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Explore the Texas Prairies
20 million acres of prairie once spread across the state of Texas. Miles upon miles of tall, bunch-forming grasses accompanied by flowers and woody shrubs made the perfect home for an array of wildlife and people.
When the European settlers arrived in Texas, they began plowing the land for large-scale farming operations with plants from Spain and England. By the late 1800s, an estimated half of the prairie had been turned into farmland.
Today, less than 1% of the Texas prairie remains. The people, plants, and animals native to our prairies are being rapidly lost to human forces. Learn more about why this land is so special and why it is vital to protect what's left of our native tallgrass prairies.
The Dowell Ranch Praririe Preservation in South Austin. Photograph from Native Prairie Association of Texas.
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Native Prairie Association of Texas
Not just a place to build a little house. Prairies are dense, self-sustaining networks of life. Check out this rundown of what makes a prairie a prairie.
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National Park Service
See how all of the pieces of the prairie puzzle fit together to create these unique, under-appreciated ecosystems.
Mexican Feathergrass in the Brentwood neighborhood. My picture.
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The Blackland prairies of East Central Texas stretch through the Dallas-Forth Worth area and north into the Midwest. Click the link above to learn more about this unique, diverse eco-region.
Blackland Prairie Rangeland in Washington County. By William L. Farr - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
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Read how The Nature Conservancy is working to preserve Texas grasslands, slow environmental destruction from development, and restore native land to its original state.
Native flowers and grass stand tall in a Certified Wildlife Habitat in central Texas.