most of the north end, but narrows to less than one-half mile at the south end. Similar 

 barrier islands (Mustang, San Jose, and Matagorda) to the north are defined by natural 

 passes. Therefore, a nearly continuous chain of barrier islands extends along the central and 

 south Texas coast. 



Most of Padre Island is separated from the mainland by Laguna Madre, a shallow, often 

 hypersaline bay; in the central part, extensive mudflats connect the island with the 

 mainland. Padre Island is accessible by vehicle from the extreme north and south ends. A 

 beach is the only roadway along all but the northern 15 miles and the southern 13 miles. 



Two physiographically different study sites were selected about 85 miles apart on the 

 north and south ends of Padre Island (Fig. 1); north Padre and south Padre refer to the 

 experimental plots. For convenience, the island is subdivided in three nearly equal sections: 

 southern Padre, the area south of Mansfield Channel; central Padre, the area from the north 

 end of Big Shell beach to Mansfield Channel; and northern Padre, the remaining section. 

 1. Modern History of Padre Island. 



Padre Island was named for the Portuguese priest, Padre Nicolas Balli, who first grazed 

 the island with cattle during the early 1800's while he attempted to convert the indigenous 

 Karankawa Indians (Harris, 1965). His ranching operation was short lived. Following Balli's 

 attempts, a family named Singer established a ranch on the south end of the island, but it 

 was abandoned during the Civil War; the extent of the Singer livestock operation is 

 unknown. The Kenedy ranch, operating primarily in Kenedy r County, Texas, possibly used a 

 part of the island adjacent to their mainland ranch for cattle grazing. According to Price and 

 Gunter (1943), Kenedy said the island was "green as a garden" in the 1850's. Padre Island 

 ranching operations of Patrick Dunn, which began about 1879, probably reached a 

 maximum of 4,000 animal units. Sheep were introduced on the island during the 1880's, 

 but removed shortly thereafter due to a combination of extended drought and overgrazing. 

 This is the first indication of abuse activating the island "sand seas' 1 (Rechenthin and Passey, 

 1967). 



On the northern 20 miles of Padre Island, 1,200 head of cows with calves grazed at one 

 time (Harris, 1965). Livestock gradually decreased to one-half this number from the 1880's 

 to 1940, and were halved again by 1966 (Rechenthin and Passey, 1967). After the 1933 

 hurricane, the southern half of the island was so denuded of vegetation that it was 

 abandoned for ranching (Price, 1956). The last grazing contract with the Padre Island 

 National Seashore (PAIS), which expired in 1970, limited the number of animal units to 

 prevent excessive use. Except for cripples and excessively wild or wary animals, 1,287 head 

 have been removed from Padre Island National Seashore (Jim Arnott, PAIS District Ranger, 

 personal communication, 1971). 



Large areas of the island were burned regularly to enhance growth of saltmeadow 

 cordgrass (Spartina patens). However, since the National Park Service gained jurisdiction 

 over a part of the island, planned burning has ceased. The combination of close grazing, 



