The Nature Conservancy (TNC), working with the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), has secured a conservation easement on O’Connor Ranch in Goliad County. The easement covers approximately 6,410 acres, representing one of the largest remaining coastal prairie habitats in Texas.
Steven Schar, Deputy Executive Director with TCEQ and Governor Greg Abbott’s designee to the RESTORE Council, said, “This is a huge milestone, not only for Texas, but the entire Gulf Coast. This is the largest conservation easement acquired to-date by the RESTORE Council and ensures critical coastal habitat will remain intact for future generations.”
The total cost of the conservation easement was $8.863 million. Of this amount, $7.6 million came from a grant administered by TCEQ as part of Texas’ representation on the RESTORE Council. The Nature Conservancy provided the remaining funds.
Mary Walker, Executive Director of the RESTORE Council, stated, “The RESTORE Council is very pleased to support the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality’s and The Nature Conservancy’s efforts to protect critical coastal prairie habitat on Texas family ranchlands. Conservation of such valuable natural habitat is a key strategy to support ecosystem health, and effective partnerships such as this one are essential to Gulf restoration success. We commend TCEQ and TNC for this meaningful effort to advance Gulf Coast restoration and maintain the productivity of these important agricultural lands.”
The RESTORE Council includes governors from all five Gulf states and leaders from six federal agencies. This marks both the first conservation easement approved by the RESTORE Council and the largest land protection initiative in the Gulf funded under the RESTORE Act. O’Connor Ranch will continue operating as a private cattle ranch, while the conservation easement restricts development and habitat fragmentation. The preserved grassland offers ongoing benefits such as flood and hurricane buffering, air and water purification, and carbon storage.
Jeff Francell, associate director of land protection for TNC in Texas, said, “The O’Connor Ranch marks conservation milestones from one of the first major permanent protections in Texas’ largest intact coastal prairie to the first conservation easement purchased with RESTORE funding. The Nature Conservancy is grateful for this collaborative effort that helped make securing a family legacy in a key conservation area possible.”
The RESTORE program in Texas manages funds from the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE ACT). These resources originate from civil penalties related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and are dedicated to projects that promote ecological restoration, economic development, coastal protection, and community resilience along Texas’s Gulf Coast.
The Nature Conservancy operates globally, focusing on conserving lands and waters through science-driven strategies aimed at addressing environmental challenges.
