Download or read book A Texan Plan for the Texas Coast written by James B. Blackburn and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2017-10-13 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this powerful call to action, conservationist and environmental lawyer Jim Blackburn offers an unconventional yet feasible plan to protect the Texas coast. The coast is in danger of being damaged beyond repair due to the gradual starvation of freshwater inflows to its bays, the fragmentation of large tracts of land, and general public neglect. Most importantly, it is threatened by our denial that the coast faces major threats and that its long-term health provides significant economic benefits. To save coastal resources, a successful plan needs to address the realities of our current world. The challenge is to sustain an economy that creates optimism and entrepreneurship while considering finite natural resources. In other words, a successful plan to save the Texas coast needs to be about making money. Whether visiting with farmers and ranchers or oil and chemical producers, Blackburn recognizes that when talking about the natural environment in monetary terms, people listen. Many of the services we get from the coast are beginning to be studied for their dollar values, a trend that might offer Texas farms and ranches the potential for cash flow, which may in turn alter conservation practices throughout Texas and the United States. Money alone cannot be the only motivation for caring about the Texas coast, though. Blackburn encourages Texans to get to know this landscape better. Beautifully illustrated and accessibly written, A Texan Plan for the Texas Coast weaves together a challenging but promising plan to protect the coast through economic motivation, thoughtful litigation, informed appreciation, and simple affection for the beauty and life found on the Texas coast.
Download or read book Finding Birds on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail written by Ted Eubanks and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Texas coast offers rich avian treasures for expert birders and beginners alike, if only they know where to look. For those familiar with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's maps to the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, this book on the Upper Texas Coast offers more--more information, more convenient and detailed maps, more pictures, more finding tips, and more birding advice from one of the trail's creators, Ted Lee Eubanks Jr., and trail experts Robert A. Behrstock and Seth Davidson. For those new to the trail, the book is the perfect companion for learning where to find and how to bird the very best venues on this part of the Texas coast. In an opening tutorial on habitat and seasonal strategies for birding the Upper Texas Coast, the authors include tips on how to take advantage of the famous (but elusive) fallouts of birds that happen here. They then briefly discuss the basics of birding by ear and the rewards of passive birding before turning to the trail itself and each of more than 120 birding sites from the Louisiana-Texas border, through Galveston and Houston, to just south of Freeport. Advice oninding bird groups While not intended as a field identification guide, the book contains more than 175 color photographs of birds and their coastal habitat, giving readers an excellent feel for the trail's diversity and abundance. Whether you are making your annual spring pilgrimage to Texas, leisurely traveling with the family along the coast, or wondering what to do during a layover in Houston, using this book as your guide to the trail will greatly enhance your birding experience.
Download or read book Plants of the Texas Coastal Bend written by Roy L. Lehman and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2009-02-27 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For everyone who studies or simply enjoys the impressive variety of wild plants that grow in the counties of Texas' coastal bend, here is an authoritative, user-friendly book that will make an excellent reference.
Download or read book The Formation and Future of the Upper Texas Coast written by John B. Anderson and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2007-05-24 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With strong personal and professional ties to the Gulf of Mexico, marine geologist John B. Anderson has spent two decades studying the Texas coastline and continental shelf. In this book, he sets out to answer fundamental questions that are frequently asked about the coast—how it evolved; how it operates; how natural processes affect it and why it is ever changing; and, finally, how human development can be managed to help preserve it. The book provides an amply illustrated look at ocean waves and currents, beach formation and erosion, barrier island evolution, hurricanes, and sea level changes. With an abundance of visual material—including aerial photos, historical maps, simple figures, and satellite images—the author presents a lively, interesting lesson in coastal geography that readers will remember and appreciate the next time they are at the beach and want to know: What happens to the sand that erodes from our beaches? Can beach erosion be stopped—and should we try? How much sand will be needed to stabilize our beaches? Does a hurricane have any positive impacts? How much development can the coast withstand? This entertaining and instructive book provides authoritative answers to these and other questions that are essential to our understanding of coastal change.
Download or read book Texas Gulf Coast Stories written by C. Herndon Williams and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2010-12-03 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The middle Texas coast, known locally as the Coast Bend, is an area filled with fascinating stories. From as early as the days of de Vaca and La Salle, the Coastal Bend has been a site of early exploration, bloody conflicts, legendary shipwrecks and even a buried treasure or two. However, much of the true history has remained unknown, misunderstood and even hidden. For years, local historian C. Herndon Williams has shared his fascinating discoveries of the area's early stories through his weekly column, "Coastal Bend Chronicle." Now he has selected some of his favorites in Texas Gulf Coast Stories. Join Williams as he explores the days of early settlement and European contact, Karankawa and Tonkawa legends and the Coastal Bend's tallest of tall tales.
Download or read book The Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas written by John Wesley Tunnell and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Laguna Madre of Texas and Tamaulipas is the only hypersaline coastal lagoon on the North American continent and only one of five worldwide. Extending along 277 miles of shoreline in South Texas and northeastern Mexico, the lagoon is renowned for its vast seagrass meadows, huge wintering redhead population, and bountiful fishing grounds. Recent concerns about increasing human activity have focused attention on the long-term health of the Laguna Madre as growing population pressures, pollution problems, and dredging threaten this unique ecosystem. The Nature Conservancy, whose mission is the conservation of biodiversity through protection of habitat, recognized the need to compile all known information about the Laguna Madre in order to move ahead with a science-based conservation agenda. This book is the result. Taking an ecosystem approach to the study of this rich habitat, the authors first provide an overview of the natural history of the Laguna Madre and adjacent areas, including an essay on the importance of the region's private ranches. Succeeding chapters discuss the diverse natural resources of the lagoon—seagrasses, open bays, tidal flats, barrier islands, abundant waterfowl, colonial waterbird rookeries, sea turtles, and fisheries. A final section identifies information gaps, offers a conservation framework, and makes recommendations for preserving the biodiversity of this complex and special ecosystem. Over seventy years of literature on the Laguna Madre and surrounding environments has been synthesized here. With 150 figures and illustrations, the book is the first to take a broad and comprehensive look at both the Texan and Tamaulipan Laguna Madre. For scientists, conservationists, resource managers, and policy makers involved in the future of the Texas and Mexico coasts, the value of this book is clear. And coastal residents, birders, anglers, and nature lovers who want to learn about and take care of the Laguna Madre will find this to be an indispensable guide.
Download or read book Marine Plants of the Texas Coast written by Roy L. Lehman and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2013-12-06 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written for biology students, teachers, nature lovers, amateur naturalists, conservation workers, and parks and wildlife personnel, this up-to-date, easy-to-use guide describes the marine plants of the Gulf of Mexico coast. The author’s photographs accompany the updated identification keys, which are also visually oriented and simple to use. Veteran botanist and educator Roy L. Lehman describes the plants in four major sections, covering the common shoreline plants, seagrasses, mangroves, and marine algae (red, brown, and green seaweeds). Each section begins with an introduction that gives an overview of the plant group and includes information on the important traits and terminology used for identification. A simple key to the family or order directs the reader to the appropriate section, where the text is arranged alphabetically by family and then by genus and species. Each genus is illustrated by high quality photographs that include a close-up of each plant and images of its reproductive structures. Marine Plants of the Texas Coast collects these unique species for the first time in a single volume. As coastal issues, such as hurricane preparedness, beach erosion, wetland mitigation, freshwater inflows, and more, remain in the forefront of public concern, this botanical reference should find a permanent place on the bookshelves of scientists, policy makers, and citizens alike.
Download or read book Flyfisher s Guide to the Texas Gulf Coast written by Colby Sorrells and published by Wilderness Adventures Press. This book was released on 2009-03 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Flyfishers Guide to the Texas Gulf Coast is the definitive guide book on fishing the Texas Coast. Interest in fishing the gulf coast is exploding and the Flyfisher’s Guide to the Texas Gulf Coast gives you all the information you need for success. Nationally known author and saltwater flyfisher, Colby Sorrells, covers every aspect of saltwater fishing for the entire Texas Coast. He covers the fish, the flies, light tackle, tactics, and the best seasons. Colby covers the entire coast in detail with information on each specific area. He lists the fly shops, outfitters, charter captains, marinas, accommodations, and much more. There are 60 detailed maps showing every bay, cover, harbor, reef, island, park, marina, and boat launch. There are also seasonal fishing charts showing the peak seasons for each species of fish. This book is essential reading for everyone who fishes the great Texas Gulf Coast.
Download or read book Kayaking the Texas Coast written by John Whorff and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2011-02-10 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Few experiences compare with navigating a sea kayak through a large sandy bay lined with oyster-shell beaches, past golden sand dunes into rough ocean waters, then surfing back onto a wind-swept beach at sunset.”—from the Introduction Half of the nearly 400-mile Texas coastline is flanked by barrier islands. Behind them, large and small bays shelter estuarine marshes, oyster-reef communities, and sea grass meadows that teem with wildlife, creating a bird watcher's and angler's paradise. For an intimate encounter with these natural treasures, no other water craft can compare to a kayak. Veteran kayaker John Whorff’s Kayaking the Texas Coast is an essential guide for beginning and experienced kayakers to the many miles of shoreline that surround the shallow bays, lagoons, and islands of the Texas coast. Novices will appreciate this book’s detailed information about where to paddle and camp, what to see, and where to obtain additional information about safety and route planning. Accomplished kayakers will enjoy Whorff’s enticing route descriptions and other pertinent details on paddling the Texas coastline. Opening with an extended introductory text that covers kayaks and equipment, safety considerations and emergencies, camping dos and don’ts, and helpful resources, Kayaking the Texas Coast also lists useful websites and guidebooks. In the main portion of the text, the coast is organized into ten destinations, from the Galveston Bay complex in the north to Boca Chica State Park in the south. For each of these destinations, Whorff provides information on navigational aids, planning considerations, accommodations, and directions to launch sites before describing various paddling routes within each destination—around seventy routes in all. Each route is ranked for difficulty as “beginner,” “intermediate,” or “advanced.” Detailed maps and vivid photographs by the author complete the package. "Kayaking the Texas Coast is your must-have guidebook to the coastline and bays of the Lone Star State. Many miles of sea kayaking adventure are described, along with maps and discussion of the natural world encountered along the way. My copy will be riding in car and kayak with me. I look forward to seeing with my own eyes what the author has described and mapped."-- Natalie Wiest, founder and director, Galveston Bay Information
Download or read book A Visitor s Guide to the Texas Coastal Bend written by Marilyn Bennett and published by Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum. This book was released on 1992-02 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wetland Use by Waterbirds that Winter in Coastal Texas written by James Thomas Anderson and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Wetland use and selection by species of waterbirds (shorebirds, wading birds, gulls, terns, grebes, cormorants, and pelicans) between the Rio Grande and Galveston Bay in coastal Texas were studied during September and November of 1991-92 and during January and March of 1992-93. Based on a stratified (by dominant land use) random sample of 64.75-ha plots, 88 species of waterbirds using wetlands were observed. Ranks of density and proportion of feeding bird indicated that cormorants and pelicans preferred wetlands with less than 30% vegetation. Gulls, terns, and skimmers preferred certain types of estuarine and lacustrine wetlands with less than 30% vegetation, especially estuarine subtidal rock bottom rubble types. Grebes and rails selectively used palustrine aquatic-bed rooted vascular and unconsolidated bottom mud wetland types. Herons, egrets, and bitterns preferred certain types of lacustrine and estuarine wetlands. Shorebirds used estuarine intertidal wetlands. Waterbird management should focus on 26 of the 82 wetland types that we prioritized in the coastal plains of Texas. Management should focus on protecting, enhancing, or restoring complexes of various wetland types, especially estuarine aquatic-bed and intertidal unconsolidated substrate types"--Page 1
Download or read book Texas Coastal Wetlands written by Daniel W. Moulton and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepared this report on the status and trends of coastal Texas wetlands in accordance with the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act of 1990. This report is a product of the Coastal Texas Project completed by the Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas General Land Office.
Download or read book Fly Fishing the Texas Coast written by Scates Chuck and published by West Winds Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes where, when and how to fly fish the Texas coast.
Download or read book Surf Texas written by Kenny Braun and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2014-03-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The urge to ride a wave, the search for the next perfect swell, is an enduring preoccupation that draws people to coastlines around the world. In recent decades, surfing has grown into a multimillion-dollar industry with over three million surfers in the United States alone and an international competitive circuit that draws top surfers to legendary beaches in Hawaii, California, and Australia. But away from the crowds and the hype, dedicated surfers catch waves in places like the Texas Gulf Coast for the pure pleasure of being in harmony with life, their sport, and the ocean. Kenny Braun knows that primal pleasure, as both a longtime Texas surfer and a fine art photographer who has devoted years to capturing the surf culture on Texas beaches. In Surf Texas, he presents an eloquent photo essay that portrays the enduring fascination of surfing, as well as the singular and sometimes unexpected beauty of the coast. Texas is one of the top six surfing states in America, and Braun uses evocative black-and-white photography to reveal the essence of the surfers' world from Galveston to South Padre. His images catch the drama of shooting the waves, those moments of skill and daring as riders rip across the breaking face, as well as the downtime of bobbing on swells like seabirds and hanging out on the beach with friends. Braun also photographs the place—beaches and dunes, skies and storms, surf shops, motels, and parking lots—with a native's knowing eye for defining details. Elegant and timeless, this vision of the Texas Coast is redolent of sea breezes and salt air and the memories and dreams they evoke. Surfer or not, everyone who feels the primeval attraction of wind and waves will enjoy Surf Texas.
Download or read book A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes written by Valerie A. Kells and published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes is a comprehensive, current, and accurate identification guide to the more than 1,000 nearshore and offshore fishes that live in brackish and marine waters from Maine to Texas. Val Kells and Kent Carpenter bring decades of experience to this project. With Kells' detailed, vivid illustrations and Carpenter's deep knowledge of biology, taxonomy, and nomenclature, this book captures the stunning diversity of species along America's eastern shores. Key features of the book include: • more than 1,000 full-color illustrations, set side-by-side with descriptions of each fish • details about the biology of each species • habitat, distribution, and size information Reliable and up-to-date, A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes is the most complete book ever published on East and Gulf Coast fishes—perfect for boat, home, or classroom. Its beautiful design and accessible format make it an ideal guide for fishermen, divers, students, scientists, naturalists, and fish enthusiasts alike.
Download or read book A Garden Book for Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast written by Lynn M. Herbert and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since it was first published in 1929, more than eight decades ago, A Garden Book for Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast has been the authoritative go-to book on gardening for Houstonians and Texas Gulf Coast residents. This fifth revised edition, written and edited by Lynn M. Herbert, has been entirely updated, expanded, and colorfully redesigned. In the process, information in the book was reviewed by over 100 professionals in related fields and by knowledgeable resident gardeners, men and women who generously donated their efforts to make this an invaluable resource for seasoned gardeners as well as neophytes and newcomers to the region. This edition, still in its handbook format, propels its content into the twenty-first century with a new emphasis on environmentally friendly gardening and native plants, including: Exhaustive plant lists describing the newest varieties as well as old favorites, with essential designations of plants native to the Houston and Texas Gulf Coast area Easy-to-read tables, full of details about caring for hundreds of local plants User-friendly information about your soil and how to make it most productive Chapters on major plant categories joined by additional chapters devoted to in-depth tips on azaleas, cacti and other succulents, camellias, ferns, and roses, along with the all-new "Grasses and Bamboos" and "Palms and Cycads" chapters A new emphasis on "The Edible Garden" with expanded chapters covering "Herbs," "Vegetables," and "Fruit and Nut Trees" Complete landscape instructions on how to plan and design your garden to fit your lot and your lifestyle, from a shaded setting to a fragrant garden, an oasis by the Gulf, a container garden, or plants to attract birds and butterflies Updated ideas on drainage, pruning, watering, and lawns and lawn alternatives A newly revised look at coping with "Weather Extremes" such as freezes, hurricanes, or droughts An encyclopedic index that includes both botanical and common names 672 pages with 435 color photographs of flowers, plants, and gardens - the cream of the crop from the coastal area Beloved and consulted for generations and called by many the bible of Houston gardening, A Garden Book is now even more indispensable. This latest edition reaffirms the commitment of the River Oaks Garden Club to preserving our environment, promoting sustainability, and planting with a purpose. Book jacket.
Download or read book Buildings of Texas written by Gerald Moorhead and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book, the first of two volumes devoted to the Lone Star State, covers the central, southern, and Gulf Coast region (the earliest areas of Spanish and Anglo settlement and the majority of the counties that won independence from Mexico in 1836) and includes four major cities--Austin, Corpus Christi, Houston, and San Antonio."--Publisher's description.
