In the fall of 2017, Friends entered into a 5-year cooperative agreement with the USFWS working on ocelot recovery and translocation. Funding will be used by the Friends to contract researchers and other personnel to conduct monitoring and translocate ocelots from larger populations in Mexico to Texas, as well as for the restoration of areas in Texas to provide additional acres of habitat for the endangered ocelots currently in Texas. Although a few ocelots are currently being monitored in Arizona, a female ocelot has not been documented there in over 30 years. Texas, meanwhile, has two populations that range in number of about 50 individuals that are breeding but also in need of assistance for recovery. The Service is working with multiple partners to acquire and protect existing habitat, restore habitats, increase connectivity across the landscape, build functional wildlife crossings, work with international partners to document the status of ocelots across the landscape, and exchange ocelots between countries to maintain a higher genetic diversity than exists in Texas today. The severity of inbreeding caused by low population numbers due to the loss of ocelot habitat is a significant concern raised by the Ocelot Recovery Team and numerous partners. The low genetic diversity represented in the Texas populations could result in significant reproductive challenges and weaknesses in combating naturally-occurring diseases. Translocation from the more robust populations in Mexico has been identified as the best means to reduce the threats posed by low genetic diversity.

Friends has fundraised for a documentary about the Bahia Grande restoration project. The primary objective of this project is to increase awareness of this historic 10,000-acre restoration highlighting the cooperative efforts of state, federal and private entities for more than a decade. Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is the largest area of native habitat open to the public in South Texas, and the Bahia Grande Unit will be an integral for public recreation for generations to come.

With funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Friends is helping the Refuge with critical infrastructure needed to open the Bahia Grande Unit to the public. Through this program, Friends assisted with the installation of a caliche parking area, an entrance sign, and a kiosk and interpretive sign for the Bahia Grande Unit.

Friends has been assisting the USFWS with purchasing key properties within the Bahia Grande Coastal Corridor. We have acquired 50 acres of property. These pieces of property have been identified as key in creating a wildlife corridor in Cameron County and in connecting the patchwork of properties currently part of the refuge or in the process of being acquired. These properties are usually smaller plats but at risk of becoming developed rather than becoming sites for habitat restoration for many of the refuge's wildlife, including the Ocelot and the Aplomado Falcon. Smaller properties are generally not purchased by the various conservation groups that work with the refuge on land acquisition, and often the owner is ready to sell. The Friends can act quickly to close the sale. If you are interested in donating to our efforts to conserve land, check out our Legacy Fund.

Legacy Fund

Through a partnership with the USFWS, Fishing’s Future, Brownsville ISD, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Brownsville Coastal Fisheries office, with funding from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Community Outdoor Outreach Program, Friends is hosting a free fishing education program at Bahia Grande. This program involves hosting free family fish camps for 400+ participants and students from Brownsville ISD, and an angler education certification program for ten Brownsville ISD teachers. During the family fish camps, participants learn about fishing etiquette, fishing gear, fish habitat and coastal ecology, and state rules and regulations. The event also includes catch and release fishing at the Bahia Grande.  Due to the pandemic, the program is now offered in a virtual format.

This cooperative agreement between the USFWS and FLANWR, enhances habitat for Aplomado Falcons on public and private lands in south Texas . It will involve brush management and prescribed burns. Brush will be controlled mechanically, chemically and through fire. Aplomado falcons require large tracks of open grasslands with scattered yucca. They also do not construct their own nest; therefore utilizing platforms built by crested caracaras, white-tailed hawks and Chihuahuan ravens. In south Texas, aplomado falcons use gulf cord grass, and sea-oxeye daisy dominated flats. Gulf cord grass areas are prone to encroachment by huisache and mesquite brush without fire. In addition, gulf cord grass can become dense impeding hunting. These areas require periodic prescribed burns. Periodic prescribed burns also rejuvenates the coastal prairie making it more attractive to grassland avian and terrestrial species.

Through a partnership with the Conservation Legacy Program- Stewards Individual Placement Program and the AmeriCorps VISTA program, Friends has been able to provide an AmeriCorps VISTA intern for the Visitors Services Program at the Refuge for two years. AmeriCorps VISTA interns build institutional capacity and develop partnerships. This internship provides career-based experience, strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. Our AmeriCorps VISTA’s have helped with programming with diverse audiences, assisted with volunteer recruitment and retention, and have initiated an internship program with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.