Houston Wilderness - It's Our Nature!

TOP 10 FACTS ABOUT...
THE COASTAL MARSHES

1) Wetlands, like the ones that make up the Coastal Marshes of Texas, are in essence a transition zone between the upland prairies and the open water of the bays.
2) There are three major types of marshes on the Texas coast: salt water, true fresh water and brackish/intermediate marshes, an area with plants that can tolerate both fresh and salt water.
3) Texas Coastal Marshes are like an interconnected web of grasslands with areas of shallow open water, encompassing areas adjacent to Matagorda Bay, Galveston Bay and Sabine Lake, and ranging from narrow strips to vast wildlife refuges along the Louisiana border.
4) Wetlands, in contrast to marshes, dot the inland prairie and are only intermittently wet. Swamps and floodplain bottomlands are also wetlands, but are forested as opposed to grasslands.
5) Marshes are not ideal places for people to hike as they are rooted in dark, mushy soil that makes walking very difficult. It is much easier and more fun to experience the marsh systems in a kayak.
6) Long-legged wading birds, waterfowl, fish and alligators are best suited for the challenge of navigate the marshes without disturbing or becoming entrapped by the sticky soil.
7) When flooded, the marsh becomes a shimmering sea of movement with schools of small fish and shellfish swimming below the surface.
8) Along the Texas coast, the tides are relatively small – ranging from one to two feet with the highest tides occurring during the fall with tropical storms.
9) In the spring, you can view alligators sunning themselves in the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.
10) Historically, the Costal Marshes were full of otters and muskrats, but they are far less common today.

ABOUT THE COASTAL MARSHES

Yellow rails move effortlessly through the cordgrass. The call of a mottled duck is obscured by the sound of a thousand geese taking flight. A black-necked stilt dances a long-legged ballet.

Beneath layers of marsh hay, hidden in strands of olney bulrush, and drifting among American lotus, lies a layer of life, often unseen but exciting to the chance witness and vital to residents, both human and wild.

Ecologically, change in salinity levels mean change in vegetation. Different vegetation attracts different species of birds and insects. In this transitional zone, upland prairies give way to freshwater sloughs that wind their way through salt marshes ending on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico's many bays. With this full continuum of marsh – from fresh to saline – tremendous biological diversity thrives.

In addition, coastal marshes serve as nurseries for fish and shellfish. The tiny animals that thrive in the mud and muck provide a feast for many bird and aquatic species. Marshes also serve as buffer zones that help slow and absorb storm surges that might otherwise do greater damage farther inland. They also soak up and filter rainwater before it enters underground aquifers.

To read more about Coastal Marshes, download our atlas!

KEY LOCATIONS

Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge

The chorus of thousands of waterfowl.Wind moving through coastal prairie. The splash of an alligator going for a swim. A high-pitched call of a fulvous whistling duck. These are just some of the sounds you may hear when visiting the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. The meandering bayous of Anahuac NWR cut through ancient flood plains, creating expanses of coastal marsh and prairie bordering Galveston Bay in southeast Texas. These coastal marshes and prairies are host or home to an abundance of wildlife, from migratory birds to alligators to bobcats and more. Established in 1963, the 34,000 acre refuge is an important link in the chain of National Wildlife Refuges extending along the gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana.

Coastal prairie and marsh; home to many migratory birds and alligators - also muskrat, nutria, opossum, skunk, raccoon, and coyotes with characteristics of red wolves; between October and March - as many as 27 species of duck present in refuge - including green-winged teal, gadwall, shoveler, ruddy duck, and northern pintail; huge groups of snow geese, sometimes in excess of 80,000 feed on rice fields near Shoveler Pond; secretive yellow rails usually live in refuge, also roseate spoonbill, ibis, egrets.

Sea Rim State Park

Sea Rim refers to that portion of the Gulf shoreline where marsh grasses meet the surf. These marshlands formed 3,000 years ago when silt from the Mississippi River emptied onto what was then open Gulf. Facilities include a visitor’s center with exhibits, observation decks, Gambusia Nature Trail (a boardwalk through the marsh with a selfguided booklet),Willow Pond Trail (a birding trail) and 5.2 miles of beach.

San Jacinto Battleground State Park

San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site consists of the Battleground, Monument and Battleship TEXAS. The San Jacinto Monument is dedicated to the "Heroes of the Battle of San Jacinto and all others who contributed to the independence of Texas." The monument is a 570-foot shaft topped by a 34-foot star symbolizing the Lone Star Republic. The building incorporates a number of innovative engineering features not common during the period of its construction, which is why the American Society of Civil Engineers gave this monument the prestigious designation of State and National Historic Structure. The monument is listed as the tallest stone column memorial structure in the world, 15 feet taller than the Washington Monument in Washington, DC. The famous Battle of San Jacinto that brought TEXAS its independence was fought on this site. Because of the great importance of the Battle to the course of history, the Battleground is of state, national and international significance, a fact that is attested to by the site´s National Historic Landmark status.

Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge

A freshwater slough winds through salt marshes. Rare, native bluestem prairie graces the uplands. The greater the number of habitats, the richer the ecology. Brazoria NWR is no exception. It has a key location on the Texas Gulf which helps Freeport draw one of the highest Audubon Christmas bird counts in the nation - more than 200 species. In winter, more than 100,000 snow geese, Canada geese, pintail, northern shoveler, teal, gadwall, American wigeon and mottled ducks fill the plentiful ponds and sloughs to capacity. Sandhill cranes join in too. In summer, birds that nest on the refuge include ten species of herons and egrets, white ibis, roseate spoonbill, mottled duck, white-tailed kite, clapper rail, horned lark, seaside sparrow, black skimmer, and scissor-tailed flycatcher. Look for alligators year-round on Big Slough and in refuge ponds. In dry seasons, their trails thorough the mud and excavated gator holes are easy to spot. Roseate spoonbills capture the pink glow of sunrise in their wings in flight. Those same rosy feathers proved a near death sentence when demand for feather hats decimated spoonbills, great egrets and other fine-feathered fowl until plume hunting ended before World War I.

More than 300 bird species, central flyaway migratory waterfowl in winter and neotropical migratory songbirds; one of the highest audubon bird counts in the nation; freshwater marshes, sloughs, ponds; four thousand acres of native coastal bluestem prairie; designated an internationally significant shorebird site by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network; birds include: roseate spoonbills, herons, yellow rails, ibis and other wading and shorebirds; alligators, upland birds, coyotes and armadillos; 43,388 acres of coastal estuarine and coastal prairie habitat.

HOUSTON, DID YOU KNOW?

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