Egery Island

 

Location

Egery Island is located on the Texas Gulf Coast along Copano Bay, and a natural saltwater lake called Egery Flats. Situated in Aransas County near the town of Bayside, only 25 minutes from Corpus Christi and 20 minutes from Rockport.

Acreage

235 Acres in Aransas County

Description

Egery Island and its surrounding waters are part a critical coastal ecosystem that is the beating heart of Texas’ great Bays and Estuaries. Pockets of coastal prairie uplands, vast intact wetlands, accessible and expansive beachfront, and a range of tidal fishery habitats create an unparalleled Coastal Recreation experience.  However, the ownership of Egery Island goes a step further. Unlike the rest of Texas’ submerged land, which are owned and managed by the General Land Office, the Egery Island property includes Fee Simple ownership of sub-surface lands. This extremely rare situation, rooted in Spanish Land Grant title, provides the owner with control, access and protection of the submerged wetlands, tidal lakes, seagrass beds and oyster reefs. The majority of the property consists of this submerged ownership with roughly 185 acres submerged and 50 acres of upland.

Opportunities abound on Egery Island as you slip into private back lakes on a kayak, comb the beachfronts for shells, or watch patiently for the abundant and diverse bird population to fly by.  Hunting and Fishing on the property and in adjacent waters is world class. Redfish, trout, flounder, and drum are all part of the fishery that makes this region a fishing destination, while millions of wintering waterfowl offer hunting from completely private shorelines and marshes.

Habitat and Wildlife

Egery lies within the Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes Ecoregion. Many would say the habitats found on the property are similar to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and with the network of similar protected areas in the immediate vicinity, a wildlife mecca.  This system is characterized by a diverse habitat association including tallgrass prairie, freshwater marshes, and freshwater pothole ponds.  Tidal bayous, brackish emergent, marshes further enhance the biological diversity. The soil diversity supports a unique assemblage of native grasses, yucca, forbs, brush, and trees.

The wildlife resources on Egery Island are “refuge quality” not only in game but also in non-game species. Hunting, birding, photography, and just enjoying the array of wildlife is easy to do within this assemblage of habitats.  Fresh and Coastal waters are home to a wide array of wintering waterfowl, shorebirds, and waterbirds such as ducks, geese, cranes, stilts, plovers, egrets, bitterns, and herons. Motts and shrubs provide exceptional fall-out habitat for neotropical songbirds during spring and fall migration.

Improvements and Water      

The land is largely unimproved aside from a main basecamp set up with two RV electrical hook-ups and water accessed from a local utility. A new owner can come in and create their dream coastal home with amenities or could leverage the recreation opportunities with a commercial use. An area of the property along the highway/beachfront intersection currently is used by the public as a kayak launch with the owner’s permission. This area could be transitioned to a fee-based access point or a larger marina and commercial space. A bar and pier once existed here in the 1940’s called the Red Ant. As you visit the property and let your imagination wander, the possibilities here seem endless. One vision shared by the current owner is a recreation focused hospitality concept with cabins scattered along the coast connecting to trails, boardwalks, and piers that bring nature to your doorstep. The ownership of the submerged lands here makes creative uses like this possible as you are not subject to the same controls and restrictions as the rest of the Texas coastal lands.

A Conservation Opportunity  

Egery Island is not currently subject to any kind of conservation or restoration projects but is an extremely valuable candidate for a Conservation Easement, Mitigation Bank, Preserve or private Restoration Initiative. Again, the one-of-a-kind ownership of submerged lands allows for use of and access to the rich underwater resources that can be protected, expanded, restored, and preserved for the future of the Texas Gulf Coast