Padre Island National Seashore

Hurricane Ike storm debris has drifted southwest along the Texas Gulf Coast and littered the beaches at Padre Island National Seashore. Cleaning it up is a mammoth task that must be done quickly. Protecting seashore wildlife is a major concern.

Padre Island National Seashore celebrates its 46th anniversary on September 28. Extending along the Texas Gulf Coast from Corpus Christi to the Mexican border, this narrow coastal barrier offers plenty of high quality recreation. There are many managerial difficulties, though, and some may get lots worse.

With Hurricane Ike on the way and forecasters warning of potentially serious flooding in Houston-Galveston, FEMA requested National Park Service help. The NPS is supplying 21 two-person boat crews for the urban search and rescue task force. This is the fourth time this year that FEMA has tasked the NPS with a search and rescue mission.

Two Texas Gulf Coast national parks have implemented plans to deal with the impacts of Hurricane Dolly, which is expected to make landfall Wednesday afternoon near Brownsville. Damage is expected to be minimal at Padre Island National Seashore and at Brownsville’s Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site.

A leatherback sea turtle nest has been discovered at Padre Island National Seashore. This is the first time since the 1930s that a leatherback has nested on the Texas Gulf Coast. What are we to make of this remarkable event?

For years, summer trips to Cape Cod were an annual ritual for my family. My parents had retired to the Cape, and our boys loved romping in the surf and building castles in the sand. Lobster feasts, game-fishing, and whale watching were added benefits, as were exploring the seashore’s lighthouses, roaming its dunes, and looking for sea creatures in its mudflats.

Interpretive programs, when done well, can provide an important aspect of resource protection. The guided beach walk at Padre Island National Seashore is one such example. By the end of the program, this newspaper reporter had a different outlook on his environment.