Despite their reputation for being polluters, major oil companies actually contribute large sums of money for environmental causes, often working with conservation organizations to establish programs to help the environment.

ConocoPhillips, for instance, has worked since 1993 with two conservation groups, three federal and state agencies, and two petroleum companies to expand and improve habitat at High Island, Texas. This area is one of the most important resting places for migratory birds coming to the United States from Central and South America. These efforts created the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory (GCBO).

GCBO has since expanded into a network of protected habitats across the Gulf Coast from Florida to Mexico. Its mission is to protect birds, habitat and birding areas along the Gulf Coast. Since 1993 ConocoPhillips has been an annual sponsor for the program, donating nearly US $500,000.

In 2006 a $26,000 grant from ConocoPhillips was leveraged to obtain an additional grant of $26,000 from the US Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program to complete two restoration projects in Brazoria County, Texas, to benefit these migratory birds. Restoration and enhancement activities were conducted at the GCBO’s 34-acre Lake Jackson Sanctuary and on six acres of stopover habitat on Quintana Island during late 2006 and all of 2007.

Lake Jackson Sanctuary

According to Cecilia Riley, executive director of the GCBO, the 35-acre site of its headquarters contains a sizable tract of remnant bottomland hardwood forest characteristic of the Columbia Bottomlands. “This property lies in the path of most nearctic-neotropical migrants during both spring and fall,” Riley said. “Restoration work at this site should increase the desirability of the land as a stable and productive stopover for migrants, especially those that utilize understory habitat.”

Objectives for the restoration of the Lake Jackson Sanctuary were to conduct a baseline botanical inventory; identify, flag and remove exotic and invasive plant species; and begin restoration of the understory with the purchase of native plants, she said. To complete this work, the last objective was to train 30 volunteers from the Cradle of Texas Master Naturalist program and a local Scout troop to identify undesirable plant species, proper native plants for the region and the proper use of herbicides and garden tools/equipment.

The group surveyed the forest and flagged hundreds of the two most abundant exotic plants to be removed (Chinese ligustrum and Japanese privet). The herbicide Garlon-4 was purchased, and a small team of volunteers was trained to make the appropriate applications (by hand) along the trunks of targeted plants. Staff and volunteers have treated or removed 2,031 plants of the two species. To assist with long-range management of the sanctuary, staff spent the early summer months developing a Habitat Stewardship plan.

Four new habitat beds were built and planted with more than 200 fruit-bearing perennials that are favored by birds. In addition, the forest trail sections and hummingbird gardens that had been damaged by feral hogs were repaired, and 120 trees were planted (Sugar Hackberry, oaks, cypress, Tupelo, dogwood and Pecan) in a four-acre tract that had been cleared many years ago by a previous owner.

Quintana Island

GCBO also has been actively acquiring property on Quintana Island, which is an extremely important stopover site for migrants that cross the Gulf of Mexico. The organization has begun restoration efforts on a few of the vacant lots (which are now primarily pasture).

The objective for the recently purchased lots on the island of Quintana was to restore the vacant lots into habitat that will provide sanctuary for migratory birds. Prior to planting, tree beds were prepared with mulch and topsoil to assist tree growth in the highly sandy and alkaline soil. Some contracted surface leveling and mowing completed the pre-planting preparation. Twenty large trees and shrubs were transported from a Houston nursery and planted by Davey Tree Service. Each tree was given a single fertilizer treatment.

With volunteer labor, an above-ground drip irrigation system was placed at the base of each plant, and a fresh water feature for birds and other wildlife was installed. “This water feature is one of the few sources of fresh water for birds on the entire island,” Riley said.

GCBO conducted two large-scale planting efforts with 40 full sized trees, including Live Oak, Green Hawthorn, Sugar Hackberry, Huisache, Toothache (Hercules Club), Yaupon, Wax Myrtle, Arrowwood Viburnam and Mexican Plum. Water drips were run to each tree, and the City of Quintana has donated a full-time water supply to keep the trees alive and thriving. GCBO conducted four volunteer training/work days where the group helped mulch and prune the plantings and mow trails through the grassy areas. Though it will take many growing years to see the full benefit to birds, the young Live Oaks have already provided nesting and feeding habitat for a family of Loggerhead Shrike — a species of high importance to conservationists. A small, recirculating water feature was also constructed in the center of the tree plantings to provide fresh water for wildlife.

GCBO developed a formal habitat stewardship plan for these island properties. As part of this plan, the City of Quintana and Freeport LNG conservation properties have been included as well. The goal is that all of the lots conserved on Quintana Island will have the same or similar management practices and vegetation so as to be of the greatest benefit to landbirds during migration.

Monitoring

Avian monitoring has been conducted before, during and after all phases of habitat restoration/creating at both the Lake Jackson bottomland sanctuary and Quintana Birdscape. “These data should, over time, reveal the success of the improvements,” she said.

At the Lake Jackson Bottomland sanctuary, GCBO has conducted monthly bird banding both before and during restoration activities. Because the property at Quintana is so open, banding is not practical (birds could readily see and avoid nets) and all monitoring has been conducted with monthly strip transects.

Other contributions

In addition to ConocoPhillips’ work with the GCBO, other oil companies have teamed with the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coastal Program to establish habitat conservation programs. “Nearly all of the partnership projects we work on have a strong migratory bird component,” said John Huffman, Region 2 Coastal Program coordinator.

Duke Energy established the Texas Corporate Wetland Restoration Partnership (TCWRP), he said, and his service provided technical advice. “The TCWRP has helped fund the interpretive trail at the San Jacinto State Park,” Huffman said. “The trail was the final education component to a very large marsh restoration project.” He added that the project and its partners received a Coastal America Partnership Award in 2004.

Shell, Reliant Energy, Duke Energy (through the TCWRP) and AEP helped the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Ocean Trust undertake a restoration project at Bahia Grande in South Texas, the largest restoration project in the nation at that time. Nearly 10,000 acres of tidal lagoons were reconnected to the estuary to provide fishery and migratory bird habitat. This project has also received awards, including a Coastal America Award in 2005.

NRG Energy provided in-kind leverage for funding to construct a wave barrier at the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge shoreline, where erosion rates had averaged nearly 10 ft (3 m) per year. The project restored nearly 17,000 ft (5,185 m) of shoreline marsh and prevented further loss of valuable wetland and upland habitats.

Reliant Energy teamed up with NRG to restore wetlands along Galveston Bay. “Through the wetland plant nursery started at Reliant Energy’s facility in Baytown and continued by NRG, thousands of wetland plant propagules have gone to support wetlands restoration in all corners of the Galveston Bay system,” Huffman said. “The support provided by these companies, both staff time and planting materials, has helped successfully leverage millions of dollars for habit conservation projects.”