For over half a century, the calm, determined voice of Charlie Bellaire has been a constant in the fight to preserve the Texas coastline. With a career spanning 54 years, Bellaire is a walking archive of ecological history and a formidable force in restoration science.
His journey began in 1971 with Texas Parks and Wildlife at the Seabrook Marine Lab, where he investigated fish kills and pollution, built toxicology labs, and helped the EPA set foundational pollution limits. Bellaire’s resume is a testament to a life of action. He has personally restored approximately 20,000 acres of critical wetlands, seagrass, dunes, and oyster reefs. And his work in the Rockport area has been particularly impactful.
In the 1990s, he engineered a project creating a 15-acre island from dredged material to provide vital new habitat for the endangered whooping crane – the first time a new habitat had been developed for the species instead of lost. And today, his focus is on the deteriorating health of Little Bay. After leading an effort to build 28 oyster reefs that failed to spur lasting seagrass recovery, Bellaire is now investigating a more insidious cause…