Project name: #3008 - Big Devil Bayou Culvert Repair
Project status: Complete
Grant Administrator: Gulf of Mexico Foundation(for NOAA)
Grantee: Friends of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
Project location: On eastern shore of St. Charles Bay within the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Austwell, Texas.
Grant period: Jan 1, 2004 - Aug 31, 2004
Grant amount: $11,150
Land Ownership: Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is publicly owned.
Lat/Long: 028°12’14.19” N, 096°55’30.48” W
Types of Habitat: brackish marsh and open water
Project leaders: Chad Stinson, Refuge Biologist
Erin Holmes, Project Coordinator
                          Friends of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
                          PO Box 100
                          Austwell, TX 77950
                          (361) 286-3559
                          (361) 286-3722

• smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora)
• saltmarsh bulrush (Scirpus maritimus)
• brown, pink and white shrimp
• black drum (Pogonias cromis)
• southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma)
• sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus)
• eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica)
• blue crab (Callinectes sapidus)
• mullet (Mugil sp.)
• Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus)
• migrating waterfowl (geese, ducks)
• white and brown pelicans
• various shorebirds

Project Description:
The Big Devils Bayou Culvert Repair project is a cooperative effort with multiple partners to restore tidal flow to over 100 acres of brackish marsh that serves as productive feeding and nursery habitat for numerous estuarine dependent fish and wildlife species. The existing culverts have collapsed causing a barrier that prevents tidal flow from reaching crucial marshland. The marshes and open water associated with the project area are highly productive for living marine resources in the Aransas Bay System. The project also has environmental education components as well, reaching out to students from the Tivoli High School to educate them about the importance of coastal marsh environments.

Project Goals:

• Restore tidal flow to over 100 acres of brackish marsh that serves as productive feeding and nursery habitat for numerous estuarine dependent fish and wildlife species
• Provide a positive educational experience involving coastal natural resources to seventh – tenth grade students, using a hands-on approach
• Educate students in the importance of conservation of natural resources along the Texas coast.