John Bunker Sands Wetland Center, Combine

About John Bunker Sands Wetland Center

The John Bunker Sands Wetland Center in Combine, Texas, is a public educational facility where visitors explore and discover the natural world of restored wetlands. The center operates as a "wild classroom" offering hands-on, feet-wet education through immersive visits in the wetland environment. Public, private, and homeschool programs teach conservation literacy and wetland systems to students of all ages. Located within the North Texas Municipal Water District's East Fork Water Reuse Project, the center sits on a wetland that naturally filters up to 95 million gallons of water daily. The site draws approximately 300 bird species, including bald eagles, along the Central Flyway migration route. Visitors participate in programs and events designed to increase self-esteem, unleash creativity, and encourage outdoor activity. The center focuses on education in water reuse, quality and supply, wildlife conservation, and wetland ecosystem restoration, addressing the fact that more than half of Texas' original wetlands have been lost.