Corpus Christi ES staff participated in a historic step forward for endangered Attwater’s Prairie Chicken (APC) recovery efforts.  Twenty-two APC’s were transported from captive breeding facilities to acclimation pens located on a private ranch in Goliad County for release into the wild.  APCs were extirpated from Goliad County about 15 years ago.  This was the first APC reintroduction into an area from which they've been extirpated, and the first APC release outside of the APC National Wildlife Refuge and Nature Conservancy's Preserve at Texas City.  A number of partners (Papalote Cattle Company, the Coastal Prairies Coalition of the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative, the Nature Conservancy, the Victoria Soil and Water Conservation District, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service) played significant roles in achieving this goal.  The birds will stay in acclimation pens at the release site for 10 days before being released into the wild.  Once these 22 birds are released, about 28 more birds will be released on the site this year, with additional releases planned over the next 2 years.  Each bird is monitored electronically.