Goose Island State Park

Project Description: Goose Island is part of the Goose Island State Park located on the southern tip of Lamar Peninsula, 12 miles northeast of Rockport in Aransas County, Texas.  It is located in the northern end of Aransas Bay along the central Texas coast. The park is comprised of 321.4 acres and is bounded by Aransas and St. Charles Bays. Goose Island currently has an eroding shoreline approximately one-mile long.  The unprotected shoreline consists of a shell ridge with smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) marsh occurring in front of portions of it.  Smooth cordgrass is the dominant intertidal species and occupies approximately 7 acres in the project area.  Tidal channels occur within the high marsh and intertidal marsh habitats.  Breaches in the island support patchy ephemeral seagrasses comprised mostly of widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima). The approximately 100 acres of Aransas Bay north of Goose Island supports scattered living oysters, active oyster reefs and smooth cordgrass marsh along portions of the mainland shoreline.  The shallow bay water on the southern side of the island supports expansive beds of  shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) as well as scattered eastern oysters.  The seagrasses, cordgrass marshes, oyster reefs and tidal flats associated with Goose Island provide important feeding habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds, and provide important nursery areas for commercially and recreationally important finfish and shellfish.

This project would protect and restore wetland habitats that are integral parts of the Texas Gulf coast and the Aransas Bay estuarine ecosystems.  The project would involve the construction of an offshore rock breakwater, approximately 2,550 feet long, to stabilize the southern shoreline of Goose Island.  This breakwater will create a 20-acre lagoon between it and the shoreline protecting the existing 7.5 acres of shoalgrass and enhancing the remaining 7.5 acres by improving water quality and reducing erosion disturbances, thus facilitating the establishment of seagrasses.  The project also involves the creation of a 12-acre intertidal marsh site, of which 7 acres would be planted with native coastal marsh in a community based effort.   

Partners:  Coastal Impact Assistance Program, Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, Aransas County CIAP, NOAA-Fisheries, GEMS Community Based Restoration, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas Coastal Program.  

Total Contribution of all Partners:    $ 1,120,500

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