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The Crosstimbers and Southern Tallgrass Prairie Ecoregion Preserving the Last Remnants of the Fertile Blackland Prairie

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The Crosstimbers and Southern Tallgrass Prairie Ecoregion Preserving the Last Remnants of the Fertile Blackland Prairie The Crosstimbers and Southern Tallgrass Prairie Ecoregion Preserving the last remnants of the fertile Blackland Prairie. The Barnett Shale One of the most important geological features of this ecoregion is the Barnett Shale, an underground natural gas field that spans an estimated 5,000 square miles. The Barnett Shale is comprised of extremely dense, low-porous rock that until very recently was impervious to extraction. However, thanks to advances in technology, what may be the largest onshore gas field in the United States is now accessible to drilling. conservationSeventeen profile Texas counties have the potential for natural gas exploration or production in the Barnett Shale, making it crucial to the economy of much of East and Northeast Texas. Exploration of the Barnett Shale is Clymer Meadow Preserve (© Rainie Bishop) growing at a quickening rate. As such, it is imperative that conservation merica’s great tallgrass and Southern Tallgrass Prairie organizations, landowners and energy prairie once extended from ecoregion. This is a land of variable companies work cooperatively to protect southern Canada to the Gulf soils – sandy loam supporting the surface lands and waters above the A of Mexico, spanning 14 states and 140 crosstimbers and dark calcareous soils gas fields while facilitating the continued million acres. This undulating ocean of which bore the prairie grasses – economic growth and development of grass was known as the “breadbasket interspersed with woodlands of oaks an area home to millions of Texans. of America” for the ceaseless bounty and other hardwood trees. It was the rich farmland could produce. once, literally, the land where the Travelers riding side by side on horse- buffalo roamed and the deer and the back could lose sight of each other in antelope played. the tall, thick grass that blanketed the terrain. The vast majority of this 76,750- square-mile ecoregion is found in Between San Antonio and the Flint Central Oklahoma and North and Hills of Kansas lies a segment of this Central Texas. As such, the two state ecosystem known as the Crosstimbers programs are working cooperatively Preserve protects nearly 100 more acres of productive grasslands. Historically, wooded areas – the “crosstimbers” of the ecological description – ranged from dense forest to savanna. These old-growth woodlands didn’t produce the kind of timber prized by the logging industry and the steep, harsh terrain made the land beneath ill-suited for agriculture. As a result, centuries-old post oak tracts still stand, remnants of an ancient deciduous forest. Clymer Meadow Preserve (© Lynn McBride) These crosstimbers are a key link in the chain of oak forests that extends to save this important landscape and short-eared owl, Smith’s longspur, from Canada to Central America, the plants and animals found within it. interior least tern, painted bunting, providing habitat for numerous migrant loggerhead shrike and species of migratory birds such as Within the Lone Star State, the bobwhite quail. the cerulean warbler, veery and gray- ecoregion is primarily defined by the cheeked thrush. Blackland and Grand prairies, the Post In North Texas, prairie conservation Oak Savanna and the Eastern and efforts are focused on the 17,586-acre In both Texas and Oklahoma, the Western Crosstimbers woodlands. Clymer Meadow Conservation Area. biggest threats to the remaining The Blackland Prairie once covered Time and development have crosstimbers are suppression of more than 12 million acres in Texas transformed this beautiful landscape natural fire and the ensuing spread and Oklahoma. This diverse and from an uninterrupted mosaic of of highly invasive eastern red cedars. dramatic grassland habitat has been grasslands, woodlands and wetlands reduced to a mere 5,000 highly into patches of disconnected habitat. The Nature Conservancy is forging fragmented acres today, making it Nevertheless, Clymer Meadow new partnerships with private one of the most imperiled ecosystems contains some of the largest and most landowners to protect this crucial in North America. functional Texas prairie remnants. ecoregion. Through the use of conservation easements and other In pre-settlement times, when it was The 1,300-acre Clymer Meadow land-management tools in the Grand home to Comanche, Caddo, Wichita Preserve in Hunt County protects Prairie area, we’re expanding the and other plains Indians tribes, the one of the largest and most diverse scope of our grassland and prairie Blackland Prairie was kept intact remaining examples of Blackland conservation efforts. These strategies by a delicate balance of bison and Prairie. After an absence of 150 years, will be the foundation of our future antelope grazing and natural fire. bison have been re-introduced to work to galvanize landowners The remainder of this fire-dependent the land and prescribed burning has around the mutually beneficial goal ecosystem is threatened by large-scale helped restore the prairie’s health. of prairie conservation. development spreading out from Clymer Meadow Preserve is home Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, to the Conservancy’s plant material Austin and other cities. center, which houses seeds harvested from native plants within the preserve contact information At risk are numerous bird species, for prairie restoration. The Nature Conservancy such as the northern harrier, eastern P.O. Box 1440 bluebird, red-tailed hawk, cedar Nearby Cowleech Prairie Preserve San Antonio, Texas 78295 waxwing, dicksissel and meadowlark, protects 86 acres of rare, bottomland tel (210) 224-8774 as well as species of conservation meadow wetlands that have never fax (210) 228-9805 concern such as Henslow’s sparrow, been plowed and Tridens Prairie nature.org/texas 100% Post-consumer Content © 2008 TNC MRCSTX 1008.
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