Article 10

The Galveston County Daily News
December 22, 2007
by Robert Moore
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"Thanks for preserving God’s little island"

Editor’s note: Blackard Pirates donated a conservation easement to the Galveston Bay Foundation on a 31-acre island north of Lafitte’s Cove in Galveston. The island was named The Robert M. “Bob” Moore Wildlife Sanctuary.

My first thanks go to the Triune God of my understanding, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Amen. His grace has allowed me to see the spark of His Divinity in all living things.

The sole source of my passion for our environment has been an effort to be a good steward in protecting the beauty of His creation for all mankind. 

Secondly, I thank and acknowledge Jeff Blackard for being so generous and for being such a good steward in the protection of His creation.

Blackard is without a doubt an exception among developers and has demonstrated, not only by his donation but in many other ways, his sensitivity in protecting and enhancing our wetlands.

In particular, the public must know how he courageously took the stand to force the cattle out of the wetlands in Starvation Cove on the Chapoton Ranch. 

Thirdly, I thank and acknowledge my family for giving me free rein in spending so many years in resisting the many environmental threats to our island. They not only condoned it but encouraged me. They shared in my love for preserving this inherent beauty of God’s creation. They are my partners who will share in any honor given to me.

I acknowledge particularly my good friends Bill and Pat Broussard and Janice Jones. My thanks to the board of directors of The Cabeza de Vaca Center, Barbara Railey, Dr. Alice Ann O’Donell, Dr. Jack and Sally Wallace, Dr. Sammy and Charlotte Ray, Dr. Sally Robinson, Phil Glass and Leonard Cruse, for their continued work to acquire and to preserve some of the remaining prairies and the wetlands on West Galveston Island. And Bob Stokes, his board of directors and all of the passionate efforts of the employees of the Galveston Bay Foundation, along with the Spanish Grant Civic Association. 

I strongly encourage the leading families of our community, Shrub and Peaches Kempner, Bobby Moody, George and Cynthia Mitchell, and Joe Jamail, to support and sustain The Cabeza de Vaca Center in a meaningful way, by donation from their charitable foundations to purchase the 1,100 acres envisioned by Scenic Galveston’s The Beach to Bay Preserve, so that land too can be preserved in perpetuity for the benefit of our residents, our country and our world. 

Lastly, I thank our past city council member Jackie Cole, planning commissioners Chula Sanchez, Elizabeth Beeton and Janice Stanton for their courageous efforts to restrain the oncoming nightmare facing our beautiful West End, and all who have made noble efforts in continuing our efforts to have justice, to see a just and fair balance between continued growth and preservation of our environment on the West End of Galveston Island.

May the God of your understanding bless each of you, as my Lord has blessed me and my family here today.