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Fire, maintenance and law enforcement crews from Balcones Canyonlands, Aransas, San Bernard, Hagerman, and Lower Rio Grande Valley national wildlife refuges were dispatched to east Texas to restore emergency vehicle access and provide assistance in communities damaged by Hurricane Rita.
Crews are operating chainsaws and front-end loaders/dozers to clear fallen trees and debris from roads in record-setting heat and humidity. The team has restored emergency access to four southeast Texas wildlife refuges and has cleared all emergency access routes in middle Chambers County and dozens of miles of additional road. They have assessed refuge damages, stabilized buildings, roads and other facilities to prevent further deterioration and set up generators to restore power.
"Clearing roads for emergency access is a vital need," said team member Carl Schwope, a Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge fire management officer. "But yesterday we were able to assist a legally blind gentleman who was seeking out water and get him to a relief shelter. Those are the kind of activities that rejuvenate our tired crews.?
The 70-member team of Fish and Wildlife Service relief workers assembled at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge near Austin the day before Rita's landfall. The team moved into Chambers County on Sunday and established a command center in Baytown.
Twenty-three Service law enforcement agents are part of the team. They have been locally deputized and are providing security for the relief team and are assisting local and state law enforcement agencies with patrols, investigations and guarding fuel and food distribution centers.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
Note to Editor: Photos (video) are available by contacting Victoria Fox (505-248-6455).
