streams.
These habitats have all declined with human settlement and its infrastructure needs. Conversion
for agricultural and development purposes significantly changed the landscape for many habitats
particularly coastal prairie, forests, and riparian habitats. Many of the aquatic habitats have
declined or degraded by natural and man-made factors including hurricanes, relative sea level
Figure 2. The Upper Texas Coast Focal Area
19
rise, and navigation. This focus area is experiencing the greatest relative sea level rise along the
Texas coast (NOAA). Some special sites such as colonial waterbirds nesting sites have
transitioned to man-made islands as natural nesting sites have been lost from man-made
activities.
The Coastal Program’s activities within this focus area have and will continue to be beneficially
demonstrative for federal trust resources. Projects will restore, enhance, or maintain habitat that
is essential to maintain populations of not only specific indicator or representative species but
other federal trust species as well.
Species to be benefitted
Within this focus area, habitats support federal trust species which are declining and/or are listed
as species of concern. Mottled ducks, loggerhead shrike, prothonatary warbler, seaside sparrow,
piping and snowy plovers, eastern oyster and a host of other species of neotropical migratory
songbirds, wading birds, waterfowl and grassland birds are expected to benefit from our actions
in this focal area.
Conservation actions
The Program staff will be working with conservation partners on projects which will restore,
enhance, and maintain important habitats along the Upper Texas coast especially within the
focus area. Typical projects in this area include salt marsh restoration, oyster reef enhancements,
freshwater wetlands restoration, and coastal prairie and bottomland forest conservation.
Practices will include beneficial use of dredge material, vegetation planting, invasive species
control, erosion control and reef restoration.
Conservation targets
The Coastal Program will pursue the following conservation targets as we accomplish projects to
benefit trust resources and our focal species in the Upper Coast Focal. Our habitat conservation
goals for the Upper Texas Coast Focus Area are based on the needs identified by the
conservation plans listed within this document. The habitat conservation targets are an estimate
of what the Coastal Program might accomplish for Federal Trust species during the next 5-Year
period based on historic level funding and knowledge of our past partnerships.
Wetland habitat restored/enhanced: 6,000 acres
Wetland habitat protected: 200 acres
Upland habitat restored/enhanced: 5,000 acres
Uplands protected: 500 acres
Population goals and conservation plans for certain trust resource species or species guilds have
been developed by different conservation organizations including GCJV, NOAA, Partners in
Flight, Gulf Coast Fisheries Commission, state agencies, etc. As we pursue the targets above, we
expect to undertake projects that contribute to the objectives established for mottled ducks, other
waterfowl, reddish egrets and other federal trust resource species.
Partnership Opportunities
The Coastal Program began in the Galveston Bay area and enjoys many long standing
partnerships with other federal and state agencies and non-profit organizations, most of which
20
have local offices in the Houston-Galveston area. Many partnerships have been galvanized by
the establishment and implementation of the Galveston Bay National Estuary Program. We will
continue to support and collaborate with the NEP and its stakeholders. Active engagement and
partnership by businesses, local governments and private citizens have also played significant
roles delivering conservation in the focal area. See Appendix B for a list of recent partners. A
primary goal in this region is to maintain existing vibrate partnerships with these groups and look
to expand those partnerships to affect other areas outside the Galveston Bay complex.
COASTAL BEND FOCUS AREA
Overview
The Coastal Bend Focus Area extends from Nueces County north to the Colorado River in
Matagorda County (Figure 3). This focus area encompasses some of the largest intact tracts of
coastal prairie found on the Texas coast. Three large rivers flow through the focus area, (the
Guadalupe, San Antonio, and Nueces Rivers). The amount and timing of freshwater inflow into
the bays and estuaries from these major rivers is a topic of great concern with all the stakeholders
within this focus area. Other natural biological communities within the focus area includes Live
Oak – Redbay Woodlands
(Quercus virginiana –
Persea bordonia), and
extensive seagrass beds.
The Live Oak-Redbay
Woodlands are globally
rare and restricted to the
Coastal Bend of Texas.
Redfish Bay is located
between the cities of
Aransas Pass and Port
Aransas and contains the
most extensive area of
seagrass beds outside the
Laguna Madre
(approximately 14,000
acres) (Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department,
1999). The area also
includes some of the most
important colonial
waterbird rookery islands
on the Texas coast.
Species to be benefitted
Habitat restoration and enhancement in this focus area is expected to benefit many Federal trust
species including the following: aplomado falcon, whooping crane, Attwater’s prairie chicken,
black-lace cactus as well as many other grassland birds, waterfowl, other migratory birds and
interjurisdictional fisheries.
Figure 3. The Coastal Bend Focus Area
21
This focal area is the wintering grounds for the entire Aransas Wood Buffalo population of
whooping cranes. It is also the site of Attwater’s prairie chicken reintroductions in 2007 after
being extirpated from the area in the mid 1990’s.
Conservation Actions
Most of the habitat improvement projects within the Coastal Bend Focus Area will be prairie
restoration, saltmarsh restoration, palustrine emergent marsh development and colonial waterbird
rookery island management. Practices will include brush management, prescribed fire,
hydrologic manipulation, beneficial use of dredge material, vegetation planting, invasive species
and predator control. Where appropriate we will cooperate with partners to protect important
trust species habitats through land protection.
Conservation targets FY 2012 through FY 2017
Our habitat conservation goals for the Coastal Bend Focus Area are based on the needs identified
for species listed above. The habitat conservation targets are an estimate of what the Coastal
Program might accomplish for Federal Trust species during the next 5-Year period based on
historic level funding and knowledge of our past partnerships. Often enhancement practices
benefit multiple species. These targets represent the total for the focus area.
Wetlands restored/enhanced: 5,000 acres
Wetlands protected: 4,000 acres
Uplands restored/enhanced: 17,000 acres
Uplands protected: 1,000 acres
A few of the focal species identified above have population goals and habitat objectives that are
scalable to this focus area these species. As we pursue the targets above, we expect to undertake
projects to contribute to the objectives of the following species.
Whooping Crane: Protect wetlands to support the population goal for the focus area of 1,000
cranes.
Northern Aplomado Falcon: Enhance habitats, primarily on Matagorda Island and San Jose
Island to support the nesting population goal of 25 pair.
Attwater’s Prairie Chicken: Restore or enhance grasslands in support of the population goal of
5,000 breeding adults. The habitat required for this species will benefit numerous other
grassland and migratory birds.
Reddish Egret: Work with partners to enhance and maintain colonial waterbird rookery islands
to support the nesting population goal of 400. High priority reddish egret colonies exist on
Shamrock Island, Pelican Island, Little Bay, Second Chain, and Sundown Island.
Potential Partnerships
The Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries National Estuary Program and several federal or state
agencies have offices in the Corpus Christi area. We expect to continue our partnerships with
non-profit organizations (such as the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, The Nature
Conservancy, Audubon, Friends of Aransas and Matagorda Island NWR, Guadalupe Blanco
River Trust, Ducks Unlimited, San Antonio Bay Partnership, and San Antonio Bay Foundation),
State agencies (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas General Land Office),
Universities (University of Texas Mission Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve) and
private landowners.
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LAGUNA MADRE FOCUS AREA
Overview
The Laguna Madre Focus Area extends from the mouth of the Rio Grande River in the south to
Nueces County in the North. This area includes portions of Cameron, Willacy, Kennedy,
Kleberg, and Nueces counties. The major water bodies of this focus area include the Upper and
Lower Laguna Madre, Baffin Bay, South Bay and the lower Rio Grande River as shown (Figure
4).
The Laguna Madre in Texas is divided into the upper and lower Laguna Madre with a total area
of 640 mi2. Because evaporation normally exceeds precipitation, the Laguna Madre is a
hypersaline lagoon. This hypersaline lagoon is dominated by seagrass beds and wind-tidal flats.
Seagrasses cover approximately 279 mi2 of the Laguna Madre and provide habitat for numerous
fish species including red and black drum. Approximately 80% of the North American
population of redhead ducks winter in the Laguna Madre where they feed almost exclusively on
the roots of shoalgrass, a seagrass species. Wind-tidal flats cover approximately 361 mi2 of the
Laguna Madre. These wind-tidal flats are extremely important feeding and roosting area to
migrating and resident shorebirds and
wading birds. Mainland portions of
the focus area include coastal prairie,
and south Texas brushlands.
Species to be benefitted
This focus area was selected because
of the ability of the Coastal Program to
contribute to the habitat needs of
Federal trust species in the area. These
species include ocelot, 14 species of
waterfowl, reddish egret, aplomado
falcon, piping plover (Charadrius
melodus), south Texas ragweed
(Ambrosia cheiranthifolia), and
slender rushpea (Hoffmannseggia
tenella).
Conservation Actions
Coastal Program work within this
focus area will consist of thorn scrub
restoration and habitat protection for
ocelots and brush management for
aplomado falcons and other grassland
birds. Because of the importance of
Laguna Madre seagrass beds and
adjacent freshwater wetlands to
wintering redhead ducks it is
anticipated that the Coastal Program
Figure 4: Laguna Madre Focal Area
23
will work to protect and restore these habitat types. Activities may include wetland enhancement
and development to provide additional freshwater for redhead ducks and other waterfowl or
working with partners to acquire existing habitat. Wind-tidal flats are essential foraging habitats
for wintering and migrating shorebirds and wading birds. These flats are important to several
State and federally listed endangered or threatened species such as piping plovers, snowy
plovers, and reddish egrets. Where possible the Coastal Program will work with partners to
protect these sensitive wind-tidal flats from degradation by vehicles. The Laguna Madre Focus
area has numerous colonial waterbird rookery islands. Many of these islands are impacted by
erosion, human intrusion, and predators. The Coastal Program will work with partners to protect
and restore rookery island habitat in this Focus area.
Conservation Targets
Our habitat goals for the Laguna Madre focus area are based on the needs of the species above.
The habitat conservation targets are an estimate of what the Coastal Program might accomplish
for Federal Trust species during the next 5-Year period based on historic level funding and
knowledge of our past partnerships.
Wetlands restored/enhanced: 50 acres
Uplands restored/enhanced: 1,500 acres
Uplands protected; 500 acres
A few of the focal species identified above have population goals and habitat objectives that are
scalable to this focus area. As we pursue the targets above, we expect to undertake projects to
meet the objectives of the following species.
Ocelot: Protect and restore native brush lands to support a population goal of 225 individuals.
Northern Aplomado Falcon: Enhance habitats, near Laguna Atascosa NWR to support the
nesting population goal of 35 pair.
Reddish Egret: Work with partners to enhance rookery islands and maintain colonial waterbird
rookery islands to support the nesting population goal of 729 pair. High priority colonies
exist on Pita Island, South of South Bird Island, Rabbit Island, East Flats Spoil, Green
Island, Laguna Vista Spoil, and Bahia Grande Islands.
Partnership Opportunities
Fewer federal or state agencies and NGOs are locally present in this focal area. However,
existing partnerships do exist to deliver habitat projects. Our partners on these various habitat
improvement projects will include private landowners, non- profit organizations (such as, Valley
Nature Center and The Nature Conservancy, The Peregrine Fund) and State agencies (including
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas General Land Office). A prominent
feature in the area is the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. We will continue to work
with Refuge personnel to meet our partnership and conservation goals in this area.
REGION 2 FIVE-YEAR PERFORMANCE TARGETS
The following table lists the Region 2 Coastal Program habitat conservation targets FY 2012
through FY 2017 for all focus areas combined. The target acreage goals are identified as acres of
wetlands and uplands protected, restored, and/or enhanced. These targets are based on the
assumption of level project funding throughout the five-year performance period. These targets
24
will be evaluated annually and adjusted as necessary to reflect refinements in focal areas and
Federal trust resource priorities.
Habitat Type Target Acreage
FY 2012-2017
Wetlands restored/enhanced 11,050 acres
Wetlands protected 4,200 acres
Uplands restored/enhanced 23,500 acres
Uplands protected 2,000 acres
Total 38,550 acres
The majority of the accomplishments of the Coastal Program in Region 2 will be projects that
restore and enhance habitats (measured by acres) for Federal trust resources. The Program
realizes that an integral part of conservation of these trust resources includes the protection of
lands through purchase of fee title or conservation easements. The Coastal Program will not
acquire or hold properties or easements as this function is reserved for the Service’s National
Wildlife Refuge System. However the Coastal Program can help other entities including the
State or local agencies and non-governmental organizations protect lands primarily by providing
technical assistance. We will use our knowledge of available funding sources and skills at grant
writing and partnership development to assist our partners and achieve the protection goals listed
above.
Although we have no direct ability to effectively control the outcomes of our protection targets,
we have set a goal of 1,000 acres of wetlands and 440 acres of uplands to be protected in the next
five years. A higher wetlands goal was set because most funding sources we expect will be
utilized for this effort designate wetlands a priority. Both the National Coastal Wetlands Grant
Program and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grants Program rely heavily on
the wetland component to ranking and evaluate a proposal. As a result, projects with higher
wetlands components are funded more often. We will help our partners and stakeholders
develop projects and apply for these types of funds to accomplish our protection targets.
External Factors
The ability of the Service’s Coastal Program to reach its targeted level of performance may be
influenced by many factors over which the Program has no control. The external factors listed
below will greatly affect the ability of the Coastal Program to reach the above stated acreage
goals. The accomplishment of the protection acreage targets above is especially sensitive to
these external factors which may include but are not limited to the following:
Unpredictable weather which may lead to unforeseen delays.
Funding levels of local governments and non-profit organizations which would limit their
ability to cost-share on potential projects.
Availability of new partners to cooperate on projects.
Ability of existing cooperators to take on new projects.
Funding levels of State agencies which would prevent or limit project collaboration.
Availability of construction contractors.
Uncontrollable delays in permitting resulting from unforeseen issues such as
contaminants or cultural resources.
25
Availability of Federal or State approved professional service providers such as Licensed
State Land Surveyors or conservation land appraisers.
Willing landowners to participate in cost sharing projects or sell conservation rights.
Land conversions due to development and population growth.
Economic factors such as increased real estate prices and changing agricultural practices.
Limitation on the use of Coastal Program funds to acquire lands by non-federal partners.
The competitiveness and demand for National or State governed grant programs.
Acts-of-God which may include: hurricanes, flood events, drought, fire, etc.
Goal Two: Broaden and Strengthen Partnerships
The Coastal Program has experienced many conservation successes since its inception. These
accomplishments are due to the hard work, dedication and cooperation of numerous partners and
our collaborative relationships with them. By exchanging ideas and leveraging resources
significant conservation actions have been completed. Broadening and strengthening our
partnership is a critical goal to further the objectives of habitat conservation for the benefit of our
Federal Trust Species.
We have established collaborative partnerships with Federal and State agencies, local
governments, non-governmental organizations, private corporations, foundations, land trusts and
private landowners throughout the Texas Gulf coast. However not every part of our geographic
focus areas enjoy the same level of partnership availability or capacity. So, new to this plan, we
have coarsely delineated places in each focal area where the potential to benefit our targeted trust
species is high but more or stronger partnerships are needed to deliver on-the-ground
conservation actions (see Figure 5). We will focus outreach efforts in these areas to build new
partnerships and increase their capability.
Regional Objectives
To address our goal to broaden and strengthen partnerships, the Coastal Program will work
toward the following key objectives:
1. Maintain existing partnerships. Top priority will continue to be given to maintaining and
continuing the productive relationships established in the region with an already broad
partnership base. These partnerships remain the key to past and future successes of the
Coastal Program in Texas. A list of partners and contributors over the last five years can
be seen in Appendix D
2. Increase the partnership base. To implement strategic conservation projects in our
geographic focal areas, additional partners will be needed. Every partner organization has
limitations that can include workload, capability, geographic interest, and funds.
Increasing the partnership base can expand the capability to work in our focus areas along
the coast, improve leveraging of funds and also preserve and strengthen existing
partnerships.
3. Provide technical assistance to our partners to achieve on-the-ground results. Some
partners may not possess the time or skills necessary for all aspects of a conservation
project. Coastal Program personnel can provide assistance, which may include grant
writing assistance, coalition building, meeting facilitation, project planning, and
monitoring which can help our partners achieve conservation results.
26
4. Leverage funds. Budget constraints exist with the
Coastal Program and all partnering organizations.
Through collaboration, the Coastal Program can help
our partners identify and utilize appropriate sources of
funds, and leverage secured funding and in-kind match
and services to implement their conservation projects.
Key Strategic Activities
The accomplishment of each regional objective will be
addressed through the implementation of the key strategic
activities described below.
Maintain exiting partnerships
Actively participate in regular communications with
partners through project meetings, briefings and field
visits.
Have personal meetings (i.e. face-to-face) to discuss
status and updates within the partner’s organization and
the Service.
Promote partner recognition through awards programs,
news releases and outreach documents.
Increase our partnership base
Identify specific areas within our geographic focal areas
to target outreach and partnership development
activities. As seen in Figure 5, we have identified the
areas within each conservation focal area where the
activities below will be targeted to meet this objective.
Identify key stakeholders in focal areas and make direct
contact to begin building cooperative relationships with
those which haven’t previously partnered with the
Coastal Program.
Support the development of new partner organizations.
As NGOs or other potential partners develop, the
Coastal Program can provide technical assistance to
support the development of their capabilities
Communicate with existing partners of the Program’s
objective to ask for their assistance in broadening the
base of potential partners. Most existing partners
represent a broader constituency. Communication at
their councils, board meetings and other venues can
reach new partner organizations. Additionally the
outreach and communications of existing partners of
their successful projects and partnership with the
Coastal Program provide an excellent way to gain trust
and encourage participation by new partners, especially with private landowners.
Perform outreach activities at public meetings, conferences and workshops will inform
attendees about the Coastal Program and invite participation.
Figure 5: Geographic focus areas identifying
(stippled) areas for target partnership outreach.
27
Provide technical assistance to our partners to achieve on-the-ground results
Coastal Program personnel will work with our partners to identify technical assistance
needs and provide assistance that meets a real need of the partner. Often, partners need
specific technical assistance in order to implement and accomplish project goals. Our
assistance will be tailored to the specific need such that it will move the partner’s project
forward even in the absence of Program funding.
Leverage funds
Compile and maintain a list of potential funding sources including Federal, State and
known private sources. The list should identify the fund source, eligibility of applicant,
match requirement, and application dates. This list can be used to support our partner’s
pursuit of additional funds to support a project and provide technical assistance.
Capture and include all costs and funding sources associated with projects in reports and
proposals. Including all costs and sources of funds in project proposals, agreements and
reports will insure accurate reporting of leveraged funds and show true costs of projects.
Performance Measures & Accomplishment Targets
The goal of broadening and strengthening partnerships will be measured by the following, which
will be reported annually:
The number of new cooperators entering into agreements with the Service with a goal of
at least one new partnership in each focus area over the next five years.
The amount of funds and in-kind services (above Coastal Program funds or services)
leveraged or otherwise contributed to projects per year with an annual ratio of 3:1 (3
contributed for every 1 of Coastal Program contributed to projects).
External Factors
The external factors which may reduce the Service’s ability to reach their targeted level of
performance for the goal of broadening and strengthening partnerships influenced by many
factors for which the agency has no control. These may include but are not limited to the
following:
Staffing limitations of existing partners to take on new work or additional projects.
Landowners willing to participate in Federal programs.
Ability or willingness of cooperators to implement technical assistance actions.
Budget and staffing reductions in Federal or State and local agencies or non-
governmental organizations.
Reduced availability of funding to the Program or other federal, state and local
agencies and non-federal sources. Of particular concern, loss of non-federal funds
often required by many competitive grant sources.
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Goal Three: Improve Information Sharing and Communication
Communication and information sharing are important elements of successful conservation
projects. It provides a mechanism to learn of project successes, failures, tips or strategies to
improve project coordination and implementation. Achieving this Goal to collaborate and share
information and concerns with our partners, stakeholders, future partners, decision-makers, and
others to protect, restore, and enhance habitats for Federal Trust Species directly affects Goals
One, Two and Five.
We intend to continue annual or bi-annual stakeholder/partnership meetings. These meetings
address all the objectives below plus additional objectives in Goals Two and Five. We have
received good feedback from cooperators expressing their desire for the Program to continue
hosting these events.
Regional Objectives
1. Increase coordination with other agencies and stakeholders. This will help improve the
likelihood a project will be completed on time and within budget. It will also help
improve administrative efficiencies.
2. Improve project results through information sharing. Sharing of project specific
information with stakeholders can support planning efforts and reduce duplication of
effort. Information sharing will also improve project results by learning from previous
mistakes of others.
3. Inform stakeholders and decision-makers of Coastal Program activities and
accomplishments in the region. Informed decision-makers and stakeholders will be better
prepared to support continuation of the Service’s mission for the Coastal Program and
cooperate to conserve fish and wildlife resources and their habitats.
4. Develop and activate a communication plan. A communication plan that identifies
specific action and establish timelines will help us meet the objectives of this goal.
Key Strategic Activities
The following strategies will be implemented to accomplish the regional objectives of this Goal.
Increase coordination with other agencies and stakeholders
For projects in which the Coastal Program is providing direct financial assistance or is
providing technical assistance, we will host or participate in regular project meetings to
maintain communication among cooperating partners. These meetings will consist of the
project managers for the cooperating organization and the Program at a minimum.
Project meetings will be conducted regularly based on the needs and pace of the project
implementation.
Continue participation in regional councils and committees. In Region 2, councils and
committees organized by National Estuary Programs, Joint Ventures or other watershed
based organizations have a membership which includes various Federal and State
agencies and other stakeholders. Participation in these council or committee meetings
provides an open channel of communication between agencies, and other stakeholders.
Host a meeting, annually or bi-annually, that provides an avenue for stakeholders and
cooperating organizations to communicate with the Service’s Coastal Program and
address project priorities and concerns.
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Improve project results through information sharing
Share information on successes and failures of related projects at project meetings. This
information sharing is one form of technical assistance. Program biologists can assist a
partner during project planning and development by providing information on lessons
learned through other project experience. Building from these lessons improves project
results.
Continue to participate and present project posters to oral presentations at scientific and
technical conferences. National or regional conferences and workshops provide an
opportunity to reach a broad audience. Through these presentations, ideas and techniques
can be exchanged with professionals from around the Nation and at regional levels.
Collaborate with project partners to publicize accomplishments through social media
outlets, newsletters and peer-reviewed journals. Publishing project accomplishments or
significant milestones through these venues a useful tool to share information. Proper
permissions should be received by all cooperating partners before publishing.
Inform stakeholders and decision-makers of Coastal Program activities and accomplishments in
the region.
Hold periodic stakeholder meetings, annually or bi-annually, to provide an opportunity to
share updates on the Coastal Program. These meeting provide an opportunity to address
other objectives of this goal and are also useful to improve project results and promote
inter-agency coordination.
Prepare annual accomplishments report and briefings using the Habitat Information
Tracking System (HabITS). Present these materials at local meetings or other briefing
opportunities in Washington DC and local congressional offices.
Post regular updates on one or more of the Service’s various social media outlets. These
outlets provide a quick and easy way to publish short updates on Coastal Program
activities that can be viewed by the general public, partners and decision-makers.
Develop and activate a communication plan.
Revise and update existing communication plan to meet current communication needs.
An initial communication plan was created in 2008 but the plan needs to be revised to
include recent developments and policies.
Identify key communication products and target audiences.
Establish a schedule for communicating to the public, partners and decision makers.
Performance Measures & Accomplishment Targets
It is difficult to measure the success and effectiveness of these communication objectives. They
are important activities and an essential part of each Coastal Program employee’s duties.
Success of this goal and objectives will be manifested primarily in the accomplishment of
objective of Goal One, Conserving Habitat.
We have listed below targets for 1) our utilization of the HabITS database for accomplishment
reporting, 2) hosting of annual or bi-annual stakeholder meetings and 3) use of modern social
marketing outlets.
1) A primary tool for collecting project information and relevant technical assistance activities
will be the proper utilization of the HabITS database. The goal to improve information sharing
and communication will be measured by the:
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Proportion all new projects with complete and accurate data uploaded in current HabITS
database with a target of 100%. Complete HabITS project entries will include:
o Thorough narratives and descriptions
o Project accomplishment locations or shapefiles
o Accurate and complete financial data and sources
o Species expected to benefit
o Related briefing papers or accomplishment reports uploaded
2) We will host or participate in stakeholder meetings described above. Our target is to host at
least one stakeholder meeting every two years specifically to provide a forum to share
accomplishments, lessons learned and receive feedback from our partners. These events will be
recorded in HabITS
3) We have set a target to publish or post Coastal Program updates at least quarterly on one or
more of the Service’s social media pages. These actions will not be tracked using HabITS.
External Factors
The external factors which may directly affect the Service’s ability to reach the goals to improve
information sharing and communication may include but are not limited to the following:
Connectivity of databases on a national and local level (phone lines, power outage, local
servers and computer issues) will affect our ability to communicate.
The HabITS program must remain stable and operational. This system is managed
external to the Regional program offices.
DOI or FWS policy governing our utilization of social media outlet may change how we
use these venues.
Travel restrictions and available funding may limit our participation in regional or
national meetings and conferences.
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Goal Four: Enhance Our Workforce
The staff of our Region 2 Coastal Program is our most important resource. Maintaining and
supporting the staff are the keys to the success of the Program and achieving on-the-ground
results for Federal Trust Species. Providing our staff with the ability to increase knowledge and
technical expertise through continued training will help insure the quality of our workforce.
The purpose of this goal is to carry on the continuous development of our staff, maintain our
reputation for excellent customer service, provide employees with opportunities to teach and lead
in their communities, and keep using an appropriate breadth of disciplines in delivering habitat
conservation projects on the Texas coast. Our employees are often sought out for their
knowledge and advice. We want to give them opportunity to enhance those leadership skills not
only to benefit the Program but the entire Service as they may choose to advance into higher
leadership positions across the nation. These skills and abilities are the key to the future success
of the Coastal Program.
Regional Objectives
1. Build and retain a qualified and effective team. The Coastal Program in Texas is most
efficient and effective when it works together as a team. We want to continue our
successful team approach that has served us and our cooperators well since the beginning
of the Program.
2. Equip employees with state-of-the-art knowledge, skills and abilities. A key to delivering
our goal to conserve habitat is skilled and motivated staff. These employees are the front
line of communication to area partners and stakeholders which deliver on-the-ground
habitat conservation projects.
3. Enhance leadership skills. Prepare our employees for the next step in their career and
develop the skills to lead in any position or situation.
Key Strategic Activities
Build and retain a highly qualified team.
Correctly size the staff to meet the need and deliver on-the-ground-conservation actions.
Our staffing plan is to allow each field biologist sufficient funds to contribute to
conservation projects.
Maintain field-deployed staff to work directly with cooperators and facilitate on-the-
ground conservation. Staff will be stationed in Ecological Services Field Offices or other
locations on the Texas coast where they can meet regularly with local cooperators and
evaluate, inspect and monitor conservation projects.
We will comply with all recruiting and hiring authorities and fill vacancies with the best
candidates for each vacant position.
Conduct routine conference calls and periodic face-to-face meetings or staff workshops
to maintain team cohesion and communication.
Equip employees with state-of-the-art knowledge, skills and abilities.
Assess the skill set of each employee. Use skills assessment to develop employees
Individual Development Plans (IDP) or Individual Action Plans (IAP) which identifies
training or development needs and sets a schedule to meet those needs.
Continue to provide training and educational opportunities for staff in every field,
computer systems, administration, conservation biology, restoration science, and
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landscape ecology, as well as in allied fields such as economics, conflict resolution, and
community-based conservation techniques.
Encourage staff to actively participate in technical conferences and workshops
Review progress on an employee’s IDP or IAP during mid–year and annual performance
appraisals. Update and revise these annually.
Enhance leadership skills
Encourage and support employee applications to leadership development opportunities.
Provide opportunities for employees to engage in cross program training and experiences
by working closely with staff of other Ecological Services program area. Likewise allow
other program employees to get involved in Coastal Program activities.
Give employees the opportunity to take work details that expand their view of Service
activities and expose them to different levels of responsibility and leadership.
Performance Measures & Accomplishment Targets
We have set the following measures and targets to help ensure our workforce is properly
equipped and effective such that all other goals may be met. We will use the DOI Learn training
module to track classroom or on-line learning events as well as the SUTL participation.
Number of hours each full-time employee spends in training related to administration,
strategic habitat conservation planning and delivery, communications, and leadership
with a target goal of a minimum forty (40) hours of training per employee annually.
Work details and special assignments performed by employees with a target that all
employees will participate in at least 30-day detail in the next five years.
Number of staff enrolled in leadership development programs. Our target is to have two
employees successfully complete a leadership development Program over the next in next
five years.
Amount of funds delivered directly through our employees to conservation projects. Our
target is to maintain a staff size that provides each field biologist a project allowance of
$75,000 to $100,000 for on-the-ground-delivery.
External Factors
The external factors which may directly affect the Service’s ability to reach our objectives and
carry out the activities above to enhance our workforce may include but are not limited to the
following:
Congressional appropriations which would affect the amount of funding available for
direct assistance for conservation projects and restrict travel, training and staff retention.
Local emergencies or other events precluding an employee’s participation in scheduled
training events.
Availability of potential training events at the local level.
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Goal 5: Increase Accountability
The primary objective of the Coastal Program is to deliver habitat conservation projects to
benefit our trust resources. Guided by our principles of ethics, integrity, cooperation and
customer service, the objectives and activities of Goal 5: Increase Accountability will ensure to
us, our partners, and the American public that we are staying true to our vision and
accomplishing our mission.
The objective, strategies and performance measures of this Goal are critically linked to the
HabITS database and the successful integration and transition to the Financial Business
Management System (FBMS). The HabITS system provides the primary input of
accomplishment data which includes restored and protected acres/miles, species benefits, project
funding, focus areas and project locations. To effectively report accomplishments and increase
accountability, the HabITS database must operate efficiently and be user-friendly. FBMS will be
our new system of systems to track budget actions including administering financial assistance
agreements and other procurements. Ultimately these actions will continue to maintain respect
among partners, stakeholders and the general public.
Regional Objectives
Region 2 will pursue the following objectives in support of this important goal to increase our
Program accountability:
1. Attain acreage goals outlined for Governmental Performance and Results Act.
Annual Government Performance and Results Act goals are established each year for the
following categories in Region 2, wetlands restored or enhanced, uplands restored or
enhanced, wetlands protected and uplands protected. These goals are accomplished
through activities listed under of Goals One and Two of this plan.
2. Proper management and control of program activities.
Proper administration of projects and cooperative agreements is an administrative
cornerstone to our primary mission to deliver voluntary conservation actions to benefit
coastal fish, wildlife and their habitats.
3. Quality assurance and control of accomplishment data.
Accurate reporting of program accomplishments is a critical link in all goals of this plan.
Accomplishment data is used for both internal and external outreach and evidence of
progress toward conservation goals. This data should be accessible and accurate to meet
these uses.
4. Increased visual resources in HabITS.
HabITS database provides both storage of raw data (text) and visual data such as maps
and photographs. These photos and maps can easily be used in preparation of annual
accomplishment reports and outreach materials.
5. Subactivity funding fidelity.
Funds are approved by Congress and allocated to the Regions for the Program (1124
subactivity code). These funds are to be used to support and implement the objectives as
described here and in other Service manuals or policies specific to the Coastal Program.
Ensuring these funds are used for their intended purpose is critical to our accountability
to the public and trust resources.
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Key Strategic Activities
The following strategies will be implemented to accomplish the regional objectives of this goal.
Attain acreage goals outlined for Governmental Performance and Results Act.
Annually develop cooperative habitat conservation projects. Cooperative agreements are
the primary mechanism we utilize to implement on-the-ground projects that result in
acres restored, protected, or enhanced.
Establish annual Governmental Performance and Results Act habitat conservation goals
which positively address the focus area acreage goals described in Goal One.
Proper management and control of program activities.
Projects will be selected that meet the goals, objectives and key activities described in
this Strategic Plan and the Vision of the Coastal Program.
Monitoring of projects. Our project agreements have varied deadlines, and each year
additional projects and agreements are initiated as other projects are completed.
Continued monitoring of all projects, existing and new, is essential for identify potential
problems, solutions and opportunities to expand benefits in a timely fashion.
Ensure all requirements for reporting, invoicing, and monitoring are clearly stated in all
new agreements and our cooperators are aware of and follow those requirements.
Create and opportunity for partners to provide customer satisfaction evaluations through
written surveys or open stakeholders meetings.
Quality assurance and control of accomplishment data.
Maintain routine and regular communication with cooperators to ensure that required
documentation, monitoring, and accurate funding and acreage data are provided to the
Service’s project officer. Validate the accomplishment data with the project cooperators
and field inspections.
Follow the standardized QA/QC process established by the Washington Office to validate
year-end HabITS accomplishment data. Program biologists will continue to enter all
project information into HabITS, followed by review and certification of data by project
officers, regional coordinators and WO administrators.
Train all employees on the HabITS data entry and reporting functions.
Increased visual resources in HabITS.
Include electronic formatted photos to projects entered into HabITS database. When
appropriate, photos should include pre-existing conditions, construction activity, and
project completion documentation.
Include accurate GIS based information for HabITS mapping tools. This data may
include point or polygon data to identify project sites or area.
Increased subactivity funding fidelity.
Perform management control reviews on all field offices receiving 1124 funds to ensure
the appropriate use and tracking of those funds. Each office is expected to have a review
conducted within five years.
Maintain a Regional Office overhead cost of 6%. The Southwest Regional Office has
maintained an overhead charge of 6% annually for the Coastal Program for over five
years. This amount was recommended as the standard for all regions through the PART
review.
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Annually calculate percentage of Coastal Program dollars allocated for Program
overhead, including salaries, versus those applied through agreements to projects.
Performance Measures & Accomplishment Targets
Increasing our accountability will be measured by the quality of our HabITS database reports as
well as other measures included here.
Annual account of acres/miles restored or protected within each geographic focus area
reported through the HabITS database.
Management control reviews performed once every five years for each field office.
Proportion of projects accurately entered into the HabITS database, with a target of 100%
Annual certification of HabITS data through the QA/QC process, target is 100% of
project accomplishment data is accurate.
Proportion of accomplishments reported in the HabITS database linked to species, with a
target of 100%.
Percentage of HabITS project accomplishments with images (such as before and after
photos), with a target of at least 75%.
Annual regional report on number of FTE’s supported by the Coastal Program.
Annual ratio of project funds and in-kind services (above Coastal Program funds or
services) leveraged or otherwise contributed to projects per year with an annual target
ration of 3:1.
External Factors
The reporting and accountability targets of this goal are directly linked to the performance of
activities listed in Goals 1-4. The external factors that may affect the performance and
accomplishments of Goals 1-4, also affect Goal 5. Please refer to the external factors listed in
the previous sections.
Supporting Activities and Initiatives
The Region 2 Coastal Program works closely with other Service programs to help implement
national plans such as the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, Partners in Flight
Landbird Conservation Plan, U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan, North American Waterbird
Conservation Plan, National Fisheries Habitat Action Plan, National Ocean Policy, National
Wildlife Refuge System Strategic Plan, and Endangered Species Recovery plans.
The Coastal Program is uniquely able to connect diverse partners to complex and comprehensive
conservation projects and see them through to completion. Because of this ability it is a natural
fit for our Program staff to engage in and support various national and regional initiatives. We
work closely with many agencies, organizations and citizens on initiative that support our
mission and engage in cooperative approaches to conservation issues.
Our Program has become increasingly active in integrated landscape level Federal Trust Species
conservation planning, such as the Gulf Coast Prairies Landscape Conservation Cooperative
described previously, that will provide science support for strategic habitat conservation of fish
and wildlife. In this era of cooperative conservation, we will continue to provide biological and
technical expertise to other agencies to complement their habitat initiatives, as well as to Texas
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Parks and Wildlife Department to implement their State Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation
Plan priorities.
Specifically the members of the Coastal Program, in Region 2 will engage or support the
following activities, initiatives and programs. Most of these initiatives share common goals to
conserve and restore habitats, preserve native species populations and improve water quality.
Each of these efforts has contributed or has great potential to influence the quality or quantity of
on-the-ground conservation actions benefitting coastal fish and wildlife species.
Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA): Coastal Program staff will participate and support the
actions of the Habitat Conservation and Restoration Team which is implementing the habitat
priority outlined in the Governor’s Action Plan signed and supported by all five Gulf Coast
States, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force (GCERTF): Initiated by President Obama in
response to the BP Gulf oil spill, the GCERTF is developing a Gulf wide strategy to restore
critical ecosystem components. Coastal Program staff has been supporting the development of
the strategy by lending our comments and aid when needed to Task Force working out the details
of the strategy. Once the strategy is complete and approved by the President, the Coastal
program intends to continue working with the governing bodies to execute the goal and
objectives of that strategy as they relate to our mission.
Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP): The Coastal Program has been providing technical
support to our partners to identify project and prepare proposal for funding from the CIAP
formerly managed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement
BOEMRE. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will assume ht remaining responsibilities of the
CIAP and our staff will be prepared to assist Division of Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration
Program (WSFRP) where needed.
Gulf Coast Prairies Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GCPLCC): Our staff has served
technical and advisory roles during the formation and development of the GCPLCC. As
described previously, we will communicate with the GCP LCC steering committee and staff our
science needs to carry out strategic habitat conservation for our focal species. We will continue
to provide technical assistance to the cooperative as needed.
Gulf Coast Joint Venture (GCJV): Coastal Program staff will continue to participate regularly
on each of the three initiative teams on the Texas coast. We will help partners develop
conservation proposal and encourage their cooperation with the GCJV as it facilitates the grant
programs of the North American Waterfowl Conservation Act (NAWCA).
Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA): The Coastal Program
has played a vital role supporting the WSFRP as it administers the National Coastal Wetland
Grant Program authorized by CWPPRA. Our Coastal Program staff help coordinate proposal
development with local applicants and submission to the WSFRP. Our field deployed staff can
also provide on-site project monitoring. Senior staff of the Coastal Program regularly
participates on the national ranking committee and even helped draft revised ranking criteria.
We anticipate continuing these supportive roles and lending our extensive restoration experience
to WSFRP implementation of the national Coastal Wetland Grant Program.
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The landscape of the Texas Gulf Coast has changed drastically through the years, and it is
forecasted that additional wetlands, prairie, and riparian habitats will be converted or lost to
agriculture, development and urbanization. The Coastal Program will continue to assist State
agencies and nonprofit organizations seek funding through these initiatives and others to
conserve habitat and preserve Federal trust resources for future generations and citizens of
Texas.
Stakeholder Involvement Stakeholders were extensively involved in the origination of the first Coastal Program Strategic
plan which began in 2006. For the 2012-2017 plan revision, we hosted and two-day partnership
workshop in April 2011 to begin collecting comments to inform our revision process. Each of
the five goals of our plan was discussed and comments offered at the meeting were noted and
considered in the revision. Approximately 40 persons attended representing state and federal
agencies, non-governmental organization, and industry.
In addition to the meeting, an anonymous online survey was conducted. The survey focused on
subject areas important to our revision process including conservation planning, climate change,
role of focus areas and species, funding, communications, monitoring/science, and Coastal
Program service feedback.
We used our partner’s input from the meeting and survey as we revised this plan. A draft plan
was circulated to our partners for additional review and comment. Simultaneously the revised
draft was routed to other Service Programs in the Region. Comments received by internal and
external stakeholders was thoroughly reviewed and incorporated where needed. A final draft
was prepared and submitted for an abbreviated review and presentation to the Southwest
Regional Directorate. The final plan will be submitted for the Southwest Regional Director’s
approval and printing.
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Appendix A: Population Goals Coastal Species in Texas
Focal Species Population Goal Range Goal (Acres)
Whooping crane 1,000 individuals (i.e. 250 productive pairs)
125,000
Attwater’s Prairie Chicken 5,000 breeding adult APC 250,000
Northern aplomado falcon 60 pairs 120,000
Ocelot 225 Ocelots (3 core populations of 75 each)
37,050
Mottled duck 35,322 birds Undetermined
Northern bobwhite 626,423 birds 17,344,500
LeConte’s sparrow 353,724 birds 353,724
Loggerhead shrike 809,778 birds 2,780,690.
Seaside sparrow 65,000 birds 650,000
Northern bobwhite 626,423 birds 17,344,500
LeConte’s sparrow 353,724 birds 353,724
Loggerhead shrike 809,778 birds 2,780,690
Mallard 72,819 birds 219,139
Northern pintail 775,755 birds
Gadwall 224926 birds
American wigeon 93841 birds
Green-winged teal 293,574 birds
Blue-winged teal 23,941 birds
Northern shoveler 127,599 birds
Canvasback 33,638 birds
Redhead 92,944 birds
Ring-necked duck 11,345 birds
Greater & lesser scaup 47,402 birds
Lesser snow geese 609,879 birds
Greater white-fronted geese 97,636 birds
Canada geese 63,043 birds
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APPENDIX B: Supporting Conservation plans.
Upper Texas Coast plans:
The Galveston Bay Plan - The Galveston Bay National Estuary Program, which is a
program of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, successfully partnered
with citizens, industry, business, development, academia, and government to develop the
Galveston Bay Plan. The Plan is a comprehensive conservation and management plan for
the Galveston Bay ecosystem. (Galveston Bay National Estuary Program, 1994)
Gulf Coast Joint Venture Mid-Coast and Chenier Plain Initiative Plans - Ducks
Unlimited, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and
Natural Resources Conservation Service have partnered to create the Texas Prairie
Wetlands Project. This program was designed to help deliver the habitat objectives of the
Gulf Coast Joint Venture, a regional partnership composed of individuals, conservation
organizations, and State and Federal agencies that are concerned with conserving
migratory birds and their habitats along the western U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The primary
goal of the Gulf Coast Joint Venture is to provide for waterfowl in winter and ensure they
survive and return to the breeding grounds in good condition. (Esslinger and Wilson,
2001, Wilson and Esslinger, 2002)
The Nature Conservancy Gulf Coast Prairies & Marshes Ecoregional Plan - This plan
identifies sites of particular conservation need that, if protected, would adequately
represent the natural species diversity within the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes
ecoregion. Within the Upper Texas Coast Focus Area this plan identifies 4 specific areas
for conservation: Texas City Prairie Preserve, in Texas City, West Galveston Bay-south
of Galveston and Texas City, Mad Island Marsh-Oyster Lake Conservation Area and the
Columbia Bottomlands Conservation Area. (The Nature Conservancy, 2002)
The West Galveston Bay Conservation Area Plan - The Nature Conservancy has
identified the West Galveston Bay Conservation Area as one which supports a diverse
array of aquatic and terrestrial species. The Nature Conservancy of Texas will work to
ensure that the conservation area remains an ecologically functional landscape, with
intact tallgrass prairies, coastal marshes and open water estuaries. The Conservancy will
collaborate with local communities to encourage water conservation, habitat preservation,
and pollution controls that help sustain the native and migratory species of West
Galveston Bay. The West Galveston Bay Conservation Area supports a diverse array of
aquatic and terrestrial species, as well as important natural communities. This project
offers the opportunity to protect approximately 20 miles of relatively continuous coastal
habitat, including: coastal tallgrass prairie, submerged aquatic vegetation, saltwater,
brackish, and freshwater wetlands. (The Nature Conservancy, 2001)
Galveston Bay Land Conservation Initiative - The Trust for Public Land designed this
program to assist local governments with public involvement. The initiative is funded by
the Galveston Bay Estuary Program —a program authorized under Clean Water Act
amendments. Galveston Bay Estuary Program has made use of extensive stakeholder
involvement to study the bay and now is implementing a comprehensive bay
conservation and management plan. (Trust for Public Land, 2002)
U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan Lower Mississippi/Western Gulf Coast Shorebird
Planning Region (2002) - The Gulf Coastal Prairie Planning Region is identical to the
North American Bird Conservation Initiative Gulf Coastal Prairie Bird Conservation
Region (BCR 37), located along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. Because of the
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geographic location of the Gulf Coastal Prairies region, and the diversity of habitats
provided by rice fields, beaches, coastal marshes and lagoons, large numbers of
shorebirds migrate, winter, and breed on the Gulf Coast, making this is one of the most
important regions in the United States for this group of birds. There are two Western
Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network sites of International Significance on the upper
Texas coast (Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge complex and Bolivar Flats), as well as,
seven National Wildlife Refuges and several State wildlife management areas that
preserve thousands of acres of important shorebird habitat.
Habitat Conservation Blueprint – The Galveston Bay Foundation, and their partners,
created this document that identifies 167 specific sites throughout the Galveston Bay
System, within the boundaries of the Texas Coastal Management Zone, and identifies
restoration and/or conservation strategies for each site. (Galveston Bay Foundation, 1998)
Texas Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2005-2010 (2005) - This Strategy
identifies the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes as a Tier I – High Priority area for
conservation. All of the Upper Texas Coast Focus Area is within the Gulf Coast Prairies
and Marshes ecoregion. The strategy also lists the Galveston Bay system as a high
priority coastal area for conservation.
Strategic Conservation Plan for the Columbia Bottomlands – These bottomland forests
harbor huge live oaks and other trees, underneath which grows a rich understory of
shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants and provides residence for over 237 species of birds,
including neotropical migratory songbirds. This group, or guild, of songbirds is declining
in numbers, due in large part to habitat loss. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Trust for Public Land, Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and others have a successful conservation
history in the Columbia Bottomlands, focusing on land acquisition from willing sellers,
habitat restoration and management, and research. (The Nature Conservancy, 2004)
Coastal Bend plans:
Gulf Coast Joint Venture Texas Mid-Coast Initiative Plan - This document deals with
planning efforts for the Texas Mid-Coast Initiative Area. The goal of the Texas Mid-
Coast Initiative is to provide wintering and migration habitat for significant numbers of
dabbling ducks, redheads (Aythya americana), lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens
caerulescens), and greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons), as well as year-round
habitat for mottled ducks. (Wilson and Esslinger, 2002)
The Nature Conservancy Gulf Coast Prairies & Marshes Ecoregional Plan - This plan
identifies sites of particular conservation need that if protected would adequately
represent the natural species diversity within the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes
ecoregion. Eleven portfolio sites for conservation are located within the Coastal Bend
Focus Area. (TNC, 2002)
Texas Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2005-2010 (2005) - This Strategy
identifies the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes as a Tier I – High Priority area for
conservation. All of the Coastal Bend Focus Area is within the Gulf Coast Prairies and
Marshes ecoregion. The Matagorda Bay, San Antonio Bay, and Corpus Christi Bay
systems are listed in this strategy as high priority coastal areas for conservation.
U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan Lower Mississippi/Western Gulf Coast Shorebird
Planning Region (2002) - Within the Coastal Bend Focus Area, this plan identifies the
Mad Island Wildlife Management Area complex, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
41
(NWR)/Guadalupe Delta WMA complex, and Matagorda Island NWR as important areas
for shorebirds.
The Coastal Bend Bays Plan (1998) - Within the Coastal Bend Focus Area, this plan
includes Aransas, Refugio, San Patricio and Nueces counties. This plan identifies habitat
and living resources within this area as high priority for conservation and indicates that
habitat restoration, enhancement, creation, or management could benefit whooping
cranes, neotropical birds, colonial waterbirds, snowy and piping plovers, shrimp, crabs,
and fish within the area.
Whooping Crane Recovery Plan - Within the Coastal Bend Focus Area, the Whooping
Crane Recovery Plan indicates that habitat protection is critical for the recovery of this
species. (USFWS, 1994)
Attwater’s Prairie Chicken Recovery Plan - Within the Coastal Bend Focus Area, this
plan indicates that coastal prairie protection and restoration is needed to recover this
species. (USFWS, 1992)
Colonial Waterbird and Rookery Island Management Plan - Within the Coastal Bend
Focus Area, this plan identifies colonial waterbird nesting islands from San Antonio Bay
through the upper Laguna Madre with specific management needs. (Chaney and
Blacklock, 2002)
Seagrass Conservation Plan for Texas. A conservation plan prepared collaboratively by
three State agencies with some jurisdiction over seagrass beds, Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department, Texas General Land Office and Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality. (TPWD, 1999)
Gulf Coast Joint Venture Conservation Planning for Reddish Egret. A conservation plan
prepared by the Gulf Coast Joint Venture (Vermillion, W.G., and B.C. Wilson. 2009)
Laguna Madre plans:
Gulf Coast Joint Venture Laguna Madre Initiative Plan - This document deals with
planning efforts for the Laguna Madre Initiative area of south Texas. The goal of the
Laguna Madre Initiative is to provide wintering and migration habitat for significant
numbers of redhead ducks, greater and lesser scaup (Aythya marila and Aythya affinis),
Northern pintails (Anas acuta), and other dabbling ducks, as well as year-round habitat
for mottled ducks. (Esslinger and Wilson, 2002)
The Nature Conservancy Gulf Coast Prairies & Marshes Ecoregional Plan - This plan
identifies sites of particular conservation need that if protected would adequately
represent the natural species diversity within the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes
ecoregion. Within the Laguna Madre Focus Area this plan identifies 1 portfolio site for
conservation, the Laguna Madre. The boundaries of the Laguna Madre Focus Area and
TNC’s portfolio site are nearly identical. (The Nature Conservancy, 2002)
Texas Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2005-2010 (2005) – This Strategy
identifies the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes as a Tier I – High Priority area for
conservation. Most of the Laguna Madre Focus Area is within the Gulf Coast Prairies
and Marshes ecoregion. The Lower Laguna Madre Bay System is listed as a high priority
area for conservation.
U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan Lower Mississippi/Western Gulf Coast Shorebird
Planning Region (2002) - Within the Laguna Madre Focus Area this plan identifies
Laguna Atascosa NWR, Lower Laguna Madre, Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR, South
Bay, and Padre Island as important areas for shorebirds
42
The Coastal Bend Bays Plan (1998) - Within the Laguna Madre Focus Area, this plan
includes Nueces, Kleberg and Kenedy counties. This plan identifies habitat and living
resources within this area as high priority for conservation. This plan indicates that
habitat restoration, enhancement, creation, or management could benefit neotropical
birds, colonial waterbirds, snowy and piping plovers, shrimp, crabs, and fish within the
area.
Recovery Plan for the Listed Cats of Texas and Arizona with emphasis on the Ocelot.
Within the Laguna Madre Focus Area, this plan indicates that ocelot habitat protection
and restoration is critical for the survival of the species in South Texas. (USFWS, 1990)
Colonial Waterbird and Rookery Island Management Plan - Within the Laguna Madre
Focus Area, this plan includes all colonial waterbird nesting islands in the upper Laguna
Madre and specific management needs for each island. (Chaney and Blacklock, 2002)
Seagrass Conservation Plan for Texas. A conservation plan prepared collaboratively by
three State agencies with some jurisdiction over seagrass beds, Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department, Texas General Land Office and Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality. (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 1999)
43
Appendix C: References Britton J.C. and B. Morton. 1989. Shore ecology of the Gulf of Mexico. University of
Texas Press, Austin. 387 pp.
Coastal Bend Bays Plan. 1998. Published by Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission, Austin, TX. SFR-59/CBBEP-1.
Chaney, A. H. and G.W. Blacklock. 2002. Colonial Waterbird and Rookery Island
Management Plan. 2002. A report for the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program. 286
pp.
Esslinger, C.G., and B.C. Wilson. 2001. North American Waterfowl Management Plan,
Gulf Coast Joint Venture: Chenier Plain Initiative. North American Waterfowl
Management Plan, Albuquerque, NM. 28 pp. + appendix. (Revised 2003.)
Esslinger, C.G., and B.C. Wilson. 2002. North American Waterfowl Management Plan,
Gulf Coast Joint Venture: Laguna Madre Initiative. North American Waterfowl
Management Plan, Albuquerque, NM. 28 pp. + appendix.
Galveston Bay Foundation. 1998. Habitat Conservation Blueprint: A Plan to Save the
Habitats and Heritage of Galveston Bay. Sites, Strategies, and Resources. Galveston
Bay Foundation, Webster, Texas. 189pp.
Galveston Bay National Estuary Program. 1994. The Galveston Bay Plan: the
comprehensive conservation and management plan for the Galveston Bay ecosystem.
Publication GBNEP-49.
Galveston Bay National Estuary Program. 1993. Trends and Status of Wetland and
Aquatic Habitats in the Galveston Bay System, Texas. Publication GBNEP-31. 225 pp.
Gosselink, J.D., C.L. Cordes, and J.W. Parsons. 1979. An ecological characterization
study of the Chenier Plain coastal ecosystem of Louisiana and Texas. 3 vols. U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Office of Biological Services. FWS/OBS-78/9 through 78/11.
Gulf Coast Prairies & Marshes Ecoregional Plan. 2002. Published by The Nature
Conservancy, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Jahrsdoerfer, S.E., and D.M. Leslie, Jr. 1988. Tamaulipan Brushland of the Lower Rio
Grande Valley of South Texas: description, human impacts, and management options.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bio. Rep. 88(36). 63 pp.
McAllen Convention and Visitors Bureau. 2006. www.mcallen.org
McFarlane, Robert. 1995. Upland Coastal Prairie of Texas and Louisiana: Description,
Human Impacts and Management Options. Prepared for the Houston Audubon Society.
91pp.
Moulton D.W., T.E. Dahl, and D.M. Hall. 1997. Texas Coastal Wetlands Status and
Trends Mid-1950’s to Early 1990-s. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife
Service, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 32 pp.
NatureServe. 2006. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web
application]. Version 6.1. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available
http://www.natureserve.org/explorer. (Accessed: January 31, 2007 ).
44
Shackelford, C. and M. Lockwood. 2000. Rare and Declining Birds of Texas:
Conservation Needed. Texas Parks and Wildlife Publication No. PWDBK700-588. 12
pp.
Texas Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2005-2010. 2005. Compiled by
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as a requirement of the State Wildlife Grants
Program. Edited by: Steven Bender, Stephanie Shelton, Kelly Conrad Bender and Arlene
Kalmbach.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. 1999. Seagrass Conservation Plan for Texas.
Austin, Texas. 79 pp.
The Nature Conservancy. 2004. Strategic Conservation Plan for the Columbia
Bottomlands. 34 pp.
The Nature Conservancy of Texas. 2001. West Galveston Bay Conservation Area Plan.
45pp.
The Trust for Public Land. 2002. Galveston Bay Land Conservation Initiative. Houston,
TX, USA.
Tremblay T.A., W.A. White, and J.A. Raney. 2005. Native woodland loss during the
mid-1960’s in Cameron County, Texas. The Southwestern Naturalist. 50(4): 479-515.
Tunnell, J.W. and F.W. Judd, Editors. 2002. The Laguna Madre of Texas and
Tamaulipas. Gulf Coast Studies No. 2. Texas A&M Press, College Station. 346 pp
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1992. Attwater’s Prairie Chicken Recovery Plan.
Albuquerque, NM. vii + 48 pp.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1990. Listed Cats of Texas and Arizona Recovery Plan
(with emphasis on the Ocelot). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Albuquerque, NM. 131
pp.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1994. Whooping Crane Recovery Plan. Albuquerque,
New Mexico. 92 pp
U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan Lower Mississippi/Western Gulf Coast Shorebird
Planning Region. 2002. Prepared by: Gulf Coastal Prairie Working Group Mississippi
Alluvial Valley/West Gulf Coastal Plain Working Groups. Coordinated by: Lee Elliott
and Keith McKnight.
Wilson, B.C., and C.G. Esslinger. 2002. North American Waterfowl Management Plan,
Gulf Coast Joint Venture: Texas Mid-Coast Initiative. North American Waterfowl
Management Plan, Albuquerque, NM. 28 pp. + appendix.
45
Appendix B
Appendix D: Partner List Coastal Program Partners
Anheuser-Busch
Anahuac NWR
Aransas NWR
Armand Bayou Nature Center
Artist Boat
Baytown Nature Center
Brazoria NWR
British Petroleum
City of Clear Lake Shores
City of Texas City
City of Port Aransas
Clear Creek Environmental Foundation
Coastal America
Coastal Conservation Association
Coastal Bend, Bays and Estuaries Program
ConocoPhillips
Corporate Wetland Restoration Program
Ducks Unlimited
Eddie V. Gray Wetland Center
Environmental Institute of Houston
Fish America Foundation
Friends of Aransas and Matagorda Island NWR
Friends of Galveston Island State Park
Galveston Bay Estuary Program - TCEQ
Galveston Bay Foundation
Goose Creek Independent School District
Guadalupe - Blanco River Authority
Guadalupe Blanco River Trust Authority
Gulf Coast Bird Observatory
Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Gulf of Mexico Program
Gulf Ecological Management Site
Harborwalk
Houston Audubon Society
Houston Zoo
Isla del Sol Homeowner’s Association
Keep Dickinson Beautiful
Kiki De La Garza Plant Materials Center
Laguna Atascosa NWR
Lower Colorado River Authority
Mainland Concrete
McFaddin NWR
National Fish & Wildlife Federation
Natural Resources Conservation Service
NOAA - Community Based Restoration Program
NOAA Fisheries-Habitat Conservation Division
NRG Texas
Ocean Trust
Port Aransas Nature Preserve
Port of Corpus Christi
Private Landowners
RRI Energy
Restore America’s Estuaries
SCENIC GALVESTON, Inc.
Spanish Grant Property Owners Association
Stephen F. Austin State University
Sunbird Bay Development
Telephone Pioneers
Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
Texas A&M University-Galveston
Texas Audubon
Texas Department of Transportation
Texas General Land Office
Texas Master Naturalists
Texas Ornithological Society
Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
Texas Point NWR
Texas R.I.C.E.
TexasGenco
The Nature Conservancy–Mad Island Preserve
The Nature Conservancy–Texas City Prairie Preserve
Tivoli Independent School District
Trust for Public Land
TPWD Coastal Fisheries Division
TPWD Galveston Island State Park
TWPD Goose Island State Park
TWPD J.D. Murphree WMA
TPWD Mad Island WMA
TPWD San Jacinto Battleground State Park
TPWD Wildlife Division
University of Houston Clear Lake
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
U. S. Geological Survey
USFWS - Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program
USFWS - Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection &
Restoration Program
USFWS - North American Wetlands Conservation
Program
Village Condos Homeowners Association
Village of Tiki Island
West Galveston Island Property Owners Association
46
Appendix E: Coastal Program Science Support Needs
Since conservation delivery is the Coastal Program's focus, we rely on others for federal trust
species conservation planning and monitoring (JVs for migratory birds, Endangered Species
recovery program, and perhaps LCCs, for listed species). Basic conservation planning, design,
and monitoring helps the Coastal Program understand how its conservation efforts with partners
benefit and support trust species’ abundance and population viability. The Coastal Program's
science support needs are profound. An inventory of the Coastal Program's science support
needs reveals the following:
Endangered Species
Twelve species listed endangered or threatened occur in coastal Texas. Biological planning and
conservation design has been developed, and monitoring is being conducted sufficient to permit
adaptive management for four of these listed species:
1. Whooping crane
2. Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle
3. Northern Aplomado Falcon
4. Attwater’s prairie chicken
Biological planning has been developed for ocelot, but conservation design needs to be
developed and monitoring conducted in order for the Coastal Program to fully understand the
benefits of delivered ocelot projects. The remaining seven listed species (slender rush-pea,
black lace cactus, Texas ayenia, Texas Prairie Dawn Flower, jaguarundi, South Texas ragweed,
piping plover) require significant biological planning, conservation design, and monitoring.
Migratory Birds
Forty-four of the Migratory Bird Program's 139 focal species occur in coastal Texas. Biological
planning and conservation design has been developed, and monitoring is being conducted
sufficient to establish conservation targets and implement adaptive management for six of these
focal migratory birds:
1. Whooping crane
2. Northern pintail
3. Lesser snow goose
4. Cackling Canada goose
5. American wigeon
6. Mallard
For three focal migratory bird species (loggerhead shrike, LeConte’s sparrow and seaside
sparrow) biological planning has been developed but conservation design and monitoring are
lacking. Biological planning and conservation design has been developed for reddish egret, but
monitoring is insufficient. The remaining 35 listed species lack biological planning,
conservation design, and monitoring at a level sufficient to develop conservation targets are:
1. snowy plover
2. long-billed curlew
3. painted bunting
4. cerulean warbler
5. peregrine falcon
6. king rail
7. American
oystercatcher
8. Henslow's sparrow
9. mottled duck
10. lesser scaup
11. ferruginous hawk
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12. yellow rail
13. black rail
14. clapper rail
15. Wilson's plover
16. red knot
17. caspian tern
18. least tern (interior)
19. burrowing owl
20. Sprague's pipit
21. golden-winged
warbler
22. wood duck
23. swallow-tailed kite
24. sandhill crane
25. Piping plover
26. Wilson's phalarope
27. gull-billed tern
28. yellow-billed
cuckoo
29. short-eared owl
30. sedge wren
31. prothonatary
warbler
32. Swainson's warbler
33. grasshopper
sparrow
34. eastern
meadowlark
35. Audubon's oriole
Additional science support is needed for even those focal species with conservation targets.
Waterfowl Science Support Needs-
1. Conservation Design: Range and potential range sufficient to support the wintering
waterfowl population target needs to be mapped taking sea-level rise forecasts into
consideration.
2. Monitoring: Habitat and population monitoring needs to be conducted and results used to
adjust population goals, estimated range requirements, and the wintering habitat model in
an adaptive fashion.
3. Mottled Duck Habitat Model: Relative amounts and configuration of nesting and brood-
rearing habitat needed to meet mottled duck life requisites needs to be determined.
4. Mottled Duck Range Required: Mottled duck habitat spatial requirements needed to
support the population target needs to be determined.
Whooping Crane Science Support Needs:
1. Population Goal: A recovery goal needs to be established for whooping cranes.
2. Conservation Design: Range and potential range sufficient to support a dowlistable and
ultimately a recovered whooping crane population needs to be mapped taking sea-level
rise forecasts into consideration.
3. Monitoring: Habitat and population monitoring needs to be conducted and results used to
adjust population goals, estimated range requirements, and the wintering habitat model in
an adaptive fashion.
Attwater’s Prairie Chicken Science Support Needs:
Determine brood-mortality cause(s) and remedies. Until captive reared APCs can be made to
raise broods to maturity in the wild, we cannot establish a self-sustaining, wild APC population.
Northern Aplomado Falcon Science Support Needs-
1. Population Goal: A recovery goal needs to be established for northern aplomado falcons.
2. Conservation Design: Range and potential range sufficient to support a down-listed and
ultimately a recovered northern aplomado falcon population needs to be mapped taking
sea-level rise forecasts into consideration.
3. Monitoring: Habitat and population monitoring needs to be conducted and results used to
adjust population goals, estimated range requirements, and the wintering habitat model in
an adaptive fashion.
48
Ocelot Science Support Needs:
1. Conservation Design: Less expensive techniques for establishing ocelot habitat need to
be developed.
2. Monitoring: Habitat and population monitoring needs to be conducted and results used to
adjust population goals, estimated range requirements, and the wintering habitat model in
an adaptive fashion.
To learn more about our Program and how to find a local contact go to our web sites:
Coastal Program: http://www.fws.gov/coastal/
Coastal Grants Program: http://www.fws.gov/coastal/CoastalGrants
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Branch of Habitat Restoration
Division of Fish and Wildlife Management and Habitat Restoration
4401 N. Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 358-2201
“All acts of government…are of slight importance to conservation except as they affect the acts
and thoughts of citizens.”