Texas Highways, Volume 60, Number 12, December 2013 Page: 22
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A WORLD OF GREEN
Oreen as live year-
round at the Sabal Patn,-
Sanctuary, which is
home to Texas' last re-
maining stand of original
Sabal paln forest.
The Birds and the Trees
SABAL PALM SANCTUARY'S LESSON IN SOUTH TEXAS
text by Matt JoyceO SEE SOUTH TEXAS IN ITS NAT-
ural state and how the Rio Grande
Valley looked before it was cut into
farms and cities, you've got to travel
to the state's southernmost tip. Here,
on the bank of the once-mighty river,
you'll find the last remaining stand of
original Texas Sabal palm trees, one
of only two palm species native to Texas.
The 30 verdant acres of old-growth forest are the corner-
stone of the Sabal Palm Sanctuary, a 527-acre reserve on
the outskirts of Brownsville. The sanctuary provides an op-
portunity to explore a vestige of the palm forest ecosystem
that once flourished on 9o square miles along the meander-
ing Rio Grande.SABAL PALM
SANCTUARY
is at 8435 Sabal Palm
Road in Brownsville.
Entry is $5 for adults
and $3 for children.
Call 956/541-8034;
www.sabalpa!m
sanctuary.org.22 texashighways.com I DECEMBER 2013
Along with four miles of hiking trails,
the sanctuary is home to the 1892 Rabb
Plantation home, and most famously, a
remarkable population of birds. About
85 percent of the sanctuary's 6,000 an-
nual human visitors come during the
non-summer months, when north-
ern bird species also flock to the Val-
ley and its moderate climate (the only
subtropical environment in Texas).
The sanctuary offers birding and his-
tory tours on Saturdays from No-
vember to April.
"Different species move through
and utilize the sanctuary for different
PHOTOS Larry Ditto (birds); Erich Schlegel
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Texas. Department of Transportation. Texas Highways, Volume 60, Number 12, December 2013, periodical, December 2013; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth639914/m1/26/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.