Revitalizing the Texas Gulf Coast: The Proposed Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area

The proposed Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area (LSCNRA) is an innovative, collaborative way to protect the critical flood mitigation aspects of coastal lands, while at the same time promoting this unique part of the upper Texas coast as a destination for eco-tourism.  It will drive economic development by packaging, branding, and promoting year-round tourism and outdoor recreation to local, national and international markets. This type of economic development, based largely on the existing natural and cultural resources, is resilient because it is compatible with periodic inundation from hurricane surge tides. Designed as a grassroots "opt-in" public/private partnership of willing landowners, the LSCNRA will include a mosaic of nearly one quarter million acres of land, including existing parks, preserves, refuges, easements, and other open spaces. Those landowners who choose to participate will determine the rules and extent of their involvement, devise the management plan through collaborative processes, and participate in the governance of the recreation area once formed.