CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas —
Thanks to a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Treasury, Port Aransas will see some upgrades coming to its nature preserve.
“Port Aransas Nature Preserve has a lot of visitors each year," Nature Preserve manager, Rae Mooney said. "A lot of people come to Port Aransas to go birding and nature viewing and so, we're going to be adding some additional amenities for visitors. A lot of our residents use the area and residents in the coastal bend."
The grant comes from the RESTORE act, which was created after the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. Funds from the act are intended to preserve natural resources and ecosystems along the Gulf Coast.
Mooney says the city has also provided funding that will improve one of the preserve's most popular locations.
“The City of Port Aransas has budgeted $300,000 for expanding our parking at the birding center and to add trail connection so that you'll be able to walk from the birding center to Charlie’s Pasture south trail," she said.
Those who visit the preserve can also expect to see more viewing scopes and park benches. Every improvement added to the preserve in the past has continued to bring more tourists and winter Texans to Port Aransas.
Mooney says the upgrades that are set start this summer will do the same.
“Because we've been adding so many new improvements and we continue to add more improvements, I think word has gotten out to the birding and nature lover community and so they know that they're going to come here and have great opportunities for viewing wildlife from our board walks and nature trails," she said.
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