1. Major Land Acquisitions Enhance State Parks, Protect Resources, Expand Access
Texas state parks, which recently received a welcome shot in the arm in the form of additional funding from the Texas legislature, made two important acquisitions during 2008. In September, TPWD acquired the approximately 2,900-acre Fortress Cliffs Ranch, protecting some six miles of Palo Duro Canyon rim. In November, the Nature Conservancy of Texas acquired the 7,000-acre Fresno Ranch, with plans to transfer it to TPWD to become part of Big Bend Ranch State Park. Fresno Ranch was the largest remaining inholding in Texas' largest state park.
Nature Conservancy Buys 7,000 Acres to Expand Big Bend Ranch State Park
Fortress Cliffs Ranch Added to Palo Duro Canyon State Park
2. Hurricane Ike Rocks Texas Coast
 

Diver grapples with 12ft tiger shark
A diver fought with a 12ft tiger shark for nearly two hours when it tried to attack his friend during an underwater spear fishing expedition in Louisiana.

Craig Clasen went head to head with the aggressive predator, shooting it seven times with a spear gun, when it was about to attack another fisherman.

Mr Clasen was hunting yellow finned tuna with his friends Cameron Kirkconnell, photographer D J Struntz and film maker Ryan McInnis in the Gulf of Mexico when the close encounter happened. 
 

POCO BUENO COMMITTEE PRESS RELEASE REGARDING THE DQ

For Immediate Release

From: Poco Bueno Invitational Tournament

July 19, 2010

The Tournament Committee of the Poco Bueno Invitational Fishing Tournament would like to clarify the recent ruling of the Rules Committee that disqualified a Blue Marlin, in accordance with tournament IGFA rules.

Pursuant to Tournament rules, the Committee received a handwritten Protest Letter recounting eyewitness observation to the boating of a Blue Marlin and the potential violation of IGFA rules, leading to the questioning of the crew regarding the event.

According to crew testimony to the Rules Committee, the fish was fought to the side of the boat, the leader parted and the gaff pulled free from the fish. According to IGFA rules number 14 and number 1, at that point in time, the fish is free swimming and constitutes an escape. At that point the fish is lost.

According to the crew in their testimony, the fish was not connected to the rod or gaff and the fish went away then floated up at some time and distance and then they came alongside and captured the fish.

These events are clearly in contrast to the intent of the Angling Rules and the Tournament Rules Committee made their decision based on the Official Rules of the IGFA and stand by their decision.

Effective August 27, 2010 at 6 p.m. eastern time (5 p.m. central time), NOAA will reopen 4,281 square miles (11,088 sq km) of area it had previously closed to commercial and recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico in response to the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The area closed to all fishing now measures 48,114 sq mi (124,614 sq km) and covers about 20% of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone. All commercial and recreational fishing including catch and release is prohibited in this closed area. An area off the Florida panhandle has been reopened to finfish, but remains closed to other species, such as shrimp. Transit through the closed area is allowed. NOAA will continue to evaluate the need for fisheries closures based on the evolving nature of the spill and will re-open closed areas as appropriate.

Read the entire bulletin here.

 

HOUSTON — Tar balls collected from the Crystal Beach area of the Bolivar Peninsula on Saturday came from the Deepwater Horizon spill, tests have confirmed, but it is unclear how the material got to Texas.

Investigators discovered very small tar balls in the surf, but not on shore, Saturday evening. The tar balls were collected and sent to the lab to be tested where they were determined to be associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The testing found that the oil was lightly weathered, raising doubts that the oil traversed the Gulf from the spill source. Boats carry oil collected during the response to Texas for processing raising the possibility the oil could have been transported on a vessel.

The Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office (TGLO), and the City of Galveston patrolled the beaches by both helicopter and on foot over the weekend. On Sunday, teams discovered some dime-sized to nickel-sized tar balls on both Bolivar Peninsula’s Crystal Beach and Galveston’s East Beach.

The Coast Guard hired a contractor to remove the tar balls. A total of approximately 35 gallons of sand/seaweed/tar balls was recovered in Crystal Beach on the Bolivar Peninsula and on East Beach in Galveston on Sunday and Monday. Crews estimate that of the 35 gallons of material recovered, there were about 7 gallons of tar balls contained within the waste material. The largest was ping-pong ball sized. Lab analysis continues on the tar balls recovered on Sunday and Monday.

The Coast Guard, TGLO and City of Galveston will continue patrols to find and clean up tar balls. A command post has also been established. All Galveston beaches and Southeast Texas waterways remain open.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), for most people, an occasional brief contact with a small amount of oil will do no harm. However, some people are especially sensitive to chemicals, including the hydrocarbons found in crude oil and petroleum products. In general, NOAA recommends that if oil contact occurs, the area be washed with soap and water, baby oil or another safe cleaning compound.

The public can report an oil spill or tar ball sighting by calling the Texas General Land Office at 1-800-832-8224 or the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.

MIAMI, May 3 (Reuters) - BP Plc (BP.L) is ready to pay all legitimate claims tied to the oil spill caused by the accident at its Gulf of Mexico undersea well, Chief Executive Tony Hayward told National Public Radio on Monday.

"We've made it clear that where legitimate claims are made, we will be good for them," Hayward said.

"We have the claims process set up, small claims today that are being paid instantly ... bigger claims we clearly have a process to run through," the BP chief executive added.

He said the London-based company fully accepted responsibility for the spill and would pay for the cleanup operation.

The huge slick caused by the spill is heading for the U.S. Gulf shore in what President Barack Obama has called a "massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster".

BP has not put an estimate on the likely costs of the spill, which follows the explosion and sinking of a drilling rig operated by Swiss-based driller Transocean (RIG.N) last month.

BP said last week that it and its partners in the well, including Anadarko Petroleum (APC.N), were paying $6 million a day in clean-up efforts but admitted costs would rise sharply when the oil slick hit land, as would claims for damages.

Hayward said the technical options his company was working on to try to seal the ruptured well included an undersea containment system that would capture the leaking oil and channel it to a tanker on the surface.

"It's fabricated and will be on location next weekend," he said.

Another option, the drilling of a relief well to intersect and try to control the ruptured well, was also "now underway," Hayward added.

BP was also using undersea robotic vehicles to try to fix the well blowout preventer -- a mechanism that he said had failed to prevent the oil gushing from the ruptured well following the rig accident.

"No one understands why it's failed. We have assembled in Houston 160 companies from across the industry to focus on this task," Hayward said. (Reporting by Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Paul Simao)