2019 North American Prairie Conference

The Wildlife Habitat Federation (WHF) has become a primary source for not only technical expertise but also specialized equipment required for on-the-ground prairie habitat restorations. Adopting and sometimes modifying time-honored, Aldo Leopold-recommended techniques (which involve the hoof, match, plow, axe and gun) plus adopting a couple of additional ones (proper native seed selection and customized control of invasive species) have allowed WHF to optimize its impact on sites that vary in size from small one-acre pocket prairies to those that involve thousands of acres.

The positive impact of prairie-enhancing activities on the Texas Coastal Ecological Region and increased knowledge of their need has resulted in major growth in recent years in the areas being restored. Normally, this includes site visits, management plans and several seasonal activities prior to sowing native grass/forbs.

The more educated people become, especially new-to-the-land types, as to the positive impact of habitat recovery, the more they wish to be involved. When WHF was established fifteen years ago, the area under WHF's recovery plan was limited to 2 counties and less than 1,000 acres. Only a handful of landowners were involved. Fifteen years later WHF has impacted 30,000 acres with management and restoration efforts and is working on an additional 30,000 acres in 28 counties.

Leopold also stated that to conserve our natural resources we must "match plants with progress". Is this conceivable?