FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 12, 2018
Media contact: Lydia Saldaña
817.851.5729
lsaldana@tpwf.org
Thanks to a donation to Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF) by Phillips 66, new beach patrol equipment will be purchased for Sea Rim State Park near Beaumont, which will provide enhanced visitor safety. A $33,000 grant will provide a utility terrain vehicle (UTV) and a surface drive boat.
“One of the ways we support the communities where our employees live and work is through our partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation,” said Phillips 66 Philanthropy Director Claudia Kreisle. “The state park projects allow us to achieve our goal of supporting initiatives that protect, beautify and promote our natural environment for the benefit of children and community residents.”
At the far southeast corner of Texas, Sea Rim State Park offers public access to 5.2 miles of Gulf shoreline and 4,000 acres of marshlands. The park attracts more than 80,000 visitors annually, a number that has steadily increased over the last several years. The park is an ideal location for native Texans and visitors alike to enjoy the natural world through activities such as camping, birding, beach combing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, fishing, hunting, and strolling along a boardwalk through the marsh.
The surface drive boat will be used mainly for law enforcement purposes and search and rescues within the park. The boat will be used to patrol 4,500 acres of parkland, the majority of which is only accessible by boat. It will also be used for rescuing stranded boaters and for emergency response in flooding situations.
The UTV will be used by park staff and volunteers, primarily for beach patrol and monitoring along Sea Rim’s five miles of shoreline. During beach patrol and monitoring, the UTV will be used to remove trash from the beach, rescue injured sea turtles and dolphins, and patrol/monitor for pollutants that are in the surf. The UTV will also be used for patrol/monitor efforts outside of the park’s boundaries in cooperation with the US Coast Guard. This equipment will also be used for beach rescues in areas where normal vehicles could not access.
Along with the Sea Rim project, Phillips 66 has also provided an additional $242,000 for park enhancements at Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, Brazos Bend State Park near Houston, and Lake Corpus Christi and Choke Canyon state parks near Corpus Christi.
“Texas is fortunate to have such generous corporate citizens,” said TPWF Executive Director Anne Brown. “Thanks to this donation by Phillips 66, park visitors across the state will have more reasons to enjoy and visit Texas State Parks.”
All TPWF news releases available online: www.tpwf.org/news/press-releases/
Since 1991, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF) has leveraged public funds with private philanthropy to advance Texas’ proud outdoor traditions and conserve our state’s wildlife, habitat, recreational areas, and natural resources. Since its inception, TPWF has raised more than $170 million to help ensure that all Texans, today and in the future, can enjoy the wild things and wild places of Texas.
###
