50 Years Ago, This Was a Wasteland. He Changed Everything

[OnDoutside]

[MFGsunny]

1. K & R

[SunSeeker]

2. How did the grass disappear in the first place? Did man planting cedars kill it?

Glad his mom taught him to love nature.

[OnDoutside]

4. That's what I took from what he was saying.

[Kali]

9. Cedars tend to take over when grasses are depleted.

That can happen with bad grazing management (either overgrazing, not grazing enough or usually, both at the same time), fire suppression or over use. Depends on rainfall and moisture conditions, but the old "climax community" of succession plays a role too.

Healthy perennial grasses need to be grazed or otherwise cycled or they tend to choke themselves out. Grassland ecosystems need large herbivores to function.

[LeftInTX]

16. Generally, cedar is not planted in this area, it naturally exists

[PatSeg]

3. Thanks for posting

[Botany]

5. FYI the grasses

Indian, Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, and Switch.

[Merlot]

6. Nice story, great solution.

Could have done without the anti-government retoric.

[Bayard]

7. Amazing

And a wonderful legacy.

[NBachers]

8. I enjoyed watching this. Thanks.

[Kali]

10. grasses and living soil is more important than most people know, you might like this too -

[Quixote1818]

13. That was pretty fascinating. nt

[Silver1]

14. Thanks.

So interesting and hartening!

[niyad]

11. k and r

[LiberalLovinLug]

12. K & R

Beautiful story.

From Texas so of course one has to expect some mild form of anti-Gov screed, "we don't need no stinkin Gob'mint" I mean, not everyone can start a fried chicken empire and sell it to have the money to do this kind of work. That's why the government, in our name, protects and sustains parks and other wilderness sanctuaries. But that doesn't mean that bureaucrats sitting at desks in big cities can't learn from good folks like this, or that we can't have both private and public investment in this kind of land rehabilitation.

But he's a good soul. For someone who came from poverty, got rich through his own hard work and a bit of luck. And his choice to use that new found wealth for this project and not just simply re-invest into another business or the stock market etc. in order to make even more money....is to be applauded.

[LeftInTX]

17. Surprisingly water supply is neither a liberal/conservative thing

It was conservatives who used the Endangered Species Act to get water conservation to the Edwards Aquifer.

San Antonio was using Edwards water and the state wouldn't do anything, so they found a little fish that had gone extinct from a spring. (Comal River Fountain Darter). The level of the Comal Springs is now regulated by the federal government. Comal River Fountain Darters have been reintroduced by with related specie: San Marcos River Fountain Darter.

[Silver1]

15. Yes!

This is the spirit which will get us out of the environmental mess we find ourselves in.