Webster, TX - May 25, 2011 – Galveston Bay Foundation (“GBF”) staff, volunteers from Samson, and students from Clifton Middle School who are participating in GBF’s Get Hip to Habitat program, will transplant native salt marsh grass in Trinity Bay this Thursday, May 26, in an effort to restore valuable estuarine wetlands.

GBF’s Get Hip to Habitat program introduces students to the importance of wetlands and marsh restoration through valuable hands-on science education, teaching students the value of a healthy Galveston Bay. In this program, GBF works closely with students and teachers to establish marsh grass nurseries on their school campus grounds. The program starts with students harvesting smooth cordgrass from the NRG EcoCenter Wetlands Plant Nursery in Baytown and transplanting and cultivating the marsh grass in shallow, plastic wading pools at their schools. Students carefully monitor and maintain the salinity and pH of the water in their mini-marsh nurseries, as well as the overall health of the plants. After 7 to 8 months of growth, GBF assists students in planting the matured plants at carefully selected marsh restoration sites around Galveston Bay. 

 This week, students from Clifton Middle School in northwest Houston will transplant their plant stock to the shoreline of a private residence on Trinity Bay. Warren Sullivan’s property in Oak Island, just south of Anahuac, has lost an estimated 22 acres of shoreline since 1909, due to erosion from wind-blown waves and northern storms off of Trinity Bay. “I would like to keep the land as natural as possible, like it was back when my family purchased it,” stated Warren Sullivan. Plants cultivated under the Get Hip to Habitat program will restore over one acre of marsh. “Working with GBF will help to achieve these goals by stopping erosion, enhancing marine and wildlife habitat, and educating young adults on how to manage and preserve the bay naturally,” Mr. Warren also stated. 

Samson is another important participant in this week’s marsh restoration event, providing corporate volunteers for the planting activities. Samson became involved with GBF, and specifically with the Get Hip to Habitat program, because it always strives to be part of the community in which it operates as well as with important environmental projects. GBF's Get Hip to Habitat program fits well with Samson's core values in protecting natural resources and helping the environment, and the added plus of a program that educates students in these values made this just the right fit.

About Galveston Bay Foundation

The mission of the Galveston Bay Foundation is to preserve, protect, and enhance the natural resources of the Galveston Bay estuarine system and its tributaries for present users and for posterity. The Foundation was incorporated in 1987, and is a non-profit organization under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. GBF is located at 17330 Highway 3 in Webster, Texas. For further information, contact GBF at 281-332-3381, or visit the website at www.galvbay.org.

About Samson

Samson is a large, privately held exploration and production company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the Offshore Divisions headquartered in Houston, Texas. For more information, please visit the website, www.samson.com.

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