For Immediate Release
Contact: Catherine Rogan
Hill and Knowlton, Inc.
713-752-1900
After hours, contact 832-265-7200

GALVESTON, TEXAS (October 27, 2000) - A new island in Galveston Bay is attracting hundreds of native residents in search of the perfect nesting ground. However, this is not your typical real estate development -- this island is strictly for the birds. Constructed by engineers and scientists with the Port of Houston Authority, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other members of the Beneficial Uses Group (BUG), the six-acre island is now home to pelicans, terns, egrets and other area wildlife.

Recently completed, Bird Island now features a peak elevation of 10 feet above the water's surface. Designed to accommodate a variety of birds, the island also features a shallow pool area for young birds. This spring, the Audubon Society will plant vegetation ideally suited for waterfowl nesting throughout the island. The island will replace some of the bird habitat lost in recent years due to erosion and subsidence.

"We are very pleased at how well the birds are adapting to their new home," says Phil Glass, BUG member and fish and wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "By restoring this lost habitat, Bird Island will improve Galveston Bay by bringing back more wildlife to the area."

In addition to Bird Island, the BUG is creating 4,250 acres of wetlands, restoring Goat Island and Redfish Island, constructing an underwater berm to enhance habitation for fish species, and creating an access channel and anchorages for recreational boaters. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Port of Houston Authority are overseeing construction of the BUG projects.

BUG members are particularly interested in projects that benefit birds because there has been a noticeable decline in Galveston Bay's waterfowl population.

"Every nesting season, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Houston Audubon Society and other groups, conduct the Texas Colonial Waterbird Survey to determine the bird population around the Bay," explains Glass. "In recent years, we've noticed a decrease in the number of waterfowl coming to the area, which we attribute to factors such as boating and land erosion. The dredging of the Ship Channel presented a great opportunity for us to replenish the population of birds nesting in the Bay."

The Beneficial Uses Group, a coalition of government agencies -- five federal, two state and one local -- formed to identify environmentally responsible ways to utilize material dredged during the expansion of the Houston Ship Channel.

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