Padre Island National Seashore

2014 annual report on sea turtle monitoring at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Padre Island National Seashore has worked for decades to preserve Kemp’s ridley sea turtles. A new viral disease now threatens them.

Through his time at the park, Tony has gained a deeper appreciation for the behind-the-scenes work that keeps Padre Island National Seashore running. “From maintenance and law enforcement to interpretation and resource management, they all work together to protect and preserve just what makes this place so special for future generations to come.”

Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios.

Read Dr. Shaver's incredible story from volunteer to Division chief of the Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Restoration and Enhancement Project at Padre Island National Seashore. She has dedicated over 40 years of her life to conservation actions that save Kemp’s ridleys and other sea turtles. This article is part of a National Park Foundation funded project called the Dare to Imagine project dedicated to highlighting women in parks who are breaking barriers.

At night, birds use the stars to find their way. But bright lights from buildings can confuse them. That's why national parks are so important - they're like bird hotels! They give birds safe places to rest and eat, especially after flying across the ocean.

A seashore’s extraordinary work to rescue Kemp’s ridley sea turtles from extinction is holding the line for this ancient species. But their numbers are still too low to reclassify them as “threatened.”

Recent wildfires demonstrate that fuels treatments and wildfire at Padre Island NS reduce fire spread and intensity in the area for 1-2 years. But the effectiveness does not last when that time frame is exceeded. The May 2014 28 Mile fire, which burned in the same area as the Turtle fire in 2009, showed no reduction in fire behavior, despite burning in the same area only 5 years later. The Roadside 1 and 2 fires also demonstrate the difference in treatment effectiveness.