Audubon helped the Texas General Land Office establish a sanctuary in Nueces County to protect habitat for the federally threatened Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus), and other species, including the Snowy Plover and other members of the FNG. The sanctuary is named in honor of the late director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Located along Packery Channel near where Mustang Island blends into North Padre Island (the islands are only separated temporarily when tropical storms erode tidal channels through a complex of 3 washover passes), this large tidal wetland complex hosts a nice diversity of bayshore wetland habitat types, including sand and algal flats (which are so important to all waterbirds), seagrass meadows, and relict oyster reefs.

This santuary supports nesting populations of most of the FNG, including the Snowy Plover, which is a very infrequent nester on barrier islands north of the Laguna Madre.

Lee Elliott has been collecting waterbird count data at this site for the last 3 years as a participant of the Waterbird Watch program. Lee's data is also supporting the International Shorebird Survey Program administered by the Manomet Bird Observatory.

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