Texas Master Naturalist Marybeth Arnold volunteers to restore native coastal tallgrass prairie for the endangered Attwater’s Prairie Chicken at TNC’s Texas City Prairie Preserve. From the Houston Chronicle story:
"The work of restoring a vanishing habitat can also be backbreaking, blister-raising labor, but Arnold doesn’t mention that. Nor does she brag about the fact that she and other volunteers have recreated one of the few examples of coastal prairie in Texas. …
You’ll find her most Tuesdays at the Texas City Prairie Preserve, where she is one of a handful of people working to return the 2,300-acre spread to the way it was when bison foraged and periodic prairie fires raged from the Mexican border to Louisiana."
Read the full article, "A home for Attwater’s prairie chickens to play", at the Houston Chronicle’s web site.
I do have a bias about the prairie. I make no excuses. I do want to add that there are many naturalists that have been doing prairie restoration longer than I have without any recognition. They are our invisible heroes. I could name a few right now, but as those of you who know me realize, I would leave someone’s name off!
Happy Trails!
Marybeth Arnold
PS Come on out to help at Texas City Prairie Preserve any Tuesday morning at 9 AM. We’ll be glad to find you something to do!