Approximately 94% of land in Texas is privately owned. With the state’s population continuing to grow, there’s a critical need for more natural recreational spaces close to its most populous urban areas. One of the largest remaining tracts of pristine coastal prairie in Texas, the 17,351-acre Powderhorn Ranch in Calhoun County, is a landscape that includes unspoiled coastal live oak forests and intact wetlands.

The ranch encompasses more than 11 miles of tidal bay frontage on Matagorda Bay and provides habitat for hundreds of species of birds and animals, including the federally endangered whooping crane. The ranch also includes thousands of acres of freshwater wetlands and salt marshes that offer vital fish and wildlife habitat and provide natural filtering to improve water quality. The undeveloped land shields people and property from storm surges and sea level rise.

In August 2014, The Conservation Fund along with The Nature Conservancy, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), announced the history-making acquisition of Powderhorn Ranch using $37.7 million in donated funds — the largest amount ever raised for a conservation land purchase in Texas.

A History-making Partnership

TCF had initiated the effort to purchase Powderhorn Ranch three years earlier, when we began negotiations with the previous owner, Cumberland & Western Resources LLC. Committed to preserving the exceptional natural quality of the ranch, the seller sold the property below market value to ensure its permanent safekeeping.

A significant portion of the funding for the project was provided by NFWF’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, which was created with dollars paid by BP and Transocean in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. NFWF has committed $34.5 million over the next three years, making this the biggest land acquisition in the nation so far using BP oil spill restoration dollars.

TCF and The Nature Conservancy of Texas have provided $10 million in interim funding. The Nature Conservancy will hold a permanent conservation easement on the property and will provide habitat management for the first two years through a contract with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF). TPWF will hold title on the property and will ultimately turn it over to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In years to come, Powderhorn Ranch will become a state park and wildlife management area.

Why This Project Matters

In an era of skyrocketing land prices and diminishing government resources, this project exemplifies a new model of funding for landscape-scale conservation projects in Texas and is a demonstration of public and private entities working together for the long-term benefit of the state and its citizens.