Eckhardt, B.Proceedings of the Thirty-third North American Wildlife Conference2010-02-152010-02-15n.d.http://hdl.handle.net/1969.3/24169p. 79-90.As recently as 50 years ago, live oyster reefs stretched across Galveston Bay. Galveston Estuary was alive - a producer of life. This all began to change, even though minutely, when the Allen Brothers sailed their craft up Buffalo Bayou and founded what was to become the sixth largest city in the nation. Man began to befoul his nest. Dredges began to cut away the reefs and fill the wetlands. These things were done without determining the effect on the beauty and bounty of the bay. This paper explores what has happened to the bay, why it happened, and what Texas conservationists feel should be done to protect the remaining natural resources.historical accountshell dredgingpollutionwetlandsoyster reefsChapter