The Book Of Texas Bays

In a dazzling tribute to the Texas coast, conservationist and lawyer Jim Blackburn has teamed with photographer Jim Olive to give us the most intimate and important portrait yet of Texas bays and of those who work for their wise use and preservation. While giving life and sustenance to plants, animals, and people, the bays and estuaries of Texas have other stories to tell—about freshwater inflows, deep port construction, disappearing oyster beds, beach resorts, industrial pollution, and more. At a certain point, each story brings opposing forces into the courtroom for vigorous debates on the future of some of our most valuable and irreplaceable resources. The Book of Texas Bays is a personal account of legal battles won and lost, but it is also a fine work of natural history by someone who has a deep spiritual connection to the Texas coast and all it has to offer. Jim Olive’s stunning photographs present us with a dramatic perspective of our relationship with the Gulf and remind us of both the grandness and the fragility of our coastal treasures.

Galveston Bay is the recreational center of the Texas coast—a fishing, boating and birdwatching playground for the almost four million people who live on or near it. A shallow estuary of about 350,000 acres, the bay supports a rich assortment of wildlife and a commercial fishery that pulls millions of pounds of crabs, shrimp, and oysters from the water each year. Gateway to the Port of Houston, Galveston Bay is also a major corridor for huge volumes of international shipping and is home to the nation's largest petrochemical manufacturing complex. How can such divergent and apparently contradictory activities all coexist? Setting out to find some answers, Sally Antrobus has produced a book for residents and visitors alike that tunes them in to what is happening in, on, and to the bay—the book she wished for when she first came to live nearby. Beginning with a short, incisive history of the peopling of the area, Antrobus describes how the bay works ecologically and how it is put to work, for recreation and for commerce; how nature both contributes to and controls the human enterprise there; and how power and politics can destroy all the bay has to offer. Antrobus serves as an expert guide for those who want to discover hidden destinations and attend events that celebrate the life on Galveston Bay. Her resources section offers a wealth of ways to become active in local conservation efforts, reminding us there is much to hope for but also much to do to ensure the survival of this great bay.

The Civil War history of Galveston is one of the last untold stories from America's bloodiest war, despite the fact that Galveston was a focal point of hostilities throughout the conflict. As other Southern ports fell to the Union, Galveston emerged as one of the Confederacy's only lifelines to the outside world. When the war ended in 1865, Galveston was the only major port still in Confederate hands. In this beautifully written narrative history, Ed Cotham draws upon years of archival and on-site research, as well as rare historical photographs, drawings, and maps, to chronicle the Civil War years in Galveston. His story encompasses all the military engagements that took place in the city and on Galveston Bay, including the dramatic Battle of Galveston, in which Confederate forces retook the city on New Year's Day, 1863. Cotham sets the events in Galveston within the overall conduct of the war, revealing how the city's loss was a great strategic impediment to the North. Through his pages pass major figures of the era, as well as ordinary soldiers, sailors, and citizens of Galveston, whose courage in the face of privation and danger adds an inspiring dimension to the story.

"Lisa Wingate writes with depth and warmth, joy and wit."--Debbie Macomber Heather Hampton returns to Moses Lake, Texas, to help facilitate the sale of a family farm as part of a planned industrial plant that will provide the area with much-needed jobs. Heather's future fiance has brokered the deal, and Heather is in line to do her first large-scale architectural design--if the deal goes through. But the currents of Moses Lake have a way of taking visitors on unexpected journeys. What was intended to be a quick trip suddenly morphs into Valentine's week--with Blaine Underhill, the handsome banker who just happens to be opposing Heather's project. Spending the holiday in an ex-funeral parlor seems like a nightmare, but Heather slowly finds herself being drawn into the area's history, hope, and heart.

In this powerful call to action, conservationist and environmental lawyer Jim Blackburn offers an unconventional yet feasible plan to protect the Texas coast. The coast is in danger of being damaged beyond repair due to the gradual starvation of freshwater inflows to its bays, the fragmentation of large tracts of land, and general public neglect. Most importantly, it is threatened by our denial that the coast faces major threats and that its long-term health provides significant economic benefits. To save coastal resources, a successful plan needs to address the realities of our current world. The challenge is to sustain an economy that creates optimism and entrepreneurship while considering finite natural resources. In other words, a successful plan to save the Texas coast needs to be about making money. Whether visiting with farmers and ranchers or oil and chemical producers, Blackburn recognizes that when talking about the natural environment in monetary terms, people listen. Many of the services we get from the coast are beginning to be studied for their dollar values, a trend that might offer Texas farms and ranches the potential for cash flow, which may in turn alter conservation practices throughout Texas and the United States. Money alone cannot be the only motivation for caring about the Texas coast, though. Blackburn encourages Texans to get to know this landscape better. Beautifully illustrated and accessibly written, A Texan Plan for the Texas Coast weaves together a challenging but promising plan to protect the coast through economic motivation, thoughtful litigation, informed appreciation, and simple affection for the beauty and life found on the Texas coast.

"A photographic tour of Texas using vintage archival images compared to the same sites as they appear today. Includes views of major cities such as Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, as well as popular tourist spots such as the Alamo"--

Shrimpers who fish the shallow coastal waters of Texas fight a constant battle for survival—contending with shrimpers who fish the deeper gulf waters, competing with weekend sportsmen, wrangling with government regulations, and dodging environmentalists' incriminations. Add competition from the international market, an ominous threat frequently overlooked by bay fishermen, and the shrimpers; chances of winning—at least with their current lifestyle intact—are slim. In The Bay Shrimpers of Texas, Lee Maril explores the successes and failures of the shrimpers who prowl remote bays, rivers, and estuaries for their livelihoods. Through random sample surveys of fishermen, participant observation, and historical analysis, he examines the political, economic, and social realities confronting the shrimpers and their families. Legal and environmental constraints, price instability, work hazards and benefits (only one percent of the shrimpers surveyed had health insurance), rivalry with gulf and sport shrimpers, and conflict with Vietnamese refugees are all factors that affect the outlook for shrimping. Portraying the shrimpers' lives on land and water, Maril describes their boats, equipment, and various fishing strategies (both legal and illegal) used to survive in an increasingly competitive occupation. He gives an in-depth and personal look at an industry that in many ways has changed little over the last century and in others has haphazardly evolved as it enters into a ruthlessly competitive world marketplace. The prospects for bay fishing—a vital part of the cultural identity and tradition of many small coastal towns—are uncertain. By examining the past and clearing up misperceptions and myths, Maril provides valuable insight into not just the future survival or demise of one industry in a global economy, but the future of small business as a whole.

Mary Jo O’Rear rounds out her coastal bend trilogy with a deep and engaging look at the prehistory and history of the Texas barrier islands. In Barrier to the Bays, O’Rear captures the deep time of the islands (Mustang, Padre, and San José), the bays (Aransas, Corpus Christi, Copano, Redfish, and Nueces), and Aransas Pass. From the earliest human settlements to the twentieth century, O’Rear explores the complex interplay between people and economies struggling to survive in a region dominated by indifferent forces of nature. Barrier to the Bays opens with the natural formation and development of the barrier isles and the arrival of Native Americans, Spanish castaways, French explorers, and Catholic missionaries. European settlements on the mainland eventually led to rich commercial development of the area and its bounty as ranching, fishing, and transportation took hold. By the early twentieth century, the people of the Coastal Bend began wrestling with a new drive to create deep-water harbors along the coastline in the face of the ever-present hurricane threat. O’Rear shows that by World War II the region had settled into a kind of “practicality” as tourists and traders took their place among the denizens of the islands and bays. In addition to the stories of familiar historical figures, Barrier to the Bays stresses the importance of technology in the settlement and development of the region. “Nothing could have been achieved among the barriers and bays of the Coastal Bend without the right tools.” O’Rear underscores the importance of properly designed sailing vessels and the centrality of navigation technology as an integral part of the barrier isle story.