Park renaming to honor fallen EC game warden

The official dedication ceremony naming a state wildlife management area for slain Wharton County Game Warden Justin Hurst is set for Friday.

The Texas Legislature passed a bill May 29 that was signed by Gov. Rick Perry renaming the Peach Point Wildlife Management Area to the Justin Hurst Wildlife Management area. The ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at the WMA headquarters located west of Freeport near Jones Creek in Brazoria County.

"It's located off of Texas Highway 36," Texas Parks and Wildlife Spokesperson Todd Merendino said. "Just as you're leaving Jones Creek, there is a blinking light and the next turn to the right (south) is the entry to the management area. There is a brown highway sign and the headquarters are about a mile off the highway."

Merendino said the area's gates would open at 8 a.m. to allow people to tour the park before the ceremony begins.

The Justin Hurst WMA encompasses about 12,000 acres and is part of the Central Cost Wetlands Ecosystem Project, according to the TPWD Web site.

The CCWEP's mission is to provide for sound biological conservation of all wildlife resources within the central coast of Texas for the public's common benefit.

Following his graduation from Texas A&M University and prior to his becoming a game warden, Hurst served as a TWPD biologist and was assigned to the Peach Point WMA.

In several interviews, Amanda Hurst said her husband had a particular fondness for the WMA and the migrating waterfowl that visit the Texas coast each year.

She also said the couple's first date was a visit to the WMA.

Hurst was shot and killed just after midnight on March 17 following a pursuit that involved a number of law enforcement units.

He was reportedly shot four times during an exchange of gunfire. James Freeman, 27, of Lissie has been charged with capital murder in the case.