For Immediate Release
Contact: Tiffany Heikkila or Catherine Rogan
Hill and Knowlton, Inc.
713-752-1900

HOUSTON, TX (November 29, 2001) - When the Port of Houston Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asked local elementary school students to name a newly created island in Galveston Bay, the last thing they expected was to get a history lesson from a 9-year-old. But that's exactly what they got from Ally Levy, a fourth-grade student at Silverlake Elementary in Pearland.

Levy's entry, Evia Island, won the grand prize in the contest and is now officially the name of the newest island in Galveston Bay. The contest, initiated by the Port of Houston Authority and the Corps of Engineers, called on local elementary school students to submit names and a brief explanation of why the island should bear the name they chose.

"The Port and the Corps wanted to create an incentive for children to study about wetlands and other wildlife habitats, and we feel that the contest really sparked an interest in them," said Port Commissioner James Edmonds. "We're extremely impressed with the caliber of research these students did and the scientific, cultural and historical lessons they've obviously learned," continued Colonel Leonard Waterworth of the Galveston District Corps of Engineers.

Levy submitted Evia Island to give recognition to Jose de Evia, the Spaniard who charted the Gulf of Mexico in 1786. During his efforts, Evia mapped an area near the mouth of a river and then named it Galveston in honor of his superior Spanish colonial governor and general, Bernardo de Galvez. The island and city later took the name, although Galvez never actually set foot on either.

Evia Island, as it is now called, is a thriving bird refuge and habitat today, but was a mere idea a decade ago when the Port Authority and the Corps of Engineers commissioned the Beneficial Uses Group (BUG) to determine environmentally sound uses for millions of yards of materials dredged during the Houston-Galveston Navigation Channel expansion project. Members ultimately resolved to construct more than 4,200-acres of wetlands in Galveston Bay using material dredged from the Ship Channel, which will replace some of the 30,000 acres of wetlands that have been lost there over the past five decades.

Evia Island, which received its first native-born residents this summer including brown pelicans, royal terns, sandwich terns and black skimmers, was part of the BUG's plan and is the first completed facet of the project. Because of the success of the Island Naming Contest, the Port and the Corps are considering having students name other wetland formations created throughout the 50-year project.

Finalists in the Island Naming Contest include second-place winner, Santuario de Pajaros (Sanctuary of Birds), submitted by a 5th grade class at Winship Elementary, and third-place winner, Aviary Island, submitted by C.D. Landolt Elementary.

The Beneficial Uses Group formed in 1990 as a subcommittee of the Interagency Coordination Team, and is to determine environmentally responsible uses for materials dredged during the expansion of the Houston-Galveston Navigation Channel. The project will create more than 4,200 acres of marsh in Galveston Bay over the next 50 years.

For more information about the BUG project visit our website at www.betterbay.org.

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