Padre Island National Seashore ~ http://www.nps.gov/pais

Padre Island National Seashore, encompassing 130,434 acres, is the longest remaining undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world, and offers a wide variety of flora and fauna as well as recreation.

Padre Island National Seashore is one of nearly 400 units of the National Park Service. Other units of the National Park Service include Grand Canyon National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, and the memorials on the Washington DC mall (the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, etc.).

As a unit of the National Park Service, our mission is, as stated in the Federal Organic Act of 1916,: "...to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."