More Texas in Eco-News, and It's Great News!

In the last decade, it has become difficult to watch nature documentaries. You are watching along in reverie for the first two-thirds, and then you get the message. And the message is very simple. Nature is grand and glorious and staggeringly beautiful, but we had better do something soon because human beings have screwed it up royally and this majestic ________ you have been watching is almost extinct because of our greed, selfishness, and naivete. Once in a great while, there is a glimmer of hope at the end, but it usually just ends in gloom and doom.

The Texas news (from two different sources) in this post is one of those glimmers of hope.

From the Treehugger article:

A unique partnership between The Nature Conservancy, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Conservation Fund and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has created an incredible opportunity to help rehabilitate the Gulf region. Using fine money resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the group has stewarded one of the largest single conservation investments in the history of Texas: the acquisition of Powderhorn Ranch.

And, in case you want to see the area for yourself (from the comfort of your media device,) here is the Texas Parks and Wildlife youtube video of the Powderhorn Ranch. Click here.

So, why am I so excited? First, it preserves an area where wildlife, the land, and the water can heal and thrive. Second, it is mostly funded by fines from the biggest eco-disaster the Gulf of Mexico has yet experienced - the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. From a horrible disaster comes a glimmer of hope.

From the Laura Huffman in the conservationfund.org article:

“The Gulf of Mexico is the hardest working body of water in the country, but it desperately needs nourishment. We have steadily stripped away its natural defenses, endangering wildlife, nature and the millions of residents who live in coastal communities,” said Laura Huffman, Texas state director for The Nature Conservancy. “This investment in Powderhorn Ranch protects the best of the last coastal prairies left in Texas and stitches together a network of protected lands that are vital to the resilience and health of the Gulf Coast.” 

Thank you to all of the groups who have worked so diligently to make this happen!

May the glimmers of hope overwhelm us!