Stennie Meadours, as HAS VP of Sanctuaries, appeared before the Galveston County Commissioner’s Court and asked them to restrict vehicular traffic from the tip of Bolivar Flats. The Commissioners held a public meeting for community input then passed an order and put up a sign to restrict vehicular traffic.

In 1987, the County Commissioner’s Court deliberated and approved the placement of bollards to prevent vehicles from entering Bolivar Flats, and a barrier was erected.

In 1992, the General Land Office of Texas granted Houston Audubon a 99-year lease of 550 acres, the amount of land between high tide and the vegetation line running west along the Gulf of Mexico coast from the entry onto “Bolivar Flats” to the North Jetty. The leased land was officially titled Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary.

Houston Audubon ran a major fundraising campaign to raise $176,000 to purchase 176 acres of Bolivar Flats - the Suderman Tract.

Houston Audubon received a generous donation for a 4/7 undivided interest in a tract of land from Houston businessman Lewis Tyra, given with the restriction that it be used as a wildlife sanctuary.

In 2001 a major addition to the Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary was made with the purchase of 614 acres (the Burkett Tract) through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. A major fundraising effort for $750,000 led to support from National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Shell Marine, Houston Endowment, and hundreds of individual donors.

A partition agreement with Houston Audubon and the owners of the 3/7 undivided interest in the Tyra Tract led to full Houston Audubon ownership of the 353.35-acre Tyra Tract.

Houston Audubon purchased 62 acres, the Johnson Tract, with the support of partners like US Fish and Wildlife Service, Galveston Bay Estuary Program, Galveston Bay Foundation, and Crady, Jewett & McCulley

Houston Audubon purchased 5 additional acres from a sheriff sale

In 2024, development began on a 52 acre tract of land adjacent to Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary. Following a major public awareness campaign by Houston Audubon, the developer approached the organization with an offer to purchase the property for $6 million. This kicked off a year-long fundraising campaign, with the agreement that 25 acres would be purchased for $3 million in July 2025, and the remaining 26 acres for $3 million in January 2026.

In early 2026, Houston Audubon announced a historic victory, successfully raising $3 million to acquire the last 26 acres of habitat. This brought the sanctuary to a total of 1,307 acres, officially completing a decades-long "conservation puzzle."