On December 2, 2009, 7-9 pm, at the United Way, 50 Waugh Drive, Houston, Texas, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will hold the third of three public meetings to solicit input for the Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) to be prepared for the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge (TRNWR).

Please attend this meeting which will be held in an open house format with displays and refuge personnel available to answer your questions, explain the CCP, and take your comments. You can come and stay for a few minutes or the entire two hours. It is very important that conservationists in the Houston area attend and let the FWS know what we want for our refuge.

The TRNWR is a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). The mission of the NWRS is "to administer a national network of lands, and waters for the conservation, management and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of America".

The TRNWR was established by Congress in 1994 to protect the bottomland hardwood forest ecosystem along the Trinity River. Currently the TRNWR consists of 23,000 acres of mostly bottomland hardwood forest in Liberty County, about 40 miles east of Houston, Texas. About 620 plants and 400 vertebrate species of wildlife exist in the TRNWR.

The TRNWR allows for hunting, fishing, hiking, photography, birding, environmental education, nature study, and similar uses that are compatible with protection of fish and wildlife on the refuge. For more information about the TRNWR contact Stuart Marcus, refuge manager, at 936-336-9786 or fw2_rw_trinityriver@fws.gov.

The other two public meetings will be:

7-9 pm, Monday, November 30, 2009, Jean and Price Daniel House, Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, 650 FM 1011 Rd., Liberty, TX 77575

7-9 pm, Tuesday, December 1, 2009, Rogers Park Center, 6540 Gladys, Beaumont, TX 77706

Please attend this public meeting and provide the following comments:

1. Protection of natural resources of the TRNWR must always take precedence over any uses or user groups.
   
2. A refuge entrance fee should not be instituted.
   
3. Quick acquisition of additional lands to buffer, link, and fully protect the 100 year floodplain, and associated uplands, in the TRNWR is needed. This means more money must be appropriated to complete acquisition.
   
4. A comprehensive public outreach, education, participation, and input program (POEPIP) is needed to educate the public and provide opportunities for volunteer conservation and compatible use activities that teach the value of the TRNWR.
   
5. Protection of natural resources in the TRNWR from legal/illegal uses/actions (like poaching of fish/wildlife, off-road vehicles, highway projects, etc.) is required. More law enforcement/resource protection personnel are needed to ensure that the TRNWR is fully protected.
   
6. Stringent regulation of oil/gas activities in the TRNWR is needed.
   
7. Invasive species, like Chinese Tallows, Japanese Privets, and feral hogs must be, over time, removed from the TRNWR and replaced with native species.
   
8. Full funding of staff, equipment, operations, and maintenance for the TRNWR is required.
   
9. Low impact restoration of bottomland hardwood and other ecosystems may be required.
   
10. Climate change management for the TRNWR must be proposed in the CCP.

If you cannot attend any of these public meetings your comments can also be sent to: By mail - U.S. FWS, Region 2, Division of Planning, Refuges, P.O. Box 1306, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103; By fax - 936-336-9847; By - email to joseph_lujan@fws.gov. For more information contact Brandt Mannchen at 713-664-5962 or brandtshnfbt@juno.com.

November 2009

Last updated:  10/25/2009.   Content © 1999-2009 by the Sierra Club.