Repayment of the loan will be funded through donations. One of the longest and least developed barrier islands in the world, Padre Island provides habitat for 17 animal species of national or statewide conservation concern. Additionally, the Laguna Madre, sheltered between the island and the mainland, is one of only five hypersaline lagoons in the world and provides internationally significant habitat for birds, mammals and fish, important to both commercial and recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. This barrier island system also helps buffer the mainland from damaging and potentially life-threatening hurricanes and other destructive weather elements. We will be working with community members, private landowners, government officials and other partners to protect this spectacular island habitat.
Padre Island is a recreation destination known to beach-lovers and anglers far and wide.
In fact, we hope that our work on the island will actually help promote wildlife-related tourism by keeping the beaches and dunes in their naturally beautiful state, protecting wildlife for birders and wildlife watchers, and enhancing the tremendous productivity of the natural fisheries that are so much appreciated by anglers. Not only will this acquisition benefit the many people who enjoy our unspoiled beaches and native habitats now and for decades to come, but it will also help sustain the natural resources upon which our local economy depends. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service operates the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge near the Conservancy's Padre Island site. We hope to be able to find the funds to add part of this land to the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. Terrabrook, the landowner that sold the tracts to The Nature Conservancy, is a major developer of master-planned communities throughout the United States.