Bob Moore has been an energetic outdoorsman and naturalist which developed from his many years of hunting and fishing since he was a boy. His environmental activism grew out of his love and passion for nature. As a young lawyer, his love for the beauty of nature was reflected in much of his early work for the extension of environmental legislation. Through litigation and Public Activism he has donated much of his available time in working to prevent the continuing environmental damage of the waters and wetlands adjacent to West Galveston Bay. These environmental threats are caused by industrial water pollution from Chocolate Bayou and Texas City, second-home real estate development on West Galveston Island, oil and gas drilling activities and air pollution. These activities led him into enforcement activities through local "ad hoc" citizens groups who were not satisfied with the slow application of new environmental laws which began to develop in the 1970's. The application of those standards are now being utilized by the governmental agencies granting permits for construction activities of all kinds which affect this area.

Representative Case:

Fritiofson v. Alexander, 772 F.2d 1225 (1985)
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Bob Moore filed a "pro-bono" suit in 1978 because of Eva Fritiofson's commitment to save the area formerly owned by her grandfather, John Egert on Eckert's Bayou. This suit was against the United States Corps of Engineers, the developer of Pirate's Beach Subdivision on West Galveston Island, and other Federal agencies, to require the completion of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prior to the development of the Laffite's Cove Subdivision on Eckert's Bayou on Galveston Island, because of the threatening damage to the flora and fauna of this unique wetlands area.

A Preliminary Injunction was obtained in 1978, and after years of research, Public Hearings, presentations of expert testimony, both sides finally submitted Motions for Summary Judgment. The Plaintiffs' finally won a Temporary Injunction in U.S. Federal District Court on March 2, 1984. (Click Here for Exhibit A: The Houston Post, Sunday March 11, 1984, "Environmental attorney triumphs over army of Goliaths.) That injunction was appealed, the legal principals sustained, and was then reversed only in part for technical clarification of the record in 1985 by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. A new permit application was then submitted by the developer. Because of the substantial favorable changes which were made to the original plan, which included the expansion of the "Reserve Area" from 8 acres to 35 acres, the developer was forced to save the major portion of largest known burial ground of the indigenous people on the Texas Coast, and the only remaining group of the three (3) historic "oak motts" known since the early 1800's as "The Three Trees." Local environmentalist and preservationiist Evangeline Whorton was of great assistance to Bob Moore in effecting this result.

In the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals remand for clarification of findings in order to enjoin the development, an extremely strong opinion was written by the Court on the subject of "cumulative wetland loss" in response to the Defendants' appeal.

This case has provided the precedent for many other wetland protection cases throughout the United States and particularly on the Texas coast and adjacent wildlife wintering grounds, such as the Katy Prairie. This case was used as authority to block the construction of an International Airport west of Houston on the "Katy Prairie," a sensitive environmental wintering grounds for migratory waterfowl.

The John M. O'Quinn I-45 Corridor Project

In 1997, acting as an Advisory Director for Scenic Galveston, Bob Moore enlisted the John M. O'Quinn Charitable Foundation to donate in excess of $400,000 for the purchase of the Tamburine tract of land which had been used as a "spoil pit." With these funds, Evangeline Whorton and the Board of Scenic Galveston were able to obtain matching grant funds to restore that area, and to purchase adjacent areas, to complete the rehabilitation of this important wetlands estuary along the western entrance to the Galveston Island Causeway, dedicated and named The John M. O'Quinn I-45 Corridor Project.

Destruction of Wetlands by Cattle ? Starvation Cove, West Galveston Bay

In September of 1997, Bob Moore began observing the massive destruction of wetlands that was taking place near his home in the Starvation Cove area on West Galveston Bay, due primarily to cattle grazing. Because there were two large and separate tracts of land that represented two distinct "time frames" in which the cattle grazing had taken place, clear evidence was developed from Bob's aerial photographs that show the insidious damage to wetlands by cattle. This never has been previously documented. Because of the many lines of cattle trails which could be observed from an airplane, a comparison between these two tracts, and a third tract which did not have any cattle grazing, shows the loss to this large Spartina marsh wetlands.

These photographs also show the "network of trails" made by the cattle, which could not be seen when looking across the marsh on the ground. Documentation of the trials provide an explanation of how the loss and deterioration of this large expanse of wetlands has taken place.

The cows follow each other in a line and "make trails." These "trails" increase in number and closeness to one another, and form a "spider-web pattern" which can be clearly seen in the aerial photographs. See below photographs, taken of this area on September 28, 1997.

The "compaction" of these trails reduces the elevation of the marsh land table. During the flow of tidal water through these trails, on the incoming and outgoing tides, soil is taken out with the tides a little at a time, further deepening the trails and lowering the growth table below that which is required to sustain the growth of Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass). This grass requires an elevation that is not constantly under water and which is subject to "alternating inundation" by the tides. (Click Here for Exhibit B: "The Cradle of Life" by Bob Moore dated August 7, 1995 for a more detailed description of the values and functions of these Spartina wetlands.)

Because the elevation of these trails is lowered by six to ten inches, "silt" flows in and out of the surface table of the marsh. This causes the roots of the adjacent "non-compacted" marsh to be exposed. This marsh grass slowly falls and dies from the process of the erosion of the soil around its roots. These trails become "wider and wider" and the grass cannot regenerate, due to the lowering of the "land table."

As the trails become wider, the velocity of the water on incoming and outgoing tides increases and accelerates this erosion process. There has also been a measured minimal subsidence of the north shoreline on this area, which has aggravated this marsh erosion process.

The aerial photographs taken on September 28, 1997 clearly show the differential in damage between Tract A, Tract B, and Tract C near Bob Moore's home. There is clear evidence of no damage to the adjacent Tract C, where there has not been any cattle grazing. See below photographs, taken of this area on September 28, 1997.

Photo showing Tract B -- Intermittent and recent grazing -- and Tract C -- No Grazing

In the fall of 1997, Bob Moore formed a "Wetlands Ad Hoc Committee" of volunteers composed of the heads of private as well as governmental environmental organizations and agencies, along with well known environmental activists on West Galveston Island. A strategy was developed that encouraged the land owner and cattlemen to remove the cattle from these wetlands in order to stop this ongoing destruction. Presently, plans and strategies are also being developed to "restore" these "lost wetlands," and since Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2000 this area of Starvation Cove is now totally protected from any continued grazing because of the cattleman's construction of a fence to keep the cattle out of both Tracts A and B of these wetlands.

Special mention should be given to the determined stand taken by the land developer Oly-Galveston, Ltd. in preventing the cattleman from continuing to graze his cattle on Tract B and also, for providing substantial fencing materials and labor to repair the fence dividing Tracts A and B. An acknowledgement and Award for this environmental preservation work should be given to this Company's energetic and conscientious work, sustained by its Project Manager, Greg Gitcho, at the following address:

Greg Gitcho, Project Manager
Blackard Industries
4127 Pirate's Beach
Galveston, TX 77554
(409) 737-5029