The future of the Flounder fishery, health of our bays, the restoration of our wetlands, and tradition of our sport is our responsibility, and once in a while we get the golden opportunity to make a difference. Will we allow apathy to stand in the way of protecting OUR resource so that future generations might enjoy them? I think not! For those of us that are truly passionate about our sport, we’re equally as passionate about conserving and protecting it.
I'm sure you’re familiar with the ongoing effort by Save Cedar Bayou Inc. to obtain a permit to restore the Cedar Bayou / Vinson Slough pass, I personally got involved a couple years ago to help spread the word and bring as much attention and support to the project as possible. While I don't always see eye to eye with how the president of Save Cedar Bayou Inc. handles things, I do respect her tenacity and fortitude to stand strong fight the good fight. Again, that sort of self sacrifice inspires me!
All studies done to date indicate that when this pass is open our bays benefit, in times of flood it balances the salinity levels by providing an escape for the fresh water inflow. In times of drought it does the same thing by allowing gulf waters in to the bays to keep salinity levels from skyrocketing.
As it is, there over fifty miles between the two closest passes, with the closest being some twenty miles away in the Port Aransas shipping channel, if Cedar Bayou were open it would not only provide a highway to the gulf for the Flounder, but all species! It would restore thousands of acres of wetlands and marsh habitat that is critical right now with our developing coastline.
We are working with some of the best engineers in the field who have spent thousands of hours researching and putting together a sound plan to restore this pass and keep it open.
The time to act is now! At this moment the CORP has placed the permit online and is accepting public comment. It can be viewed toward the bottom of this page: http://www.swg.usace.army.mil/reg/pn.asp
What you can do, write your letter of support and fax it or mail it to the project manager with the CORP at:
Denise Sloan
Regulatory Branch, CESWG-PE-RB
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 1229
Galveston, Texas 77553-1229
409-766-3962 Phone
409-766-3931 Fax
Re. Permit Application Number SWG-2007-00813
Save Cedar Bayou Inc.
The deadline for public comment is March 26th, 2009. and whether you support this project or not, this is a golden opportunity.
Sincerely,
Jeff Dean
texasflatsfishing@gmail.com
www.texasflats.net
Sunday, March 15, 2009
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