In 2011, a group of private property owners, local government leaders and managers of parks, preserves, refuges and historic sites along the upper Texas Gulf coast got together to strategize about regional economic development and coastal resilience. On the table was a strategy to enhance Texas-led stewardship and conservation, develop an economic sector compatible with periodic flooding, and expand and promote nature and heritage tourism and outdoor recreation opportunities.

From this meeting, and idea was born: to engage the National Park Service (NPS) - with its expertise in tourism, education and stakeholder coordination, as well as its domestic and international brand identity and marketing advantages - in a locally driven, regional scale, public-private partnership that would become the proposed Lone Star Coastal National Recreation Area.

In 2014, the nonprofit Lone Star Coastal Alliance (LSCA) was established to serve as the “private” side of the public-private partnership. The LSCA provides financial and other support for the the ongoing planning and implementation process of the LSCNRA Coalition, as well as promoting awareness of the region’s natural, historic, and recreational assets through education, outreach, volunteerism, and other programs and support.

Another purpose of the LSCA is to educate, through media and a public presence, the benefits of establishing and sustaining a regional destination brand identity for the upper Texas coastal region.