UPDATE 11/1/2022
WE DID IT! 
Thanks to your dedication, Seabourne Creek Nature Park won the Niagara 2022 Perk Your Park Contest for a $75,000 upgrade. We can’t thank you enough for taking the time to like, share, vote, and see our park’s amazing possibilities. This will be a huge asset to the community, and we’re so excited to share all the updates to make this dream a reality!
A Project by the Coastal Prairie Chapter has been selected as one of 10 national semifinalists for $75,000 grant!
A project at the Coastal Prairie Chapter’s Seabourne Creek Nature Park in Rosenberg has been selected as one of ten national semifinalists for a $75,000 grant from Niagara Bottling Company’s “Perk Your Park” Contest. The Texas Master Naturalist Program’s Coastal Prairie Chapter has been volunteering at Seabourne Creek since 2009. Over the years, this park has been transformed from a fallow cotton field into a 168-acre nature park with four distinct habitats that are important for Texas native flora and fauna. There’s still a long way to go, however, and winning this grant will provide a greatly needed boost in funding.
In March of this year, the chapter’s grant committee members proposed a new Arboretum at Seabourne Creek for the grant. This park enhancement will provide families and school children of Fort Bend County with an educational and fun outdoor environment where they can experience and learn to love nature in a shaded picnic setting. That project was subsequently selected as one of the 10 national semi-finalists.
Niagara will choose three winners of $75,000 this year, based on the results of a public voting period starting on August 1. Anyone can vote for Seabourne once per day at https://uqr.to/SeabourneCreek until the polls close on September 12th, 2022.
Terri Hurley, president of the Coastal Prairie Chapter, said, “We sure can use the help of all members of every Texas Master Naturalist chapter to get out the vote! We ask that everyone please vote as often as you can, even daily, to help us win this national contest.” One vote per day, per e-mail address is allowed from August 1 to September 12.
If Seabourne wins, the improvements made with the $75,000 grant will include an Arboretum that will transform approximately 6 acres of empty space into a family-friendly educational space with native trees, new paths made of crushed granite, and picnic tables will be nestled along the paths and under the tree canopy. Construction of these new amenities at the park will be handled through an agreement with Coastal Prairie Chapter’s partners the City of Rosenberg and the Rosenberg Development Corporation. Chapter members will provide the majority of the labor that’s necessary on the project, and the $75,000 in funding will go towards supplies and materials.
The Perk Your Park Contest from Niagara Bottling Company, is held each year through its charitable program, Niagara Cares, and in partnership with National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). The Perk Your Park Contest is part of the Niagara Perk Your Park Project, an initiative that focuses on park and community space revitalization across the country.
Thank you for voting daily for Seabourne starting August 1!
https://uqr.to/SeabourneCreek
Learn more about the Coastal Prairie Chapter and the Texas Master Naturalist Program on their websites listed below. The Coastal Prairie Chapter is also starting a new member training class this fall with registration opening August 8th, 2022.
Coastal Prairie Chapter – https://txmn.org/coastal/
Texas Master Naturalist Program – https://txmn.tamu.edu/
Started in 1997, the Texas Master Naturalist™ Program is sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and includes 48 local chapters serving 213 counties across Texas. The mission of the program is to develop a corps of well-informed volunteers to provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities for the State of Texas.
