Gulf Coast Restoration Initiative Restoring our Coastal Habitat and Strengthening our Communities

Who are the Partners? National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund The Nature Conservancy (TNC) The Corps Network (TCN) American YouthWorks Texas Conservation Corps (TxCC) Climb CDC Career Development Center

What were the Objectives? Collect baseline data from 29 sites across 9 streams that all feed into the Mississippi Sound. Promote community resilience by training local members of the community to enrich the local economy, rather than outsource these employment opportunities. Assessing deteriorating natural spaces in preparation of making steps to restore them. Providing young people in underserved areas a satisfying and productive pathway from the challenges of their socioeconomic climate. Increasing awareness of the Conservation Corps model and its advantages to the natural environment as well as the community environment.

Corps member Martin King at Magnolia Bayou

In the Field Corps members assess bank conditions using a qualitative rapid stream assessment guide and document their finding in waterproof notebooks, as well as with GPS units and with photographs. Their findings are then evaluated in the classroom.

In the Classroom Stream assessment is quite academic compared to some other types of conservation work. Once members collected their data, classroom discussions were held to help organize the data. Members were then taught how to track their data in Excel spreadsheets. This was an important part of providing a well-rounded learning experience.

Bear Point Bayou 1 Data Summary ELEMENTAVERAGE SCORE 1. Channel Condition 2.25 DO Hydrologic Alteration 3.75 DO %97 3. Bank Condition 3.63 Current Riparian Quantity 2.00 Salinity (ppt) Riparian Quality 2.25 Temp (C) Canopy Cover Water Appearance Nutrient Enrichment Manure/Human Waste Pools Barriers to Movement Fish Habitat Aquatic Invertebrate Habitat Aquatic Invert. Complexity Riffle Embeddedness Salinity 4.25 Total Average 2.95 GPS: N W

“ At First sight this was a ‘no-go’ but with the confidence of my instructors they slowly persuaded me to do it. We learned what invasive species were and all sorts of other things. Hopefully this will continue.” -Brandon Mclaurin- Corps member