From the Annals of the Beachcombers –  In 1968, First Lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson officially dedicated the Padre Island National Seashore.  Attempts to establish a Texas state park on Padre Island had been underway and unsuccessful since at least 1936.  Ongoing struggles between private and public interests foiled any state effort to protect the island from further development.  However, in 1958 Sen. Ralph Yarborough introduced a bill to establish a national park on the island.  The bill was finally passed in 1962 and a five year process of condemnation of private holdings began.  The Park Service bills the result as the “longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world.”   The Seashore separates the Gulf of Mexico from the Laguna Madre, one of a few hypersaline lagoons in the world.   The park is a popular tourist destination featuring wide beaches for swimming and fishing and stark natural beauty. The park also provides a safe nesting ground for the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle and a haven for 380 bird species.  It also has a rich history as the location of several Spanish shipwrecks and Native American encampments.