Galveston District Co-Hosts 11th Annual Wallisville Lake Project Combat Veteran Gator Hunt

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District (SWG) co-hosted the 11th Annual Lone Star Warriors Outdoors Gator Hunt at its Wallisville Lake Project location, Sept. 14-16, 2026.
SWG Park Rangers provided logistical support to the seven combat veterans who were recruited for this year’s hunt by Lone Star Warriors Outdoors (LSWO) a Texas-based nonprofit 501c3 organization.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Game Wardens drove the boats for the veterans and assisted them in harvesting their alligators, to ensure everyone was hunting safely and legally, with Chambers County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Technicians providing First Aid support.
“This year’s hunt reinforced the importance of interagency collaboration,” said Lead Natural Resources Specialist for the Wallisville Lake Project, Karly Sias-Allen. “By working with TPWD, local EMS, and a veteran nonprofit, we see how natural resource management can be a platform for community engagement, public education, and mission support. The camaraderie I observed among co-hosts really underscored the value of such events in fostering goodwill and mutual understanding between agencies.”
That partnership helped each veteran harvest two to three alligators, with the final tally of 19 of 21 tags being filled, Sias-Allen said.
The hunt consists of tying heavy lines to trees on a bayou bank with a big hook attached and baited with chicken hanging above the high-water line. Then it’s just a waiting game. The hunters check lines each morning and afternoon.
The Wallisville Lake Project has no impounded reservoir, so the bottomland forests, grasslands, marshes, swamps, and pools are still preserved as natural habitats for a wide variety of fish and aquatic animals. Depending on tides and fish movements, anglers could find marine species one day and fresh species the next.
When they weren’t checking alligator lines, veterans went fishing, with Wallisville Lake Project park rangers on hand to answer questions about the 23,000-acre expanse, the Wallisville Lock and Dam and Structure A. The Wallisville Dam on the Trinity River and Structure A provide salinity control and are operated by USACE natural resource specialists, who open and close dam gates depending on tides, river flows, winds, and drought conditions.
SWG co-hosts the hunt to manage alligator populations --- in support of its environmental stewardship mission --- and to help wounded warriors connect with one another.
Jerry Meece from Hudson, Texas, is the Lead Natural Resources Specialist at the Addicks and Barker Reservoirs who along with Sias-Allen, assisted with hunting logistics. Meece is also a former Marine who served in Iraq, and he said he appreciates LSWO creating the opportunity for veterans to experience the Wallisville Lake Project.
“They’re here to hunt and have a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Meece said. “The real big thing is they get to hang out with other wounded warriors. I’m a veteran, and I’ve established relationships with veterans who have come out here. We knew some of the same people.”
LSWO made the arrangements for this year’s seven veterans to stay at the Cajun Outback Hunting Lodge in Baytown, Texas, just outside the Wallisville Lake Project boundary.
The annual hunt gives veterans a unique opportunity to experience the outdoors with a tight-knit group of natural resource management professionals and expand their network of fellow veterans they can lean on when times get tough.
One veteran, “Garrett”, a 5-year Army Veteran and combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan said the experience was amazing.
“You get to meet to people,” Garrett said. “We chewed some of the same dirt, so you get to know them and just talk.”
LSWO Founder and President Chris Gill, is also a U.S. Army veteran.
“The work we do in combination with the Corps of Engineers and Texas Game Wardens is just amazing,” Gill said. “It allows these guys to hang out and heal. With this going on 11 years, there are a lot of veterans who are healing through this.”
Gill is still in touch with previous years’ gator hunters and some of the alumni return, just to spend time with fellow veterans.
“This year we have one Navy Sailor, two Marines, and four Army Soldiers,” Gill continued.
Gill said this is one of the most successful ongoing hunts he sponsors.
“Thanks to all the different organizations and up the chain of command who make this happen.”
To learn more about the Wallisville Lake Project, visit https://www.swg.usace.army.mil/Locations/Galveston-District-Field-Offices/Wallisville-Lake-Project-Office/.

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