Warriors and Warblers -- NB I-35 Bell County Safety Rest Area, Salado TX
N 30° 54.110 W 097° 33.567
14R E 637671 N 3419611
An interpretive sign at the NB I-35 Safety Rest Area near Salado discusses birds and bombs, and how the two not only survive together, but thrive together
Waymark Code: WMTK31
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/02/2016
Views: 3
In 2015 Texas Department of Transportation built and opened the Bell County safety rest area along the northbound I 35. Featuring interpretive signs and historical information of the local area, one sign discusses the intertwining of the Black Capped Vireo and Blackhawk Helicopters at Fort Hood, nearby.
Sign reads as follows:
WARRIORS AND WARBLERS
On any given day, the air is filled with the thunderous sound of bombs and rockets, the racket of some 1000 Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, the rattle of small arms on 50 firing ranges and the bright, flaming heat of explosives fired from nearly 200 helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Nearby Fort Hood is a major training center for the Army and the largest active-duty armored post in the United States. But is also this: Fort Hood is a major breeding area for the Golden Cheeked Warbler and the Black Capped Vireo, both listed as endangered under the Federal Endangered Species Act. It is home to Bald Eagles and Whooping Cranes and is recognized as a priority by the Nature Conservancy. How can it be that there would be birdsong, or even birds, in a place that sounds more like Armageddon than an aviary?
First, Fort Hood occupies a huge area, covering more than 340 square miles of forest and prairie in Bell and Coryell counties. It stretches 26 miles east to west, 24 miles north to south. And, over the years, as the surrounding areas were developed and wildlife habitat diminished, the vast area of Fort Hood became an island of high quality habitat for many species, an island surrounded by an inhospitable landscape. It could be said that the Fort was instrumental in saving the endangered Vireo and Warbler. The Nature Conservancy has been working with Fort Hood’s Endangered Species Management Program since 1993. It is a partnership that has doubled the population of both species. All this in spite of, or maybe because of, all the tanks and planes and gunfire."
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