What places should be conserved?

We cannot set aside every tract of land in Texas that has scenic value or wildlife habitat. Instead, we must identify areas that are threatened and that have special significance whether ecological, historical, or recreational  and implement methods for preserving remnants of those areas in their current condition.

This document focuses on ten special places, spread throughout Texas, that should demand our attention and action. These ten focus areas include significant scenic features, biological communities, areas of geologic uniqueness, and landscapes that helped to shape our identity. Some of these features are familiar and wellloved by millions of Texans, others primarily appreciated by specialists and the landowners that have owned them. Some are broadly defined regions, others unusual ecological communities that survive only at a few locales, often unrecognized even by their owners. But each of these ten targets faces immediate threats whether intensive population growth and development, depletion of surface or ground water, overuse, or invasion by exotic species. Conservation of the ten areas described in these pages should be a high priority for Texans.

The ten focus areas have another thing in common: their preservation is still possible and can be accomplished, in most cases without great social or economic cost, through a combination of strategies including acquisition by conservation groups or public entities, conservation easements, and private stewardship. Remnants of some natural communities - such as native prairies or longleaf pine savannas - are so rare that a significant fraction could be acquired by conservation groups for permanent preservation at relatively little expense. Other areas could be effectively preserved using conservation easements held by land trusts and cooperative agreements with landowners. However, there has been little coordinated planning in Texas for identifying the most vital areas to conserve and the most effective means for preserving them, and this should be our first task.

Many unique areas have already lost their natural character forever. Much of Texas wildlife can be safeguarded with only a little more investment. But we must take action in the coming years, before the pressures of urbanization forever reduce the natural diversity in every region of Texas.

The choices we make in the next decade will likely be crucial for the future of the land and resources of Texas. As the state's population grows rapidly and rural land uses decline in importance, conservation efforts must take their place among our most urgent social needs, and we must fight to preserve the traditional bonds that Texans have shared with the land. We should preserve Texas' landscapes not only for recreation and enjoyment, but for the same reason we preserve historic places and cultural shrines: to preserve our heritage and to allow those who come after us to know the land we know.