Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HCR31 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Eiland (Senate Sponsor - Taylor) H.C.R. No. 31
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 11, 2013;
3	3	April 18, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on
4	4	Administration; April 29, 2013, reported favorably by the
5	5	following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 29, 2013, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
9	9	WHEREAS, The State of Texas traditionally has recognized a
10	10	variety of official symbols as tangible representations of the
11	11	proud character and colorful heritage of the Lone Star State; and
12	12	WHEREAS, Select members of the animal kingdom, including the
13	13	longhorn, the armadillo, and the Texas horned lizard, are among the
14	14	species that have been formally recognized, and their designation
15	15	has served to draw attention to the great biological diversity of
16	16	the state's landscape and to highlight creatures who are unique to
17	17	or closely identified with the state; and
18	18	WHEREAS, An especially rich natural environment is found
19	19	along the Texas Gulf Coast, and of the many distinctive species
20	20	found in that region, the Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys
21	21	kempii) is particularly deserving of recognition; and
22	22	WHEREAS, Identifiable by its nearly circular upper shell, the
23	23	Kemp's ridley makes its home primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, though
24	24	it is also found in the Atlantic Ocean; after hatching, the male
25	25	turtles spend their entire lives at sea; the females come ashore
26	26	only to lay eggs, and they do so in large, synchronized groups, an
27	27	extraordinary phenomenon known in Spanish as arribada, meaning
28	28	"arrival"; while they are the smallest of the eight types of sea
29	29	turtles in the world, they can still weigh up to 100 pounds and grow
30	30	to 2.5 feet in length; and
31	31	WHEREAS, This remarkable creature is part of an inspiring
32	32	conservation success story; following an alarming population
33	33	decline that began in the 1940s, the Kemp's ridley teetered on the
34	34	brink of extinction and was placed on the Endangered Species List in
35	35	1970; it has made a heroic recovery, however, as a result of a
36	36	collaborative protection program begun in 1978 by the United States
37	37	and Mexico; this initiative has helped implement the use of turtle
38	38	excluder devices by the commercial shrimp fleet, which allow sea
39	39	turtles to escape the trawling nets that were causing large numbers
40	40	of deaths; another important development has been the establishment
41	41	of a secondary nesting colony at Padre Island National Seashore in
42	42	Texas, which supplements the main nesting site in Mexico; as of
43	43	2012, more than 100 turtle nests were identified at the national
44	44	seashore, with another 100 in other Texas coastal areas; and
45	45	WHEREAS, A number of organizations and universities in the
46	46	state have taken part in the campaign to safeguard the turtles, with
47	47	Texas A&M University at Galveston, The University of Texas Marine
48	48	Science Institute, and the National Marine Fisheries Service being
49	49	central players in the initiative; and
50	50	WHEREAS, Once the most imperiled of all sea turtles, the
51	51	Kemp's ridley is today becoming a more common resident of the Gulf
52	52	Coast waters; its comeback is a testament to its resilience and to
53	53	the admirable work of those Texans who have aided its recovery, and
54	54	this noble animal is indeed a fitting symbol of the Lone Star State;
55	55	now, therefore, be it
56	56	RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas
57	57	hereby designate the Kemp's ridley sea turtle as the official State
58	58	Sea Turtle of Texas.
59	59	* * * * *