The Economic Value of Water and Ecosystem Preservation

1987 and then purchased in 1991. Private land separates it from the Blackjack
Peninsula Unit. The landscapes are similar and range from a dense cover of live
oak trees to salt and cordgrass marshland. The marshland of the Lamar Unit
provides important habitat for whooping cranes (US Fish and Wildlife Service,
2003a). Between 1991 and 1994, the Refuge purchased the Myrtle Foester
Whitmire Division using Land and Water Conservation Funds. “It has been
identified in the North American Waterfowl Plan as one of the most important
wetland habitats on the Texas coast (US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2003a).”
There are other protected areas within the San Antonio Bay region apart
from the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The Guadalupe Delta
Wildlife Management Area (GDWMA) is a deltaic estuary of the Guadalupe River
and consists of three distinct units: Mission Lake Unit, Hynes Bay Unit and the
Guadalupe River Unit. The GDWMA is a complex of natural and manmade
wetlands and freshwater marshes, which are subject to flooding by the
Guadalupe River and its bayous. The Management Area also encompasses
associated upland habitat. Lands in the GDWMA have traditionally provided
important habitat for wetland dependent wildlife, especially migratory waterfowl.
“Riparian areas along the numerous small bayous form ‘corridor forests’ of
pecan, black willow, cedar, American elm, hackberry and green ash provide
excellent forage area for neotropical songbirds (Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department (TPWD), 2005).” White-tailed Hawks, Peregrine Falcons and
hundreds of White-faced Ibis forage seasonally in the marshes of the GDWMA.
Some of the federal threatened and endangered bird species that occur in the
Management Area include Brown Pelican, Wood Stork, Bald Eagle, and
Whooping Crane. Along with prime habitat for birds, “the estuary at the upper end
of San Antonio Bay provides valuable spawning and nursery habitat for red drum,
Atlantic croaker, spotted seatrout, brown shrimp, white shrimp, blue crab, and
other marine species (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 2005d).”
Welder Flats Wildlife Management Area and Coastal Preserve consists of
1,480 acres of estuarine ecosystem in the San Antonio Bay region. The
submerged coastal wetlands range in elevation from sea level to 1.2 meters. The
area has large stands of aquatic grasses and several species of algae. These
grasses provide protection to young fish, making Welder Flats an excellent
nursery ground for red drum and spotted sea trout (Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department, 2005f). “This source of marine life and native grasses in shallow
waters provide the environment desired for feeding numerous species of
waterfowl, wading and shore birds that use the preserve, of which the most
unique is the endangered whooping cranes (Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department, 2005g).”
The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Guadalupe Delta Wildlife
Management Area and Matagorda Island State Park are three of 308 distinct
wildlife-viewing sites incorporated into the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail
(GTCBT). The Trail runs through 43 counties along the Texas coast (Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department, 2005b). The GTCBT was developed with the
hope of:
23