Toddie Lee Wynne. Jr.

In 1933, Toddie Lee Wynne, Sr., bought a ranch on Matagorda Island, together with fellow oilmen, Clint Murchison and Dudley Golding. In 1946, Wynne took full control of the 11,502-acre property, known as the Star Brand Ranch. Following his death in 1982, his son, Toddie Lee Wynne, Jr., sold the tract to the Nature Conservancy in Texas, with the purchase closing in 1986. During the 1986-88 period, the land was in turn transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and is now managed as part of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The barrier island property includes coastal zones, wetlands, and dune areas, and offers critical breeding grounds and stopover points for birds.