Coastal Bend Bays Foundation
A Partnership for Conservation

Coastal Bend bays and estuaries with their seagrass meadows, tidal flats, and wetlands are ecological treasures. These unique natural resources - among the most biologically productive habitats on earth - are home to spectacular birds, valuable fisheries, endangered sea turtles, and protected marine mammals such as dolphins.

The Coastal Bend's natural resources are also valuable economic assets. Sport and commercial fishing, recreational birding, nature tours, sailing, kayaking and other outdoor activities on the Texas Coast are worth more than $2 billion annually. The Port of Corpus Christi is the United State's fifth largest with shipping and port-related industries worth over $2 billion annually to our local economy.

The Coastal Bend Bays Foundation membership is comprised of representatives of environmental groups, fishing organizations, port industries, government agencies, university scientists and concerned citizens. This broad-based membership helps the Foundation bring diverse interests together to achieve our community's environmental and economic objectives.

What We Do

Communication

We host a monthly public forum that brings together diverse community interests to identify problems and seek solutions. Guest speakers are natural resource experts, government officials, and industry representatives who present information on issues ranging from healthy fisheries to heavy metals in drinking water to endangered species protection.

Conservation and Advocacy

We advocate responsible use and conservation of natural resources. Our contributions include helping local communities establish nature parks like Portland's "Sunset Lakes." We also serve on local and state commissions to help maintain adequate levels of freshwater flow to our estuaries, reduce damage to seagrass meadows from boating activities, and ensure that major development projects do not damage the environment.

Research

We support research projects to benefit natural resources. Our contributions include in-depth studies to help government agencies introduce environmental benefits into major development projects.

Education and Outreach

We organize, sponsor, and participate in events that demonstrate responsible ways to use and conserve natural resources. Projects include organizing outdoor festivals for adults and children and special field trips to raise community leaders' awareness of our sensitive habitats.

What We Have Accomplished

We achieved federal "estuary of national significance" designation for Corpus Christi and surrounding bays. This recognition was the catalyst for creation of the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, Inc., which is implementing a regional conservation program we helped develop.

We created the Coastal Bend Land Trust to preserve and protect our natural resources in perpetuity through land acquisition and conservation easements.

We initiated an annual Earth Day/Bay Day event that brings together more than 50 local businesses, outdoor clubs and natural resource agencies to serve over 1000 visitors in our community. This day of celebration highlights new and innovative ways to enjoy and conserve nature.

We facilitated agreements between industry representatives and government regulators leading to a successful federal program to eliminate brine water discharges to our bays from local oil and gas production activities; a strategy with OxyChem to monitor bay water and sediment quality; and a high level of community input to the new Kennedy Causeway design.

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