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((music))
[Cherie O’Brien] We’re at the Gap Restoration Project, and
what we’re looking at, is an area that used to be marsh, and the marsh grass that used
to be here got converted to open water. My name is Cherie O’Brien, I work in the Dickinson
regional office in Dickinson, Texas. I am a coastal ecologist.
My primary duties with the department right now is doing wetland restoration.
[Helen Drummond] The Galveston Bay area has lost over 35,000
acres between 1950 and the 1990s, but we’ve restored a whole lot, and Cherie has been
an instrumental part of that.
(dredge noise)
[Cherie O’Brien] What you’re seeing back behind me is the
actual creating of a marsh mound. When you look at this material that’s coming up and
it looks dark and it looks black, but what’s gonna be left is real nice sand that we’ll
come back and plant. We’re going to be planting the mounds in
this area right here.
[Helen Drummond] She doesn’t just do on the ground work but
she’s also involved in working with partners and bringing those people together to make
projects happen.
[Cherie O’Brien] Right now we’re at the NRG Ecocenter. This
is the facility that provides all of our plants for our restoration projects.
[Breck Sacra] She’s passionate about the estuary and she
makes everybody kind of raise their game when they’re around her. You work a little bit
harder and a little bit longer.
[Cherie O’Brien] No, I’m not the only one who does this sort
of work. I mean we have a kind of a community. I might be the project manager for a project,
but I still get lots of help from a lot of people.
I work with Texas General Land Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine
Fisheries Service, Galveston Bay Foundation, Galveston Bay Estuary Program, Audubon, Ducks
Unlimited, NRG, CCA, NRCS, Corps of Engineers. These are my partners!
[Hans Haguland] It’s great to have somebody like Cherie
that looks for these kinds of projects, goes out and goes after em. Because it’s not
just great for the environment, but it’s great for us because it brings in more people
to the park.
[Cherie O’Brien] This is kind of the last stage of the project
where we’re actually actively out here doing something. We’re trying to get some more
plants out here to get em established. These projects don’t come easy. Habitat conservation
does not come easy. I’m doing something good, that’s what keeps me doing it I guess.
((music))