HOUSTON — The Coastal Prairie Conservancy has permanently protected 60 acres in northwest Harris County, adding native prairie, wetlands and agricultural land to the Katy Prairie conservation area as development continues across the region.
The newly protected property sits in the Upper Cypress Creek watershed and expands the conservancy’s efforts to preserve the Katy Prairie, which covers about 20,000 acres across western Harris and Waller counties.
The nonprofit aims to conserve 30,000 acres of the historic prairie over the long term.
“Conservation happens one project at a time,” Mary Anne Piacentini, president and CEO of the Coastal Prairie Conservancy, said in a statement. “Each property we protect adds to the resilience of the Katy Prairie Preserve.”
The property contains native grasslands, seasonal wetlands and ponds that provide habitat for migratory birds, monarch butterflies, northern bobwhite quail and other wildlife.
The land also supports several species of conservation concern, including the state-threatened white-tailed hawk, the federally protected bald eagle and the western chicken turtle, a Texas species of greatest conservation need that Texas A&M University researchers have documented on the property.
The conservancy preserved the land through a voluntary conservation easement, a legal agreement that remains with the property even when ownership changes. The easement limits future development while allowing agricultural operations, wildlife management and other compatible uses.
The property historically supported rice farming before owners transitioned it to cattle grazing.
The conservation project also protects part of the Cypress Creek watershed. The preserved wetlands and prairie can store and slow floodwaters, according to the conservancy.
Funding came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Agricultural Land Easements program, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program, the Galveston Bay Estuary Program Conservation Assistance Program and the Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s Outdoor Fund.
The latest preservation effort follows the conservancy’s protection of the final 221 acres of Three Oaks Farm earlier this year. That project closed a key gap in the Katy Prairie and created one of the largest connected stretches of protected open land in the greater Houston area.