< Previous10 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 N ot so long ago, people who worried about protecting natural resources were called “tree huggers.” That derogatory term was meant to dismiss people and their environmental efforts as silly and annoying, whether they were concerned about actual trees, water quality or marine habitat. But the tide is turning. Ideas once considered fringe — reducing use of plastic bags that end up in gutters, waterways and enshroud- ing wildlife, or educating anglers about the dangers of monofilament line to marine life — have become solidly mainstream. People who might once have been branded tree huggers are what we call Coastal Champions in this issue — a title we hope to bestow each year on locals striving to make our communities better, healthier places. In this issue, you’ll meet people who protect birds and nesting sites, plant thousands of trees, organize beach cleanups, rebuild wetlands and preserve habitats in this place we all love. Our Coastal Champions share in common a love for the outdoors and the natural world that was instilled at a very young age. What makes these Coastal Champions so successful is their ability to change minds and habits without accusing or judging. They educate and open eyes in non-confrontational ways. They see a problem and they do something. For example, a few years back when 400 migrating birds smashed into Galveston’s American National Insurance Co. tower downtown and ended up splattered on the sidewalk below, Julie Ann Brown became an activist and began teaching people to turn off their lights during migrating season, as Coast Monthly correspondent Kathryn Eastburn reports in this issue. “I don’t think Galveston knew what Galveston was to birds until we lost 400 of them slamming into ANICO,” she said. “It was tragic, but it raised community awareness of the importance of Galveston to birds.” We congratulate our Coastal Champions, but know there are many more out there making a difference. So, let us know about them for future editions. Their work is some- thing to celebrate each month. LAURA ELDER Coast Monthly Editor FROM THE EDITOR HUGGING TREES HAS GIVEN WAY TO CONSERVATION CHICIS YOUR HOME MISBEHAVING? 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Ellen Mansoor Collier I would personally love to see an invention of some type of disinte- grating fishing line. I work on a shrimp boat and see fishing line tied around too many pelicans. Their wings, their webbed feet, their beaks — it breaks my heart. Creating a product that can simply disappear over time — perfection. That and teaching others to dispose of fishing line properly can save thousands of pelican lives. TX Shrimp Diva I would like to see restaurants ask and not assume you want or need a glass of water of any size. Either way it has to be washed, and if you don’t want any, all of it goes down the drain! Stop the drain on life’s most important resource! Janice Hallisey More room for the turtles when they come to lay their eggs. Kathy Whatley No plastic bags. Mayna Premo Banning plastic bags. Terry Rizzo I’d like to see some real erosion control on the beaches by way of sinking things like old boats and ships to deflect the currents that are shaving the island. Stop scraping up the red seaweed that washes up a couple of times a year because it helps to hold the sand in place and replenish the beaches. When I was a kid, you could drive on the beach all the way to about 57th Street. The erosion from scraping this up has erased the beach in my lifetime of 66 years. Cindy Milina Going back to glass bottles with de- posits and degradable paper bags. John Schreiber Conservation to save our oyster reefs. That’s so important for the coast on so many levels. Also helps clear the water and provides a better habitat for our varied fish populations. And our lovely turtles! Cathy Townley-McGaughey This is a tough question. Education seems like a cop-out answer, but if people knew what is at stake, what we risk losing, it might make a difference. Holly Thorson Oyster bed restoration. Tommy Forester Sand replenishment. Jerry Jones Oyster beds. Check out what our Galveston CCA Chapter is doing! Jamie Grimes McFarlane Litter and runoff! Jaree Hefner Picking up all the litter on the beach and all over the island, having recycling on every corner! Heather MacBeth Estrada Beach restoration, regular beach clean up (assemble local volunteers, get school kids involved, too). Greg DeAtkine Please tree trimmers stop butcher- ing our trees (horrible V-shaped whacking of limbs) obviously done by non-professionals. Sandi Jerome Pevoto Anything to conserve. Wanda McWhorter Huddleston What conservation effort would you like to see more resources devoted to on the upper Texas coast? Volunteers pick up trash on Sunny Beach in Galveston. FILE PHOTO: STUA r T VILLANUEVATHERE’S A BETTER APPROACH TO CANCER CARE in Clear Lake 281.333.8899 houstonmethodist.org/cancer-clearlake At Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center, we treat every aspect of your cancer. Leading oncologists work with our specialists across disciplines to minimize cancer’s effects on major organs. One comprehensive team — dedicated to your individual care — uses the latest research, treatments and technology to stop your cancer. From infusion and clinical trials to surgery and reconstruction, our innovative care is available in Clear Lake. That’s the difference between practicing medicine and leading it. The Woodlands Baytown Willowbrook Sugar Land Clear Lake Katy-West Houston Texas Medical Center14 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 BIRDS OF A FEATHER These champions make the upper Texas coast a better place for all E ach day and year-round, volunteers work tirelessly, and often without recognition, to better the world around them. Their efforts, particularly involving birds, make the upper Texas coast a better place to live for creatures great and small. This issue celebrates seven people — we know there are many more — as our 2023 Coastal Champions. photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 15 Roseate spoonbills take flight after roosting at the Galveston Bay Foundation’s Sweetwater Preserve on the West End of Galveston Island.16 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 FEATURE BOB STOKES GALVESTON BAY FOUNDATION Bob Stokes turned his childhood love of the water and natural wonders of the world into a career of advocacy for the environment. Stokes, president of Galveston Bay Foundation, long has been known for his conservation efforts through the organization. Although not originally from Texas, he fell in love with the Texas Coast and has worked to pre- serve its natural wonders. “I grew up fishing with my grandfa- ther and going to the beach with my grandmother on Cape Cod and Bos- ton,” Stokes said. “That instilled a love of the outdoors and the natural world.” After graduating from Yale Univer- sity in 1990, Stokes went on to the University of Texas School of Law and became an environmental lawyer. He began volunteering with the Galves- ton Bay Foundation in 2001 and after 10 years of practicing law, was asked to take over the foundation in 2004, where he has been ever since. “After I graduated from the Univer- sity of Texas, I moved to Houston to practice law,” Stokes said. “With the proximity to the beach, I was able to see the beauty and need to preserve the area. This is a major population area with a big need for conservation.” One of the greatest accomplish- ments of the Galveston Bay Founda- tion has been its advocacy for birds and coastal wetlands, Stokes said. “We work to restore habitat for birds and we ensure that the seafood they eat is kept clean through water quality,” Stokes said. “We have established a bird island near San Leon and helped colonial water birds’ nesting areas.” Some of the foundation’s work includes research and conservation of the bottlenose dolphins in the bay and educational field trip experiences for children that’s meant to inspire a love of science and the coast. The foun- dation also works to restore habitats, including wetlands, oyster reefs, living shorelines and coastal prairies. The foundation is instrumental in water quality work, such as monitoring and helping with clean-ups and oil spills. Stokes, named 2011 Environmen- tal Professional of the Year by the Texas Association of Environmental Professionals, takes pride in what the foundation has been able to accom- plish, he said. “We have been able to build a constituency and grow our staff and supporters,” Stokes said. “We have a long history of important projects and improving water quality and edu- cating children.” – Trace Harris Bob Stokes, president of the Galveston Bay Foundation, stands at the edge of the foundation’s property along Galveston Bay in Kemah. The conservation nonprofit works to preserve Galveston Bay as a healthy and productive ecosystem. COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 17 KRISTEN VALE AMErICAN BIrD CONSErVANCY For many, bird watching is a hobby. For Kristen Vale, it’s an opportunity to save countless lives. Vale, a Texas coastal program coordinator with the American Bird Conservancy, spends many hours protecting birds that nest on beaches and has spent years rais- ing awareness about dangers to them. Vale’s mission is to help protect birds in Galveston and the surround- ing area, address habitat loss and mitigate threats the birds face daily. Vale also has helped fence off certain areas of the beach in Galveston where nests are highly vulnerable. Some birds use beach ground to nest their eggs, which makes them almost invisible to beachgoers. Most people aren’t aware birds nest on the beach. One of the birds that nest on the beach is a rare bird called the snowy plover. Wilson’s plovers, least terns and common nighthawks can nest by dunes and marshes. Vale always has had a soft spot in her heart for animals, she said. Her interest in wildlife began when her elementary school teacher introduced a young Vale to English primatologist Jane Goodall. “I was just so fascinated,” she said. “When you learn about animals being in trouble, it really pulls on your heartstrings.” Vale moved to the coast in 2010 and was enthralled by the vast variety of birds that inhabited Galveston, she said. “You see these colorful birds, big and small,” she said. “Every day, I’m learning something new. That appreci- ation turned into an aspiration.” Although she has been in the bird conservancy for years, her commit- ment and mission remain as strong as ever, she said. “I want to do as much as I can to make an impact,” Vale said. “Honestly, when I was a kid I just wanted to save the world. I didn’t care if it was a fly or a plant. Now I’ve grown and put a lot of passion into helping these birds.” – José Mendiola “I want to do as much as I can to make an impact. Honestly, when I was a kid I just wanted to save the world. I didn’t care if it was a fly or a plant. Now I’ve grown and put a lot of passion into helping these birds.” KRISTEN VALE Kristen Vale, the Texas coastal program coordinator for the American Bird Conservancy, has spent years helping protect coastal birds.18 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 FEATURE KRISTINE RIVERS BIrDING FOr FUN Kristine Rivers was just 6 years old when she found a special love for birds. “My mom got me a field guide and a pair of binoculars,” Rivers said. “I would sit in the grass and take notes.” That was in 1972. Today, Rivers provides tours and education for bird lovers in and around Galveston County. Through her organization Birding for Fun, she follows the philosophy that birding should be accessible to everyone, she said. Rivers became a certified Texas Master Naturalist in 2016, and was the president of the Cradle of Texas chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists from 2017 until 2019. With a curious mind, Rivers is pas- sionate about getting others interested in exploring their curiosities about native birds in a relaxing and open environment through Birding for Fun. “We take people to the places where the birds will be,” she said. “I try to give them plenty of time for looking and asking questions and taking pictures.” Rivers found some difficulty navigating a digital world when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020. But integrating virtual birding classes made a huge difference for expanding her classes to more people, she said. Rivers hosts League City’s popular “Nature with Kristine” events, regularly held in parks throughout the city. She connects interested people with na- ture through activities such as games and scavenger hunts. – Sarah Grunau “We take people to the places where the birds will be. I try to give them plenty of time for looking and asking questions and taking pictures.” KRISTINE RIVERS Kristine Rivers, a Texas Master Naturalist, founded Birding for Fun, offering guided tours and workshops to make birding accessible to everyone. She also teamed up with the Smithsonian Institute to publish “Bird Detectives: Science Sleuths and Their Feathered Friends.” COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 19 JULIE ANN BROWN GALVESTON ISLAND NATUrE TOUrISM COUNCIL Julie Ann Brown is executive di- rector of the Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council, walks on the beach daily, is an avid Houston Astros fan and believes in the power of nature to heal and inspire hope. Her work ranges from organizing Galveston’s annual FeatherFest Birding and Nature Photography Festival alongside her office mate and some 200 volunteers, to welcoming sandhill cranes to Galveston Island in the win- ter and enticing locals to learn more about them. The council’s mission, and Brown’s, is to appreciate Galves- ton’s unique natural resources and try to create that spark with other people so they’ll appreciate it, too. Brown chooses to focus on the positive, even when it rises out of a natural disaster like Hurricane Ike, one of her earliest and most profound experiences as a Galvestonian in 2008. Her takeaway from the destruction of the storm was insight into the strength and resilience of locals, determined to rebuild and come back better. And when 400 migrating birds a few years back smashed into Galves- ton’s American National Insurance Co.’s downtown tower and ended up splattered on the sidewalk below, Brown became an activist teaching people to turn off their lights during migrating season. “I don’t think Galveston knew what Galveston was to birds until we lost 400 of them slamming into ANICO,” she said. “It was tragic, but it raised community awareness of the impor- tance of Galveston to birds.” The importance of Galveston to birds extends to bird lovers and bird- watchers alike from all over the world who, like Brown, are inclined to look toward the sky for hope in a some- times dismal world. Brown came to birding only after hanging out with birdwatchers at Gal- veston Island Nature Tourism Council events and other birding festivals, though she has been a lifelong nature lover. As a novice, she found expe- rienced birdwatchers to be among the kindest, most generous people she has ever met, offering her a peek through their standing scopes so she could get the best view of a bird she’d never seen, she said. “This job has introduced me to the best people on this planet, such dedicat- ed and enthusiastic people,” she said. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to re- member she’s working, her job is just so much fun, Brown said. “This year, I’m following poet Mary Oliver’s ‘Instructions for Living a Life,’ from her poem of that title,” Brown said. “‘Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.’” – Kathryn Eastburn Julie Ann Brown, executive director of the Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council, stands near a 6-foot sculpture of an Eskimo curlew at Galveston Island State Park.Next >