Powderhorn Ranch donation to Texas will one day create vast coastal state park
In late October a land transaction took place that helped to complete one of the largest land purchases and donations of unspoiled coastal land in Texas when the final 1,360 acres of the Powderhorn Ranch was donated to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
The transaction closed on Oct. 27. In addition to nearly 15,000 acres donated to TPWD in 2018 by the Texas Park and Wildlife Foundation, the transaction conserves one of the state’s largest “unspoiled coastal prairies in Texas,” and it one day will become a state park.
“It demonstrates how Texas’ community of conservationists can work hand-in-hand with the state to preserve an extraordinary piece of our natural heritage for generations to come,” said Dan Friedkin, who is chairman emeritus of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.
History of Powderhorn Ranch land
According to a story published by Texas Monthly in 2015, the land has a history that dates back nearly 500 years. The land was hunted on by the Karankawa, and the explorers Rene Robert Cavelier and Sieur de La Salle lost a ship to a storm in 1686, according to the story. The land was later owned by Leroy G. Denman, who was close with Bob Kleberg of King Ranch fame, and purchased the land in 1936, according to Texas Monthly.
The family then began selling the ranch in the late 1990s and a Tennessee billionaire sold the land to the state.
In a news release from the TPWF, in “2014, significant funding became available from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, which resulted from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and TPWF committed to raise $15 million to complete funding for the project. In addition to the $37.7 million purchase price, TPWF raised funds for initial habitat restoration and an endowment to fund long-term maintenance, which brought the total project cost to nearly $50 million. The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy provided interim financing, and The Nature Conservancy holds a conservation easement that will forever protect the property.”
Included in the land is nearly 11 miles of coast along Matagorda Bay and the land is near the Aransas Wildlife Refuge, making one of the longest stretches of unspoiled coastline in Texas.
Along with the coastal land and live oak forests, the land includes freshwater wetlands and salt marshes, which means the preservation helps to protect a multitude of fish, plant and animal species native to Texas' coast.
Protecting Gulf Coast habitat
“Powderhorn Ranch conserves pristine wildlife habitat in an area of Texas that is facing increasing development pressure,” said TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith in the department's news release. “The investment in this property forever protects a remarkable diversity of species and habitat and connects a patchwork of protected lands from the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge to Mad Island Wildlife Management Area and the recently expanded Matagorda Peninsula Coastal Management Area that are vital to the resilience of a healthy Gulf Coast ecosystem.”
There is not a timeline on when a state park will be finished as the release stated a master plan has to be developed and state funding has to be identified for the development. But now the property belongs to Texas’ citizens.
“We’re thrilled to mark this milestone of donating the final Powderhorn acreage to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,” said TPWF Executive Director Susan Houston in a release. “We are deeply grateful to the many generous donors and partners who made this historic conservation acquisition possible.”
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Powderhorn Ranch in Calhoun County soon will become a Texas state park
