Hurricane Harvey Cleanup Begins on Coastal WMAs

HURRICANE HARVEY DEPOSITED record-breaking amounts of rain on Texas, displacing people and wildlife while damaging homes, businesses and other infrastructure.

To help environmental recovery efforts, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) established a special fund to support immediate and rapid assessments of the ecological impacts. This will also assist with urgent wildlife and habitat restoration projects and comes from NFWF’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund. It focuses on areas along the Texas and southwest Louisiana coasts that incurred extensive damage from the storm.

Rainfall amounts from the storm recorded near J. D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area (WMA) ranged from 47.52 inches at Jack Brooks Regional Airport to 60.58 inches near Nederland, Texas, according to the National Weather Service. This extreme rainfall caused flooding of the coastal marshes within the WMA, with water depths exceeding seven feet at the height of the flooding. Water levels did not consistently return to typical levels until September 20, 2017.

This flooding caused large rafts of cattail, bulrush, and other emergent wetland plants to float loose from the soils within managed compartments, such as the Big Hill Unit. Rafts of vegetation settled within interior ditches as floodwaters receded, nearly or completely blocking approximately 4,600 linear feet of ditches.

These ditches are necessary to move water from the interior of the Big Hill Unit wetland compartments to Big Hill Bayou for water level and habitat management. Without them, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) cannot control water levels in the units, potentially increasing the time the marsh is flooded. Extended flooding can alter the plant communities and create floating marsh, which is more susceptible to future storm damage. 

TPWD and Ducks Unlimited are tackling the problem at J.D. Murphree WMA by cleaning out the wetland compartment ditches in the Big Hill Unit. NFWF will provide $82,000 for the project, which is scheduled to be completed by end of March. Ducks Unlimited will prepare and administer the construction contract and complete the project closeout. 

—by Andi Cooper

Game Wardens Get a Drone

TEXAS GAME WARDENS are adding a new set of eyes in the sky — an Unmanned Aircraft System or UAS — they say will enhance their ability to quickly and safely surveil hard to access areas during natural disasters and search and rescue operations.

The new drone, a DJI Inspire 2, was donated through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation’s Gear Up for Game Wardens program, which has generated over $100,000 in private donations thus far to fund purchases of specialized equipment for state game wardens.

“It will definitely be deployed during disaster events and search operations,” said Game Warden Pilot Lt. Brandon Rose. “We’re limited from using our helicopter and airplane if weather is bad. With this drone we may be able to search for missing persons in situations where we can’t use the manned aircraft. During those down times, this craft could be the difference maker in getting help and saving lives.”

The new game warden UAS can attain a maximum speed of 58 mph and can go from 0 to 50 in 5 seconds with a range of about 4 miles.

The unit’s camera payload allows for real-time broadcast, which provides the same live HD video feed to a large HD TV screen or monitor. This feature can give rescuers and command staff a live view enabling them to make immediate and appropriate decisions that save lives.

The craft has a distinctive custom paint job and vinyl wrap similar to that on the Texas game warden helicopter, and is easily identifiable by markings on the unit’s arms that read: “Game Warden Search and Rescue.”

“This much-anticipated piece of equipment comes in the wake of the Wimberly floods, and after wardens affected 12,000 rescues and evacuations during Hurricane Harvey,” offered Waco-based Game Warden Capt. Jason Campbell. “Many of the rescues in both of these events were highly technical and presented an above average danger to the victims and wardens involved. The UAS will equip our warden first responders with the ability to identify dangers such as swift water, downed powerlines, and hazardous materials. Identifying these threats allows for greater safety of victims as well as wardens.”

Campbell went on to add, “The UAS will enhance our ability to quickly locate and guide rescuers to victim locations, and we also see the potential of the UAS as a training tool, as well as helping with reconstructing boat accident scenes.”

The UAS will be based out of Texas Game Warden Region 7 in Temple, but available for deployment statewide. Wardens are hoping to obtain additional unmanned aircraft in the future armed with thermal imaging systems for deployment throughout their eight law enforcement regions.

—TPWD