Dear CO Birders:
I live in Texas but
visited Colorado several years ago and had a great time birding with a
local guide and by myself and have stayed on the list just to keep up
with what has been seen in the hopse of making another visit to your area.
I am posting this to CO Birds in the hope that some of you also
support birding and land conservation nationwide. My apologies if this
posting is inappropriate or offends anyone. Please pass it on to anyone who might be interested in this cause.
Susan Fortenberry
Sugar Land, TX
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Dear CO Birders:
There is a
53 acre parcel of virgin, NEVER PLOWED Texas Coastal Prairie located in
the heart of Deer Park, Harris County, TX. Deer Park is a suburb of
Houston, TX. A list of grassland birds seen on the property includes Grasshopper, Henslow's and LeConte's Sparrows.
The BayouLandConservancy.org is trying to raise money to purchase
this tiny, pristine piece of property to save it from being turned into
another housing development. It will be available for tours
by the general public and birders, entomologists, botanists, school
children, etc.
They have until September 10th to raise the remaining
$800,000 of the original $4 Million price. Please visit their website,
there are videos of the area and lists of plants and birds which have
been found there. Please come and visit if the Prairie is saved.
If you can donate, please also see if your employer participates in corporate matching for charitable giving.
Donations can be made through the www.BayouLandConservancy.org website
in...@bayouland.org or
281-576-1634
From their website:
*"Prairie-grass-roots" fundraising effort gets reprieve*
In the most ambitious conservation land fund drive of its kind ever
launched in Texas, $3.2 million dollars was raised from individuals to
help save the Deer Park Prairie - in less than one week!
Led by Bayou Land Conservancy, with its prairie partners, the Native
Prairies Association of Texas, Katy Prairie Conservancy and the Houston
Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas, the fundraising blitz of
the past week has gone into "overtime" for this special 53-acre piece of
"platinum-quality" prairie.
Due to the record number of individual donors who came forward, the Deer Park landowner has agreed to extend the deadline from August 20th to September 10th, providing Bayou Land Conservancy with 3 more weeks to raise the remaining $800,000 necessary for the $4 million purchase.
"The turnout of individual donors in such a condensed time period has
been nothing less than phenomenal," said Jennifer Lorenz, Executive
Director of Bayou Land Conservancy. In her 20 years of land conservation
fundraising experience "there has been no comparison to the donors of
this campaign who expressed genuine shock that such an ancient prairie
still existed, and that conservation organizations were trying to
compete with hot housing market development pressure. Their enthusiasm
was palpable."
Should Bayou Land Conservancy be successful with the new extended
timeline, the land will be donated directly to the Native Prairies
Association of Texas who will manage the health of the prairie and
provide guided tours. Bayou Land Conservancy will place a conservation
easement over the property to permanently protect the land - which would
disallow the 250 houses currently planned for the acreage and any other
future development.
The City of Deer Park has promised pedestrian access to the site for
weekend public enjoyment. Students in the adjacent subdivisions would
have pedestrian bridge access through the prairie for their attendance
at nearby College Park Elementary.
Visit the BayouLandConservancy website for more details.
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