Commission Agenda Item No. 6
Presenter:
Stan David
Action
Acquisition of Land - Aransas County
Approximately 214 Acres at Newcomb Point Coastal Management Area
March 22, 2018
I. Executive Summary: An approximately 214-acre tract on Lamar Peninsula has been identified as a priority for acquisition using funds granted to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) from the civil settlement of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
II. Discussion: In January, 2017, TPWD executed a Financial Assistance Award with the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality in the amount of $6,680,000, including $6,012,000 for the civil settlement of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill (RESTORE Act funds) and $668,000 in philanthropic match. Those funds were awarded for the Matagorda Bay System Priority Landscape Conservation Project, an effort to acquire strategic conservation lands within or adjacent to the Matagorda/San Antonio Bay system, extending south into the Aransas/Copano Bay system. TPWD’s highest priority for the use of these funds was acquisition of 5,052 acres on Matagorda Peninsula from the Texas General Land Office. This acquisition was completed in April, 2017. Since that time, staff has focused efforts on using the remaining balance of the grant to acquire undivided interests and inholdings within the Matagorda Peninsula Coastal Management Area and approximately 462 acres adjacent to the Perry R. Bass Marine Fisheries Research Center.
Upon closing these transactions, it is anticipated that there will be approximately $1.7 million remaining in the award. Staff proposes to use approximately $1.3 million of those funds to acquire an approximately 214-acre tract on Lamar Peninsula that has high coastal conservation value and is one of the largest remaining unprotected tracts actively used by whooping cranes. TPWD anticipates that the tract will be managed and monitored under the terms of a long-term agreement with the Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program.
III. Recommendation: Staff recommends the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopt the following motion:
“The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission authorizes the Executive Director to take all necessary steps to acquire approximately 214 acres in Aransas County for addition to the Matagorda Bay System Priority Landscape Conservation Project.”
Commission Agenda Item No. 6
Exhibit A
Location Map for Lamar Peninsula in Aransas County
Commission Agenda Item No. 6
Exhibit B
Vicinity Map for Subject Tract - Five Mile North of Fulton
Commission Agenda Item No. 6
Exhibit C
Site Map for Subject Approximately 214 - Acre Site
Two Miles West of Goose Island State Park
Subject Tract in Red
