Table of Contents
Trip Reports
Clear
Creek plans progressing
By:Colleen O'Brien
Did you know at one time there was a ferry in Friendswood?
What is known is that around the turn of the 19th century, Frank J. Brown, the credited founder of Friendswood, "visioned Clear Creek as a great ship channel," and "before cheap motor transportation and good roads, large barges pulled up to the mouth of Coward's Creek hauling rice and lumber."
Friendswood's founder would have been proud of some his town's citizens last Wednesday night as they met at South Shore Harbor for a Clear Creek Nature &Tourism Council (CCNCTC) meeting.
Friendswood
City Council Member Mel Measles, heading up the Budget and Finance Committee,
was there, as well as Friendswood City Council Member Laura Ewing, working
with the Development and Fundraising Committee.
The CCNCTC, created a year and a half ago, is charged with coming up with
a master plan for viable ecotourist dollars for the Clear Creek Watershed
and its surrounding municipalities.
These municipalities
include: Friendswood, Pearland, Alvin, Manvel, League City, Webster, Nassau
Bay, Kemah, Clear Lake Shores, Seabrook, El Lago, Taylor Lake Village,
Houston, Shoreacres, La Porte, Pasadena, and Deer Park.
The Friendswood Development Corporation is in the process of donating
land to the city of Friendswood, to be earmarked as a nature area for
the city, said Ewing.
Friendswood Mayor Kim Brizendine, though not in attendance, had, at a
prior City Council meeting suggested that municipalities be encouraged
not to build on the flood plain or in the flood way.
Brizendine also had said that the CCNCTC needs to build bridges with both legislators in Austin, and with developers - to help them understand the benefits of being proactive with Mother Nature.
"We all have common goals and we all need to be working together," was the common refrain heard at the meeting Wednesday night.
The CCNCTC
is distributing a city/county survey to the Clear Creek community. Survey
questions include: Do you have public access to Clear Cree for kayaks
and canoes? If so, is it in public parks or on a city right of way?
Is it marked for this and are there signs directing the public to these
areas? Do you have any locations that birds or wildlife can be observed?
Are these in city parks or on city land? Are there observation decks,
elevated platforms, or areas that observation will not disturb the birds
or wildlife?
Are there historical sites or museums in your city? Are there special events planned around these locations? Do you have hike and bike trails? Within your city, do you have groups that produce plays, musicals, concerts, art shows, or displays?
In your city do you have businesses that sell sporting goods, rent canoes or kayaks, rent scuba tanks or gear, rent bicycles, schedule interpretive tours of the creek or areas within the watershed?
The survey
is being conducted by CCNCTC Committee Co-chair and Friendswood resident
Judy Kimball.
Pearland's Mayor Tom Reid was at the meeting. He heard a Council member
mention that their next stumbling block is gathering monetary resources
to become a 501(c)3 organization.
Reid promptly
waved a $100 bill in the air, donated the money to the cause, and then
challenged board members to each come up with $13.50 for their tax-exempt
status.
Representatives from the Galveston Bay Estuary Program (GBEP), the Bayou
Preservation Association, and the Houston Canoe Club, were on hand to
spread the word about their upcoming events.
"Galveston Bay was designated an estuary of national significance in 1989," said one GBEP representative. "We want folks to be involved in the future of Galveston Bay, but we like to keep the kids busy doing fun things. So we're offering Community Open Houses, from 1-5 p.m., with free refreshments, free give-aways for kids and adults, and door prize drawings."
GBEP Open House events around the Bay are: Saturday, March 4, Bear Creek Community Center, 3055 Bear Cree Drive; Sunday, March 5, Eddie Gray Wetlands Center, 1724 Market Street, Baytown; Sunday March 26, Armand Bayou Nature Center, 8500 Bay Area Blvd., Pasadena; Saturday, April 1, Alvin Senior Citizen Center, 309 West Sealy, Alvin; and Sunday April 2, National Marine Fisheries Service, 4700 Avenue U., Galveston.
For more information call 281-218-6461 or go to www.gbep.state.tx.us
"We've
been working on freshwater management, shoreline management, water quality
projects, and public outreach," another ecotourism advocate said.
"We'll be asking corporations, civic groups, churches, and Rotaries,
to get involved and have a say in the future of Galveston Bay."
Eric "Eyes on the Bayou" Ruckstuhl, from the Bayou Preservation
Association, made a stunning presentation of his canoe rides on the bayous
and creeks in the area.
Ruckstuhl's canoed a large part of Clear Creek and has an online column
called "Canoeing Houston's Bayous and Creeks."
Ruckstuhl called Clear Creek "one of the most beautiful wild streams in the Houston area," saying "It has been compared to streams in the rain forest and parts of it also resemble the Big Thicket."
Ruckstuhl went on to say that most of the mid-section of the creek, including a paddle trail from 1776 Memorial Park, to Oxnard Park, a 3 ½ mile trip, is a great experience and has large pines and hardwoods along the banks.