{"id":9461,"date":"2020-12-01T10:54:36","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T16:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?p=9461"},"modified":"2020-12-01T10:54:38","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T16:54:38","slug":"its-giving-tuesday-so-give-it-up-for-buffalo-bayou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?p=9461","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Giving Tuesday: So Give It Up for Buffalo Bayou!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

They Want to Kill It. We Have to Defend It.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus: New Film About Houston\u2019s Bayous<\/a> Premieres Today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec. 1, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giving Tuesday<\/a> is a worldwide day of giving. Today is Giving Tuesday. You probably know this because you\u2019ve already received way too many requests for donations to worthy causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Save Buffalo Bayou rarely makes public requests for donations. We are a small organization with a small budget and a big punch. We are fortunate to be able to spend our time doing what we were founded to do: research and write and tell people about Buffalo Bayou<\/a> and our many streams and creeks, educate the public and our public officials about how forested, meandering streams work for our benefit, why nature is the best engineer. We have nearly 8,000 Facebook followers, plus thousands on our email list, including politicians, agency officials, journalists, tree huggers, and other local residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, we are critical and controversial. Who else is going to tell the Harris County Flood Control District (and its bosses) that its policies and practices are counterproductive, contradictory, wasteful, damaging, and outdated? Stripping vegetation<\/a> and bulldozing the banks of our bayou<\/a> and tributary streams, for instance? Spending millions to \u201cimprove conveyance\u201d of streams flowing into our federal dams that already have too much water flowing into them? (See here<\/a> and here.<\/a>) Scientists all over the world<\/a>, as well as Houston<\/a>, have known for years that \u201cimproving conveyance\u201d to reduce flooding doesn\u2019t work. (See p. 17<\/a> and here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Buffalo Bayou faces its greatest threat in fifty years. The Galveston District of the Corps of Engineers has traveled back in time and come up with the idea of \u201cimproving conveyance\u201d in Buffalo Bayou by stripping, deepening and widening<\/a> this irreplaceable public resource for some 22-24 miles from the dams in west Houston all the way to downtown. In places they would use concrete block to line the bottom and banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would kill the river, destroy its natural functions, as well as all life in it. It would be a costly, never-ending maintenance nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the battle continues. Please donate to help us continue the fight. All donations are tax-deductible. Save Buffalo Bayou is a 501c3 nonprofit association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donate Here Now.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also send checks to Save Buffalo Bayou, 3614 Montrose #706, Houston 77006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is Save Buffalo Bayou\u2019s comment<\/a> to the Corps of Engineers about their plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is our mission statement<\/a> and board of directors<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are links to the Katy Prairie Conservancy\u2019s<\/a> alternative proposals and to panel discussions about the Corps\u2019 plans<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonus: New Film Premieres Online Today!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you had a chance to watch photographer and conservationist Jim Olive\u2019s<\/a> beautiful short film Buffalo Bayou: A Right to Life<\/a><\/em>. Take the time to watch Olive\u2019s film, Coastal Essence<\/em>, about Christmas Bay on the Texas coast and the Christmas Bay Foundation that he started. Coastal Essence<\/em> was the opening film at the second night of the Wild About Houston film festival Nov. 18<\/a>, which also featured his Buffalo Bayou film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Texas Parks and Wildlife<\/a> has produced a new film, Bayou City<\/a><\/em>, premiering online today, Dec. 1, as part of the Wild Texas Film Tour.<\/a> Produced by Olivia Haun, outreach specialist for the TPWD Wildlife Diversity Program<\/a>, Bayou City<\/em> was made to \u201cshed light on the issues the bayou ecosystem have faced over the past century, and to share the successes that provide an alternative vision and relationship between Houston and its bayous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bayou City<\/em> is one of four short films in the Wild Texas Film Tour. Hosted by filmmaker and conservationist Ben Masters<\/a>, the films showcase \u201cwildlife, adventure, and conservation stories from across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The films are available online for free from Dec. 1 through 31, 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Buffalo Bayou flowing past Memorial Park in Houston. Photo by Jim Olive.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They Want to Kill It. We Have to Defend It. Plus: New Film About Houston\u2019s Bayous Premieres Today! Dec. 1, 2020 Giving Tuesday is a worldwide day of giving. Today is Giving Tuesday. You probably know this because you\u2019ve already received way too many requests for donations to worthy causes….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9461"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9465,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9461\/revisions\/9465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}