AUSTIN — Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson is urging all Texans to take advantage of their right to access the public beach Saturday, Sept. 22 for the 26th Annual Texas General Land Office Fall Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup. The cleanup will take place at nine sites in the Houston and Galveston area, two locations in Jefferson County and one in Chambers County.

“A right not exercised is a right that will be lost,” Patterson said. “Join us Saturday, Sept. 22 for a fun time and a great cause, exercising your rights and keeping Texas beaches trash-free.”

Volunteers should wear shoes, a hat and sunscreen. Volunteers will be given data cards, gloves, pencils and trash bags. Most sites along the coast conclude the day’s cleanup with cold drinks, hot food and lots of fun.

Volunteers may register on-line at www.TexasAdoptABeach.org or become a fan of the Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach program on Facebook. Texans who can’t make it to the beach but still want to support the effort can make a tax-deductible donation at www.TexasAdoptABeach.org. Sponsorship levels range from $25 to $25,000.

The Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach program began in the fall of 1986, when 2,800 volunteers picked up 124 tons of trash. Since then, it has grown into one of the most successful all-volunteer efforts in the nation. In 26 years, 430,000 Adopt-A-Beach volunteers have picked up more than 8,300 tons of trash from the Texas Gulf Coast.

The data collected from the beach cleanups played an integral part in the passage of MARPOL Annex V, an international treaty that prohibits the dumping of plastics in the world’s oceans.  In July of 1991, the International Maritime Organization designated the Gulf of Mexico and the Wider Caribbean as a “special area” where the dumping of trash, with the exception of finely ground food scraps, is prohibited.

Shell Oil Company is the statewide sponsor for the 26th Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Fall Cleanup. Other sponsors include Apache Corporation, AkzoNobel Surface Chemistry LLC, Cheniere Energy, Halliburton and the Ocean Conservancy.

Local news media sponsors for the cleanup include the following Houston stations: KXLN-TV Univision 45, KFTH-TV Telefutura 67, Guidry News.com, the Online News Station, and CBS Radio stations KHMX-FM, KKHH-FM, KILT-AM, KLOL-FM.

For more information about how you can get involved, call 1-877-TXCOAST or visit our Web site at www.texasadoptabeach.org.

Adopt-A-Beach Fall Cleanup check-in sites in the Houston and Galveston areas are:

• Horsepen Bayou—Harris County

Check-in: Clear Lake High School, 2929 Bay Area Blvd.

Contact: Andrew Schaafs

832-818-1381

andrew.schaafs@texasadoptabeach.org

• Bolivar Peninsula - Galveston County

Check-in: Crenshaw Elementary, 416 Highway 87, about 7 miles from the ferry landing

Contact: Denise Parsons

409-795-1046

denise.parsons@texasadoptabeach.org

Janis Bridgers

janis.bridgers@texasadoptabeach.org

Mary Munro

mary.munro@texasadoptabeach.org

• The John M. O’Quinn I-45 Estuarial Corridor & Virginia Point Peninsula Preserve - Galveston County

Check-in: Exit 6 off I-45 at Reitan Point

Contact: Evangeline Whorton

1. 409-744-7431
2. ll)

evangeline.whorton@texasadoptabeach.org                                                                                                   

* Advance Reservations Required

• Galveston Island—Galveston County

Check-in: Menard Park, 27th Street & Seawall Boulevard

Contact: Gary Schero or Arielle Brown

409-762-3363

gary.schero@texasadoptabeach.org

• Surfside—Brazoria County

Check-in: Stahlman Park, C.R. 257 (Bluewater Hwy.)

Contact: James Glover, Brazoria County Parks Department

979-864-1541

james.glover@texasadoptabeach.org

• Quintana, Bryan Beach—Brazoria County

Check-in: Quintana Beach County Park, 5th Street

Contact: Patty Brinkmeyer

patty.brinkmeyer@texasadoptabeach.org

979-233-1461

• Sargent Beach, Bay City—Matagorda County

Check-in: Sargent Beach entrance

Contact: Lamar Brown

Tony Pustejovsky

979-244-6144

lamar.brown@texasadoptabeach.org

• Matagorda Beach—Matagorda County

Check-in: Matagorda Jetty Park

Contact:  Peggy Stanley

979-863-2920

979-216-6016 (cell)

peggy.stanley@texasadoptabeach.org

• Palacios-Matagorda County

Check-in: Marine Education Center, 102 Marine Center Drive

Contact: Cynthia Garrett

979-532-0797

979-533-0808 (cell)

cynthia.garrett@texasadoptabeach.org

Mary Kathryn Niccolai

361-972-3774

mary.niccolai@texasadoptabeach.org

Sea Rim State Park
Check-in: Park entrance, 10 miles west of Sabine Pass on Highway 87 South
Contact: Jan Dicharry, 409-920-9082

McFaddin Beach—Jefferson County (market site)
Check-in: McFaddin Beach entrance 1.9 miles west of Sea Rim State Park on Hwy. 87
Contact: Mark Guzman, 409-896-5555 ext. 135

Chambers County
Check-in: 1 mile east of the intersection of Highways 124 and 87 at the beach
Contact: Lana Yawn, 409-267-2644, or Patti Kahla, 409-267-1370, Angela Hale, 409-267-2647

DON’T FORGET!

• Pick a site and contact the site coordinator or register online at www.texasadoptabeach.org.
• Pre-register large groups with the site coordinator or online on or before Wednesday,

      September 19.

• Wear sunscreen, shoes, sunglasses and a hat.
• Bring plenty of drinking water.
• Check in by 9 a.m.
• Do not disturb the habitat of nesting shorebirds.
• For your safety, stay off the dunes.
• We’ll clean rain or shine!
  

WHO:             About 10,000 Texans who care about Texas beaches

WHAT:           26th Texas General Land Office Adopt-A-Beach Fall Cleanup

WHERE:        9 coastal sites in the Houston and Galveston areas

WHEN:           9 a.m. to noon Saturday, September 22

WHY:             To keep Texas beaches clean and healthy