Houston Audubon’s Winters Bayou Bird Sanctuary Awarded $48,600 Grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
Houston Audubon’s Winters Bayou Bird Sanctuary has been awarded a $48,600 grant by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission through The National Recreational Trails Fund (NRTF). Houston Audubon partnered with the American Youthworks Texas Conservation Corps to plan and build a new 900-foot trail, renovate one mile of storm-damaged trail, add 500 feet of boardwalk, and install trail markers for easier navigation.
“Winters Bayou is a beautiful sanctuary full of unique habitat sites that host an abundance of migratory and resident birds,” said Anna Vallery, sanctuary manager of Winters Bayou. “This grant will not only allow us to improve the current trail, but to add access to some of the more unique and wonderful parts of Winters Bayou. We’re hoping to turn it into a destination for the residents of San Jacinto County and Houstonians alike!”
Located in San Jacinto County, 11 miles northwest of the town of Cleveland, the 165 acres of mixed pine-hardwood and bottomlands is adjacent to the Sam Houston National Forest, which presently supports approximately 160 Red-cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) groups. The RCW population of Sam Houston National Forest represents one of the largest populations west of the Mississippi River.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved $3.81 million dollars in grants to fund 22 recreational trail-related projects across the state by allocating the funds from The National Recreational Trails Fund. The Recreational Trails Program provides funds to the States to develop and maintain recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both non-motorized and motorized recreational trail uses.
