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'AUDUBON
SOCIETY
SAN ANTONIO
TEXAS
Thursday, June 18, 1998- Chapter Meeting
Big Salt Water, So Near and Yet So Far
How the Gulf and Its Underwater Denizens
Affect Us All and South Texas Specifically
7 p.m. - Social Time
7:30 p.m.-Speaker's Program
Free and open to the public
Ruble Center, 419 E. Magnolia (east of McCullough; take Mulberry exit off 281)
For VIA public transportation, take Route 5 .(St. Mary's/McCullough/North Star Mall) to Magnolia
You'd never know it from looking at your rain gauge or where the bubbling spring used to flow, but water, and even large bodies
of saltwater, have a major effect on our lives, our environment, our economy, palate and our future.
Dr. Stan Warlen, a retired marine biologist who worked with the National Marine Fisheries Division of the National Oceanographic
and Atmospheric Administration, will help BAS members understand, the major role that the Gulf of Mexico plays and the variety of
fisheries it supports. He will explain the source of many of the maritime items that grace our table and about the fish harvests that we
seldom hear about yet which have major economic and environmental effects.
Dr. Warlen, who spent many years studying fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean and -Gulf of Mexico, will be glad to answer questions
about fish and their future in bodies of saltwater, but may or may not be willing to disclose where the big ones will be biting this summer.
Saturday, June 13, 1998 - Chapter Outing
The Seco Creek Project
See How Innovation and Cooperation Work
To Help Provide More and Better Water
WHAT: A tour of the famous, national award winning
Seco Creek Water Quality Demonstration Project in Medina
County. See first hand how innovative technology and public/
private cooperation can greatly improve the efficiency of water
use while protecting quality. This information is repeated from
last month's newsletter.
Project personnel will lead us in a caravan to irrigated
farms using latest technology (LEPA systems) to conserve water
while improving crop yields; a home using an artificial wetlands
system to treat septic wastewater; the famous 150 foot deep
Valdena sinkhole; a recharge dam and agriculture-derived,
vegetated buffer strips. We will also visit private ranches where
selective, carefully planned brush management on a small
watershed has increased and stabilized spring f low-dramatizing
possibilities for the rest of the Edwards Aquifer's watershed.
The goal of all of the private cooperators and the
agencies involved is to speed the use of new technology by
demonstrating on a large scale its use and effectiveness. The
technology must be economically and environmentally sound and
socially acceptable. Reports are produced annually to monitor
the results of each demonstration site.
DETAILS: Organized by Bexar Audubon Society, but
open and free to all. We will meet at Haby's Bakery in Castroville
on Hwy 90 West at 8:30 a.m. Get there early and sample their
delicious Alsatian pastries and coffee (terrible on diets!). We leave
there at 8:45a.m. SHARP, in a caravan to the Seco Creek Office
in Hondo. It is on the city square at 1616 Ave. M, phone
830-426-4198. We leave the Seco Creek office about 9:00a.m.
Bring a lunch and drinks, we will picnic en route in
mid-tour. Drive up in any vehicle, but we will TOUR ONLY IN
HIGH CLEARANCE VEHICLES (VANS, SUV'S, PICKUPS, ETC.).
We will be on some ranch roads. Dress appropriately as we will
be doing some walking in the sun, brush and farmland. We will
be back in Hondo and disband about 3:00p.m.
For further information and/ or details, call Mike
Mecke at SAWS, 704-7258 or enevings at 344-3737. Those
planning to attend should confirm with Mike at the above numbers.
BEXAR AUDUBON SOCIETY
Chapter of the National Audubon Society
P. 0. Box 6084, San Antonio, TX 78209
210-822-4503
GOALS
The Chapter's primary goals are
to promote species and habitat
conservation and environmental education
in the community.
President
Vice Pres.
Treasurer
Secretary
Past Pres.
Kim Hoskins
Jane Nelka
Harry Noyes
OFFICERS
Bill Sain (71634.230@compuserve.com) ... 408-7731
Mike Mecke ...... (mmecke@saws.org) . .. 344-3737
Betty Minyard .. : (mink@texas.net). .. ..... 344-6128
Deborah Robinson (=Bill Sain's) .......... . 493-4663
Harriet Wiygul .. (harriet@texas.net) ........... 534-7505
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Term Ending 1999:
............... ..... .. .... 696-3780
......... usneal@texas.net) ........ 561-0313
....... 490-3124
Term En!llng 2000:
Chris Dullnig
Maria Elizalde
Janis Merrit
.... (cdullnig@juno.com) . 830-980-8156
.. 695-4256
............... 698-1095
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Adopt-a-Park Bill Woller................... . ......... 223-3281
Aud. Adven. Betty Minyarcj ... (mink@texas.net) ..... , .. ..... 344-6128
Birdathon ' Bill Sain (71634.230@compuserve.com) .. .. 408-7731
Conserv. Richard Pipes .. (rjpipes@flash.het) .... 830-281-2452
Education ....................... available
Hospitality Nancy Johnson . .. .............. 655-1338
Memb. Deborah Robinson ...... .. ............ 493-4663
........ (71634.230 @compuserve.com)
Naturallnit. Tom Wilson ...... (twilsond@AOL.com) ........ 492-4799
Outings ............................ . ..... available
Programs Chris Dullnig .... (cdullnig@juno.com). 830-980-8156
Publicity Rita Heck ....................... .. 212-8031
SAEN Coord. Bill Sain ........... (see above) ......... 408-7731
Ways & Means Bill Sain ........... (see above) ...................... 408-7731
Bexar Tracks Tom Wilson ...... (twilsond@AOL.com) ........ 492.-4799
Editors Jill Sandeen .............. .. ........... 830-980-3277
usondeen@NetXPress.com) ....... Fax: 830-438-7393
Bexar Tracks is your newsletter.
We welcome your contributions.
Next deadline: June 19, 1998
Please fax Jill or email Tom as above; diskettes
and hard copy should be sent to Tom Wilson,
13227 Hunters Spring, San Antonio, TX 78230.
1.) Printed with soy ink on
recycled paper.
Visit Bexar Audubon's
Web Site:
http://www.audubon.org/chapter/tx/bexar/
Suggestions and contributions are welcome.
Please contact Jill Sondeen at
jsondeen@ netxpress.com
June 1998
Do you enjoy reading this newsletter? Have you attended a chapter meeting
or an outing recently? Have you seen a Bexar Audubon booth at a public event like
Earth Day, or Viva Botanica? Do you feel safer knowing that Bexar Audubon works
to protect our environment on a local, state, national, and internationalleve~? Are
you gratified knowing that BAS is working to educate others, especially our children,
about the animals and habitat that make Bexar County and surrounding areas so
unique? Hopefully this chapter of the National Audubon Society is able to benefit
you in these ways. These benefits, however, do not come easy. There are quite a
few folks who volunteer their time to make sure that t.his organizations is successful
at achieving its goals.
You see some of their names mentioned every month in this newsletter.
We have a very dedicated group of outstanding volunteers. Unfortunately our
numbers have dwindled in recent weeks. As you have read here· in recent issu.es of
the newsletter, Dawn Garcia recently stepped down as our Outings Chair when she
moved back to Seattle. Katie Nava-Ragazzi stepped down as our Education Chair
to return to Los Angeles. Immediate Past President and current Board member
Harriet Wiygul will soon be moving to Savannah GA. The loss of these three
individuals leaves us with a huge void to fill. We need your help to step into the
Shaq O'Neal-sized shoes left behind by Dawn, Katie, and Harriet. If you are
interested in volunteering, in any capacity, please call me at 408-7731.
We have all benefitted from our relationship with BAS. Why not take a
couple of hours each month to help us keep our chapter one of the premier National
Audubon chapters in Texas. We are looking for Chairs and/or members for the
Education and Outings committees: We are also looking for a Co-Chair and/or
members for the Hospitality Committee and a Coordinator for the San Antonio
Environmental Network (SAEN). Volunteers are also needed in several other areas.
Susan,
-Bill Sain
--No Room for Martins?
Try the Nearest School
Editor's note: BAS Members come up with innovative ways to
improve San Antonio's bird habitat. This suggestion from Jackie
Schlatter to Susan Rust is being passed on very early so that BAS
members will have plenty of time to work with their neighborhood
schools. As we learned from Phil Beckhelm at our February
meeting, young martins often scout out potential nesting sites in
the fall and return to them in the spring.
A suggestion for all of the many birders in San Antonio who cannot have a
martin house (like you), why don't y'all adopt a school with one and "landlord" it during
the season? I know of at least two schools with houses (it's the thing all elementary
schools seem to do, at least in the NEISD). One is Hidden Forest (Partridge Trail off
of Bitters) and the other is Oak Meadow off of NW Military Highway. Both of these
have sparrows and no one is monitoring the egg and nestling development. This
information could be collected and sent to the PMCA. I do it for my house every year
and am also doing it for Huebner Elementary. By the way, I put up the house this year
and have eight nesting pairs!!
It sure would help the birds and be a nice community gesture.
Jackie
Editor's postscript: If a school doesn't have a martin house, they might like to
have one donated and erected by a potential martin landlord.
2 Bexar Tracks
May22. 1998 Chapter Meeting Recap: A South Texas Future Outdoors?
Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute Director
Seeks to Make Nature a Part of Our Future
A future for South Tex.as that
preserves our heritage of abundant wildlife
and .avoids subdividing the area into the
sterility of five acre ranchettes can be
achieved if we enhance our legacy of a great
outdoors for visitors who will pay for the
privilege of enjoying it, according to Dr. Fred
Bryant, Director of the Caesar Kleberg
Wildlife Research Institute at Kingsville.
· Speaking to the BAS May meeting,
Bryant said that there will be major changes
in the ability of South Texas lands to support .
the people that live on them as federal
agricultural price supports are phased out
and competition from other areas increases.
The Institute is conducting a variety of
wildlife research projects designed to help
us understand the dynamics of animal
populations so they can be enhanced and
so that the habitat needed for their survival
can be sustained.
Bryant said the rapid growth of
outdoor related recreation activities-
Report from the Fields
birding, hunting, fishing,, camping, and
hiking-demonstrate the potential to
replace traditional agricultural pursuits as
a means for economic growth. The Institute
is also doing research on new cash crops
such as prickly pear cactus for food for
people and livestock and mesquite for
flooring and barbeque chips, which could
sustain family farms while conserving
precious water and soils.
The Institute also ·works on a
variety. of habitat improvement projects to
restore degraded habitats, improve forage,
improve water quality, reduce erosion and
increase plant diversity. These projects will
help ranchers and farmers increase
production while at the same time providing
more wildlife habitat which can be a source
of ecotourism income.
One of the more interesting
proj~cts is the Feline Research Program
which has shown that South Texas has
large populations of mountain lions and
BAS Prexy and Friends Seek
Birds for Bucks for Education
'
As most Bexar Tracks readers know, Bexar Audubon is raising
funds to support our environmental education programs
throughout Bexar and surrounding counties for the next year.
Birdathon is a fun fundraising event where the participants spend
the day birding (such hard work) and their supporters pledge to
pay so much per every species identified.
My Birdathon was held Sunday, May 3, 1998. Susan Rust
and Marge Lumpe joined me for portions of the day. I visited
Eisenhower, McAllister, Brackenridge, and Olmos Parks. I also
visited the Botanical Center, Mitchell Lake, and did a little road birding along the way . .
We identified 92 species of birds throughout the day, starting with a
chuck-wills-widow and three eastern screech•owls at Eisenhower and ending with a
black-crowned night-heron at Mitchell Lake. The highlights, for me, were the screech-owls,
the ovenbird at the Botanical Center, and the 5 or 6 Swainson's hawks at Mitchell Lake. I
was there again this morning (5/8) and they are still there.
I hope you will consider supporting Bexar Audubon's education programs! If so,
please make your check payable to Bexar Audubon Society and mail it to
BAS - Birdathon
PO Box 6084
San Antonio TX 78209-0084
The children and wildlife of this area thank you!
-Bill Sain, President
June 1998 3
bobcats b!lt that its populations of ocelots
and jaguarundis are endangered. Among
other things, the Institute has constructed
tunnels under highways in big cat country
and is working to understand why the
animals often use the tunnels but
, occasionally still wind up as roadkill.
While there is room for optimism
about the future of Texas wild cat
populations, Dr. Bryant said the outlook for
the Attwater's prairie chicken is dismal. He
pointed to the whooping crane restoration
and the coyote rabies control efforts-in
which the Institute have had major roles­as
examples of research that is paying
dividends.
The Institute, which is a
component of Texas A&M University­Kingsville,
presents the latest developments
in its research on bulletins on it web site.
Dr. Bryant invited BAS members to drop in
at http://aghs.tamuk.edu/CKWRI.html
Thank you, Dawn,
Katie, and Harriet,
for all of your work.
We'll miss you.
We wish each of you the
best of luck for your future.
And .... Happy Birding,
wherever you are!
Upcoming Chapter
MeetinjJS for 1998:
July 16 - Pat Driscoll - How the
Environmentalist Can Work with the
Media.
August 20 - BAS Planning Meeting.
September 17 - David Bowles - Edwards
Aquifer and the Endangered Species
Bexar Tracks
-LOCAL NEWS
Proposed Western Comal Water Project Seeks New Water for Fast Growing Area
Editor's Note: On
April 30, 1998, Bill West,
General Manager, and David
-==----.. of examples of fixed senior water
Welsch, Director of Project14~.aiiS1~~~-i
Management of the
rights. To meet these
commitments, GBRA is required
to release the same amount of·
water down the Guadalupe River
as that which flowed down there
before the dam was built, at least
the historic average of river flow.
When more than the average
water flows into the lake, water is ·
Guadalupe-Blanco River
Authority (GBRA) held a
Valley Telephone Cooperative
meeting at the Guadalupe GB
auditorium to inform the public · ,
about the proposed Western
Coma/ Water Project (WCWP). There were
about 40 people in attendance.
The purpose of this project is to
provide an alternative source of surface
water to western Comal County at an
affordable rate. This part of Comal County,
which includes the area along the HWY 281
corridor, is one of the fastest growing areas
in the region. It now gets its water from the
Trinity Aquifer, a very low volume, slow
recharging aquifer, at least compared to the
Edwards Aquifer. The Trinity Aquifer cannot
support the area's current growth rate. This
was made alarmingly clear during the
mini-drought of 1996 when test wells in Kerr
County went lower than during the drought
of record in the mid-1950s.
The proposed project has been
approved by the GBRA Board of Directors
and now must be approved by' various other
entities. For many water issue observers,
this project seems quite a strange
proposition-everyone knows that the water
rights to all surface water has already been
allocated for decades. So why is new water .
suddenly becoming available for this
project? Is GBRA going to divert more water
out of Canyon Lake? No.
Canyon Lake was built in 1.964 by
the US Army Corps of Engineers as a flood
control dam. Flood control remains the
primary function of Canyon Lake-all other
functions are subordinate to controlling
floods. This fact wreaks havoc on the water
recreation business during times of heavy
rain-the Army Corps of Engineers takes
over control of water release from GBRA
when the lake leveL reaches 909 feet or
more. As happened during the last rains
(remember those?), so much water had to
be released that low-lying bridges were
flooded and tubing on the Guadalupe River
had to be shut down for safety reasons.
At all other times, the GBRA
controls the outflow. There are a number
of downstream users which have certain
commitments of water-Victoria and the
bays and estuaries of the Guadalupe River
where it empties into the gulf are a couple
June 1998
....;;.;;..,_-=;..., stored in the dam. When less
than the average river flow comes into the
lake, more water has to be released than
comes in so that the water allocations to
the water users are met. Note to lakefront
property owners: Canyon Lake is not a
constant level reservoir.
Right now, GBRA can sell an
additional -50,000 acre-feet (50K AF) per
year to contracted water users, above that
which has to go to the downstream users.
This 50K AF is known as the firm (available)
yield and is a quantity based on the drought
of record. This means that if there is a
drought of such a magnitude that no water
at all comes into Canyon Lake, the water
already in the lake will last for about 10
years. GBRA hopes to increase the. firm
yield by 40K AF by diverting the water now
committed to several small hydroelectric
plants on the theory it is easier to get
electricity elsewhere than water.
The new firm yield rate will be 90K
AF, if approved. Although this sounds like
nearly a doubling of the amount of water
diverted from Canyon Lake, it isn't. It is
just a redefinition of what water goes where.
Instead of just running downstream, it can
be sold to other entities, even for inter-basin
transfers, like that being proposed for the
Western Comal Water Project.
The WCWP would consist of a
1 OK AF-capacity water treatment plant and
large-sized (15 inch diameter) pipelines
going to various water wholesalers: 2K AF
to Comal County, 4K AF to Bexar
Metropolitan Water District (BMWD), 4K AF
to San Antonio Water System (SAWS), and
50 AF to $an Antonio River Authority
(SARA). This amount 0f water capacity will
theoretically accommodate the next 20- 25
years (until 2030) of anticipated growth in
western Comal County. San Antonians,
note that the water to San Antonio is only
temporary, except for 4K AF. This project
isn't called Western Comal Water Project
for nothing.
In order to provide water at a cost
of -$2/ 1000 gal to western Coma I County
residents, a water treatment plant of a
4
capacity of 1 OK AF has to be built to take
advantage of 'economy of scale'. However,
there isn't enough development in western
Cotnal County yet, so in order to use the
treatment plant at its capacity now, GBRA
has offered the temporary use of most of
the water to the Bexar County water
systems. Comal County would initially only
be able to use 2K AF. For this historic
out-of-basin water, San Antonians would
pay an extra 40% out-of-district charge. As
demand in western Comal County grows,
the water would gradually revert to Comal
County to a total Of 6K AF, leaving Bexar
County committed for 4K AF.
GBf3A and the entities entering
into the negotiations feel that this is a
win-win situation. Coma! County can plan
definitively for future growth, while Bexar
County buys time to come up with other
alternatives during the next 25 years to deal
with its own explosLve growth in the northern
part of the county.
GBRA expects that it will take
about 1 year to get the permit from TNRCC
and 2 years or less for construction of the
water treatment plant as well as the 45 miles
of water pipelines.
A concern was expressed that "if
you build it, they will come" and
unsustainable growth in a Critical Water
Area, as western Comal County has been
declared, shouldn't be encouraged. West
answered that he thought it would actually
help western Comal County. He said that
Austin had tried to limit growth to protect
their water resources, but people just
leap-frogged the regulated areas and
developed anyway. GBRA plans to sell only
to those developers/ water purveyors who
agree to include an approved waste water
treatment system or are in compliance with
the county's limits to -3 acres per lot when
a septic system is involved.
GBRA feels that by providing an
alternative water source and requiring waste
water treatment, the quality as well as the
quantity of the Trinity Aquifer will ultimately
be protected. The area to be served is not
over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone,
so the increased development (i .e. ,
impervious cover) won't affect the recharge
of the Edwards Aquifer. In the permit
process, there will be public hearings where
BAS members and the public can express
their opinions. For more information ,
contact GBRA in Seguin at 830-379-5822
or Bill West by email at bwest@gbra.org.
Visit their web page at www.gbra.org.
-Jill Sandeen
Bexar Tracks
ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
A Report From Texas Parks and Wildlife ....
Endangered Birds Thrive at
Kerr Wildlife Management Area
Numbers of golden-cheeked warblers and black-capped
vireos continue to increase at the 6,494-acre Kerr Wildlife
Management Area near Kerrville. The two small migratory songbirds
are on the federal endangered species list. At Kerr WMA, the birds
are benefitting from a combination of deer habitat management,
livestock rotational grazing, controlled burns and cowbird trapping.
The results are impressive: Annual two-day surveys of vireos
by employees showed 27 singing males when the surveys began in
1986, last year they counted 228, and this year the count jumped to
338. Warbler numbers were 18 singing males in 1984, 30 in 1991
and 50 counted so far this year, with the bulk of the core habitat yet to be surveyed. This
was achieved using essentially the same management practices recbmmended by the
Wildlife Division technical guidance biologists for Central Texas landowners through Wildlife
Management Plans.
New Bird Species
Identified in Brazil
Editor's note: the following from TEXBIRDS
Researchers at the Federal
University of Parana (Italy) have determined
that a tiny, gray-black bird that they captured
in 1997 in a marshy area inside the city of
Curitiba, 420 miles southwest of Rio de
Janeiro, is a new species. Marcos
Bornschein, Bianca Reinhert and Mauro
Pichorim named their new bird the Lowland
Tapaculo. The complete story and a picture
of the Lowland Tapaculo is at: http://
cnn.com/EARTH/9804/25/
brazil.newbird.ap/index.html.
-E.G. White-Swift
Central Texas Audubon, Waco TX
Cooperative Venture Sheds Light on
Texas' Beloved Reptile, the J-lorny Toad
AUSTIN-Texans' most beloved
reptile, the Texas Horned Lizard or horny
toad, is thriving in the western half of the
state, but may be struggling in the eastern
half, say the results of a citizen inventory
effort conducted in 1997.
The first annual report of the
Texas Horned Lizard Watch, a volunteer
monitoring effort coordinated by Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department, also reports
that the likelihood of encountering a horny
toad is significantly less when there are fire
ants present.
The results of the first year of the
watch program confirm many people's
personal experiences, as well as the results
of a survey conducted by the Horned Lizard
Conservation Society in 1992. The horny
toad has essentially disappeared from the
eastern third of Texas. In addition, many
respondents reported that the horned lizard
was increasingly rare in Central Texas and
the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Only in West
Texas, the Panhandle, and the western
portion of South Texas do populations seem
to be somewhat stable. Results also
showed that areas that had fire ants were
less likely to have Texas Horned Lizards.
This is exciting data, said Lee Ann
Liam, coordinator for the watch program.
"We started the Texas Horned Lizard Watch
believing that Texans cared about the
horned lizard and that they were capable
June 1998
of collecting data that would help us to better
understand its status. That belief is already
paying off."
Many causes have been proposed
for the disappearance of the horny toad,
including collection for the pet trade,
changes in land use, fire ant invasion, and
environmental contaminants.
According to Liam, "This is the first
set of data I know of that statistically
supports a correlation between presence of
fire ants and absence of Texas Horned
Lizards. It does not prove that fire ants have
caused the decline in horned lizard
populations, but what we learn from this and
future years can help us target conservation
efforts more effectively."
A total of 394 people in 154
counties scattered all across Texas
requested information about Texas Horned
Lizard Watch in 1997. Each potential
participant was provided with information on
horned lizards, instructions on survey
techniques, data forms, and maps. A total
of 61 people or teams returned their data
sheets, indicating an effort to conduct a
formal horned lizard count on 98 different
routes in 39 different counties. Of the 98
different routes for which results were
reported, Texas Horned Lizards were seen
on 49 (exactly 50%). Information was also
gathered from a questionnaire sent to all
who had requested survey materials.
5
T e x a s
Horned Lizard Watch
is part of a more
extensive citizen watch
program developed by
the . Endangered
·Resources Program of
TPWD called Texas
Nature Trackers
(TNT). In its two-year
inaugural period, TNT has involved school
groups and other citizen volunteers in
monitoring 14 populations of rare species,
including sn!3-ils, salamanders, pocket
gophers, and several rare plants, in addition
to Texas Horned Li~ards. The approach of
TNT, which is modeled after several national
and international programs such as
Monarch Watch and Nature Mapping, is to
link up citizens with populations of rare
species in their area. Its goal is to foster
local stewardship and conservation to
ensure that species do not become
threatened. Participation is strictly voluntary
and surveys are conducted only on public
property and the property of willing
landowners.
For more information about Texas
Nature Trackers, including how to
participate in Texas Horned Lizard Watch,
call the Endangered Resources Branch
toll-free at 1-800-792-1112, dial zero and
ask the operator for extension -7011 .
Bexar Tracks
ENVIRONMENTAL _NEWS
Texas Private Landowners Cooperate Babbit Says Little Oil Underlies
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
to Remove Plant from-Endangered List
ZAPATA-For the first time in the
history of the federal Endangered Species
Act, active cooperation and conservation
by private landowners has been solely
responsible for a recommendation to
remove a Texas species from the federal
endangered species list.
A group of private ranchers in
Zapata County near Laredo has voluntarily
signed conservation agreements to protect
the rare Johnstens frankenia, a one-foot
tall shrub with flowers that have white petals
around a yellow center. At the time of its
listing in 1984, only five populations or local
groups of the plant were known, all in South
Texas. Since then, with the help of
ranchers, many more have been
discovered.
The U. $. Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS) regional office in
Albuquerque, NM, has recommended that
Johnstons frankenia be taken off of the
endangered species list. According to a
recent memo from the Albuquerque
regional director to field supervisors in
Texas, the delisting package for Johnstons
frankenia should be submitted no later than
March 1999.
The reasons for this success story
can be summed up in two words:
cooperation and conservation, said Gena
Janssen, a Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department {TPWD) biologist. The private
landowners of Zapata County have
cooperated with us by graciously opening
their gates and allowing access to survey
for this endangered species. This led to
the discovery of at least 45 confirmed
populations of Johnstons frankenia, all but
one on private property.
Janssen and the ranchers realized
that simply finding a few more populations
will not assure that a rare plant gets de listed.
So, many Zapata County .landowners went
a step further by committing to conserve this
species on their ranches through voluntary
conservation agreements with TPWD.
It is these voluntary conservation
agreements that has led to the
recommended delisting, explained Janssen.
Unlike endangered animals, endangered
plants are not heavily protected on private
land under the federal Endangered Species
Act. Essentially, if a landowner is not using
federal money or operating under a federal
permit, it is legal to remove endangered
plants on their property.
"Given these facts, we knew that it
would be difficult-to-impossible to delist this
species because the USFWS would
consider private land sites unprotected",
continued Janssen,"unless we could prove
to the USFWS that the landowners of Zapata
County are taking care of these endangered
species voluntarily."
Steve Spangle, USFWS Listing
Coordinator for Region 2 (including Texas),
recently assured Janssen that all is ready
to proceed with the preparation of the
delisting package. She notes that while
Spangle and others think it is likely to occur,
the Johnstons frankenia delisting is still a
recommendation, and nothing is final until it
is signed by the Director of the USFWS in
Washington, DC.
Editor's note: The following statement,
released recently by Secretary of the
Interior Bruce Babbit, is a major victory for
environmentalists in the more than decade­long
struggle over the future of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
The resource update, compiled by
the U.S. Geological Survey, should provide
a cold shower of reality for those who
continue to seek a justification for oil drilling
within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
This assessment makes the probability that
other Prudhoe Bays exist under the coastal
plain-the biological heart of the Refuge­vanishingly
small.
The USGS data assessment
indicates that any oil under the Arctic
Refuge coastal plain is more likely held in
a multitude of small reservoirs. The
implication is clear: tG recover this oil would
require the kind of infrastructure that would
forever and drastically alter the landscape
of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, now
dedicated to the conservation of Alaska's
magnificent wilderness resources.
At the present time, the
Department of the Interior is cooperating
with the State of Alaska and other
stakeholders on an environmental impact
statement looking at a portion of the
National Petroleum Reserve Alaska to
explore whether oil and gas leasing could
be compatible with the subsistence needs
of Alaska Natives and the needs of wildlife.
There are places on the Arctic Coastal Plain
that should be forever set aside to sustain
and protect the abundance of wildlife. The
coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge must remain that place.
Great Texas Birding Classic Trophy Heads to New York
PORT ARTHUR -
The second annual Great
Texas Birding Classic drew to
a successful close here on
May 2 after a frantic week
where 36 teams from as far
away as Alaska vied to see
who could identify the most
bird species along more than
500 miles of Texas coastline.
The team now gets to choose
how to spend the $50,000 cash
grand prize, picking from a list
of eight Texas bird habitat
projects. All told, the Classic
raised almost $170,000 this
year, up from about $100,000
:_~~~~~~~2:} last year. Funds raised by
sponsorships from private
When the dust and feathers
settled, the WildBirders team sponsored by
WildBird Magazine claimed top honors with
298 bird species identified, taking the Roger
Tory Peterson Memorial Trophy back to
WildBirds New York offices for the next year.
June 1998
corporations and conservation groups go to
enhance or acquire Texas coastal habitat.
'~This year's Great Texas Birding
Classic turned out bigger and better than
we ever really hoped for", said Bob Cook,
TPWD COO and senior director for land
resources. "The bottom line is raising public
6
awareness", Cook explained. "Just making
people aware that we have this wonderful
resource of wild birds and habitat out there,
and that Texas has absolutely the best that
there is-those wetlands, those big woods,
those thick brush thickets-and that we've
got to have those to support different bird
species. The Birding Classic gets people
to realize that to see that type of bird, I've
got to go to a shoreline marsh. I can go
look for that one all day long in a brush
thicket and never find it. It's the simple
awareness that bird diversity-and by
extension, all wildlife diversity---<:lepends on
people protecting diverse kinds of habitats
or landscapes."
Bexar Tracks
BIRD TALES
~~-~
Lots' of Surprising Migratory Bird Activity Is Reported
From Oil Platforms in the Gulf of Mexico for April 1998
The Migration over the Gulf Project
Report, 10-27 April, 1998, was compiled by
Bob Russell, LSU Museum of Natural
Science, Baton Rouge, LA.
These observations are from five
observers located on five platforms in the
Gulf of Mexico. These are loacated: 150
miles south of Cameron, on the edge of the
shelf; 70 miles south of Vermillion Parish;
60 miles south of Marsh Island; 1 0 miles
south of Lake Pelto in Terrebone Parish; and
60 miles south of Grand Isle, near the
Mississippi Canyon shelf.
Perhaps the highlight of the recent
period was a spectacular flight of purple
gallinules which evidently occurred on April
22, when we recorded this species on all
five of our platforms (9 birds in total).
Assuming a similar degree of platform
usage elsewhere in the northern Gulf, our
observations suggest that more than 7000
purple gallinules could have been resting
on oil platforms on April 22. Of course, this
probably constituted only a small fraction
of the total number of purple gallinule?
moving across the Gulf on this day. A
smaller shadow flight of gallinules occurred
on the 24th.
Cattle egrets and barn swallows
have been our most common migrants so
far, and continue to pass through. Other
trans-Gulf migrants with strong recent
showings offshore include: a steady stream
of both gray catbirds and orchard orioles
(April 17-22); numerous white-winged
doves since early April; a c.onspicuous wave
of female ruby-throated hummingbirds (April
14-20); flights of yellow-billed cuckoos and
male scarlet tanagers on April 20, 22, and
24; and at least 16 male blackpoll warblers
since April 14. Other interesting trans-Gulf
migrants which are occurring regularly at
most of our platforms include least bitterns,
· soras, and all three falcons.
One of our most interesting
findings has concerned the offshore
presence of numerous species not
generally considered to be trans-Gulf
migrants, including mourning doves,
mockingbirds, brown thrashers, eastern
meadowlarks, red-winged blackbirds,
American t(ee sparrows, lark sparrows,
vesper sparrows, clay-colored sparrows,
and brown-headed cowbirds.
Also of interest is our discovery
that at least three species of dragonflies
evidently are true trans-Gulf migrants (green
darner, anax junius; black-mantled glider,
tramea lacerata; and spot-winged glider,
pantala hymenea). Ofher apparent
trans-Gulf migrant insects include large
moths (5-inch wingspan) with brown,
camouflage-like coloration; these remain
unidentified. Thus far, we have no evidence
that any butterflies (including monarchs) are
crossing the Gulf.
In addition to monitoring the
progress of migration, we are keeping close
tabs on seabirds. The inshore winter
community of northern gannets, brown
pelicans, and double-crested cormorants
has largely departed; sandwich terns
recently appeared in great numbers and
have overtaken royals in abundance and
conspicuousness. Our two platforms
located in deeper water on the continental
slope have both recorded magnificent
frigatebirds, Audubon's shearwaters, and
pomarine jaegers. Small movements of
Franklin's gulls have been noted at our two
most western platforms. ·Other
miscellaneous seabird goodies have
included red-throated lool")s, masked and
brown boobies, red and red-necked
phalaropes, lesser black-backed and great
black-backed gulls, and black-legged
kittiwakes.
-Van Remsen,
LSU Museum of Natural Science
Marjory Stoneman Douglas Dies at 1 08·
Florida Everglades Authority Led Decades-Long Fight to Preserve 'River of Grass'
May 15, 1998; MIAMI­Environmentalist
Marjory Stoneman
Douglas, the feisty, tireless grande
dame of the Florida Everglades who
led the fight to preserve her "river of
g·rass," died May 14 at her home it)
Miami. She was 1 08.
For many, Mrs. Douglas
was more than an environmentalist. She
was considered the authority on the
Everglades' delicate ecosystem, home to
plants and animals found nowhere else.
In 1947, she helped lead the
successful push to have nearly 1.6 million·
acres designated as Everglades National
Park. That same year, she published her
book "The Everglades: River of Grass," the
first attempt to put the history of the
Everglades into one volume.
· Until then, the Everglades was
considered a wasteland to be conquered
June 1998
and used for farming, and state
policies encouraged drainage and
development. The book's title
referred to the fact that the
Everglades is really a wide river of
shallow water flowing southward
across a low, grassy plain.
Even when others insisted the
battle over the Everglades was lost, Mrs.
Douglas refused to give up. "It's not too
late ... We simply cannot let everything be
destroyed. We can't do that, not if we want
water. We've got to take care of what we
have", Mrs. Douglas said in 1990.
Around 1915, Mrs. Douglas went
to work for her father and soon began her
defense of the Everglades, angering
developers and politicians with her editorials
against over-draining the wetlands.
The celebration of her centennial
in 1990 was mar~ed by a series of events.
7
Her honors included a special conservation
award named for her, an act of the
legislature in her name, and several Marjory
Stoneman Douglas schools and parks. The
high-rise, gold glass building in Tallahassee
that houses the state Department of Natural
Resources is named for her. In 1993, ·
President Clinton awarded her the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In recent years, state and federal
governments have authorized
multimillion-dollar projects to help restore
and protect what remains of the Everglades,
including a 1994 state law called the
Everglades Forever Act. But drought and
pollution, particularly runoff from the region's
sugar farms, have continued to keep the
long-term fate of the region in doubt.
By Will Lester
Copywrited, Associated Press
Bexar Tracks
Bexar Audubon Society, Inc.
P. 0. Box 6084
San Antonio, TX 78209
Address Service Requested
Non-profit
Organization
U.S. Postage Paid
San Antonio
Permit #590
UNIV Of TEXAS
LIB SERIALS
6900 N LOOP 1604 W
W19
NOV98
SAN ANTONIO TX 78249-1130
r----------- .. 11ntroductory Membership 1
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1 Bexar AudubonSociety I
I (Chapter Code W19) I ,
I New memberships tol
INational Audubon Society, includingl
I a subscription to Audubon magazine, I
lare $20 ($15 for seniors or full-timel
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1in Bexar Audubon and a subscription
Ito Bexar Tracks,as well.
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Mail this coupon and your check -
payable to "National Audubon
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June 1998
RECURRING EVENTS
Second Thursday of Each Bexar Audubon Society Board Meetings.
Month .. Cal1408-7731 for more info. Members welcome
Third Thursday of Each Month Bexar Audubon Society General Meetings, Open
(except Aug) Call 822-4503 for info. to the public, Ruble Center, 419 E. Magnolia,? pm
First Saturday of Each Month. Friedrich Wilderness Park offers a free guided
Call 698-1 057 for rnore info. general natural history hike
Second Saturday of Each Month. Bexar Audubon sponsors the "Second
For information and reservations, Saturday" program at Friedrich Park
call 698-1057 $2 donation requested
Fourth Saturday of Each Month. Birding morning at Mitchell Lake - meet at 8 am
Call 308-6788 for rnore information Led by Ernie Roney (656-4239;
San Antonio Audubon Soc.)
First Tuesday of Each Quarter San Antonio Environmental Network meets at
March, June, September, December. the Witte Museum auditorium, 7 pm. Free and
Call 822-4503 for more info open to the public
Useful numbers:
308-6788 - San Antonio Audubon bird sightings '
698-1709- Wildlife Rescue & Rehab
227-6143- Report local water waste
1-800-453-SMOG- Smoking vehicle hotline (TNRCC) (license#, date, time,and
location of sighting are requested)
8 Bexar Tracks