Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge Farewell

Well it's about time for us to leave.  We'll be leaving here Monday, May 14th.  We have learned alot here.  When we agreed to volunteer here we didn't realize what an impact it would have on us.  In 2008 this refuge was almost totally destroyed by Hurricane Ike.  In the past 3 years they have made great progress in returning the refuge to it's pre-Ike condition.  We have seen some major changes since we've arrived.  When Hurricane Ike came it brought a 20ft wall of water that tore down buildings and all that salt water killed wildlife and plants and trees.   When the 20 ft wave receeded it left 9 ft of water standing on the refuge, inside buildings. Storage containers were washed away and found 3 miles down the road.  Everything in those buildings were swept away.  Then the following 2 years they had a drought.  Last year they replanted 250 trees and planted a butterfly garden and hummingbird garden.  When we arrived in January there was very little water in the ponds.  A sad sight.  All the rain we've had since we got here has really made a difference.  Ponds are almost full, plants and grass is green and wildlife is returning.  Dale has built butterfly houses for the butterfly garden and nesting boxes for screech owls, wood ducks and warblers.  We have seen birds that we didn't even know existed.  These are hardy people, here in Anahuac.  They have rebuilt their homes and have made great strides in getting this refuge back on it's feet.  There is a group called Friends of Anahuac Refuge.  They manage both gift shops with all the proceeds going to the refuge and they planted the gardens. For the time being the refuge gift shop is a little 8x10 storage shed.  There are plans to rebuild the refuge gift shop soon.  The complex office and the Visitor Center were just completed May 2011 and how gorgeous they are.  So I'm expecting the new Refuge gift shop to be awesome.  Even though we have been attacked by mosquitos and bees while we've been here, I'm so glad we came.  I feel good knowing that we've been some help in their recovery efforts.