Who we are
Friends of Aransas and Matagorda Island National Wildlife Refuges (FAMI) will work to support and assist the Aransas and Matagorda Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex in its goal of enhancing habitat and wildlife and encouraging compatible wildlife-dependant public uses of the refuges through educational, interpretive, scientific and other activities appropriate to the mission of these Refuges.
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Updates
Water for Wildlife Project
The Board of Directors of the Friends group recently allocated $43,000 of available funds for the Water for Wildlife Project at the Refuge. Funds were spent hiring a contract worker to operate a bulldozer and clean out the dugouts used by wildlife (mostly whooping cranes) for water. Nineteen dugouts were cleared of brush and re-contoured making them much more useable especially by whooping cranes. Twelve of the waterwells on the Blackjack unit were assessed by Carter Water Wells to determine whether they could be converted to solar powered pumps. It was determined that four wells could be converted to solar powered wells. Funding was provided to convert these four wells and repair three wells that could not be converted to solar. The Friends have also submitted a grant proposal for $100,000 to assess and convert wells on the Tatton, Matagorda Island, Myrtle Foester Whitmire and Lamar units on the Refuge.
Click on this link to see the news coverage that this Project received. kiiitv. You can also see a picture of one of the whooping cranes coming to use a revised dugout on the front page of the Fall issue of the newsletter.
WANTED!
Gently used digital cameras are being collected by FAMI for use in a loaner program for students. If you have a digital camera that you no longer use, consider recycling it by dropping it off at the Refuge frontdesk or mailing it to FAMI (check contact page for mailing address). Go green, unclutter your house and recycle these cameras with FAMI.
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!
FAMI still needs front desk help three days a week. Duties include greeting visitors, collecting fees, talking about what there is to see on the Refuge, and ringing up sales for the bookstore. Contact Becky Clayton at 552-5187 if you can do some air-conditioned volunteering this fall.
They're on their way back to Aransas!
Tom Stehn has had reports of cranes being spotted in North Dakota. Stay tuned for updates on the whooping crane migration and census studies at the Refuge. In the meantime, here are two articles that Tom has recently released regarding the cranes.
Total Population Analysis by Location
The Refuge will probably provide supplemental food for the cranes this winter. The Friends Board of Directors has already vote to designate all funds received in the donation boxes to this effort. If you would like to make a donation to this effort you can use the online donation button to make such a donation. The Spanish and Science Club from Port Lavaca Middle School is working to raise money for this effort as well. Continue to check the website to see what the kids come up with for fund raising efforts.
