Texas Coastal Prairie Initiative – Summer 2023 update

Texas Coastal Prairie Initiative Summer 2023 Update

From Elisa Donovan, VP and General Counsel, Coastal Prairie Initiative:

Summer is here, and we thought we would update all as to the progress on the Texas Coastal Prairie Initiative.

We continue to seek projects that may be eligible for Round 2 funding for this fall.  We hope to identify multiple projects that may be eligible for funding for conservation easements or habitat management practices. Please let us know if there is a landowner that may be interested in participating in the Texas Coastal Prairie Initiative, or you may refer them to the TCPI website at www.prairiepartner.org/contact.

TCPI Conservation Easement Team will be meeting on July 10 via Zoom to hear updates on the progress of Round 1 applications and to make plans for the Round 2 Pre-Screening process.  I will be sending a Zoom invitation to current members of the Conservation Easement team, and feel free to let me know if you would like to be added or removed from this committee.

TCPI Habitat Management Team will be meeting on July 11 via Zoom to hear updates on the progress of Round 1 applications, to discuss how TCPI partners are engaging with landowners and producers to provide free planning assistance, and to make plans for the Round 2 Pre-Screening process for financial assistance to implement practices. I will be sending a Zoom invitation to current members of the Habitat Management team, and feel free to let me know if you would like to be added or removed from this committee. The next TCPI Outreach webinar event will be a Lunch and Learn: Battling Invasive Species on the Texas Gulf Coast on August 10 from noon-1:15 pm.  This session will be presented by Ashley Morgan-Olvera, M.S., Director of Research and Education for Texasinvasives.org.  For more information and registration information, please visit https://www.prairiepartner.org/outreach. 

TCPI Outcomes team has begun monitoring! Wyatt Egelhoff completed our first season of grassland bird monitoring in three of the TCPI priority areas: Galveston East, Colorado River North, and Victoria/Lavaca Prairie. The Gulf Coast Joint Venture team is sharing their ongoing grassland bird monitoring data for the remaining TCPI priority areas. We will compile these findings annually. Thank you to Wyatt and Steve DeMaso for their leadership in this important area!