I tend to be a preacher.  I don't mean to be, but sometimes I am.  That is what the sixteen of us found out on November 12th in Deer Park Prairie.  Autumn is a wonderful time in Houston.  When temperatures drop to the mid-70's, the sun is shining, there is a mild breeze, you can't ask for better weather.

That is what we had for our tour and walk on the Deer Park Prairie.  We gathered near the house that came with the prairie (51 acres) in the dramatic 2013, last minute, reprieve for this marvelous place.  There was Lucy, Tyson, Jackie, Suzanne, Vickie, David, Linda, Lyda, Barry, Lisa, Sara. Andrew, Tisha, Lynn, Elizabeth, and myself.

I talked about how after its discover by “The Prairie Hunters” (an unofficial group of prairie enthusiasts who hunt for prairie remnants in and around Houston), Deer Park Prairie was saved over a two year period by the efforts of hundreds of people and donors who raised the $4 million on the last day, at the last minute of the time given to “Save Deer Park Prairie.”

We talked about how this 51 acre, prime prairie remnant, is the last bit of natural landscape that resembles the grassland at the Battle of San Jacinto where Texas won its independence from Mexico.  We walked to the observation platform and viewed Deer Park Prairie from another angle, the sky looking down.  The vista provided us with insights into the nature of this landscape, not just acres of waving, blooming, seeding, grass and wildflowers but Live Oak Mottes, Southern Wax Myrtle thickets, prairie potholes, and pimple mounds.

As we walked we saw why tallgrass prairie is tall.  Texas Coneflower and Prairie Blazing Star stood five feet high, Little Bluestem and Bushy Bluestem were 3 and 4 feet tall.  Walking through the prairie, became trudging through the prairie as we learned that even moving through tall grass is not easy.  We marveled at how Native Americans and early explorers, pioneers, and settlers make the trek through 100's of miles of coastal prairie, from Western Louisiana to Corpus Christi. 

The last of the fading, blooming, wildflowers were scattered throughout the tall grasses.  Wildflowers like Blue Sage, Texas Cone-flower, Prairie Gaura, Texas Dandelion, Rosin-weed, Bitter-weed, Blue Mist-flower, Brown-eyed Susan, Downy Lobelia, Winkler Gallardia, Maximillian Sunflower, and at least three kinds of asters including the big, bold, pink, Tansy or Meadow Aster.

We stopped under the shade of some pine trees that delineate the eastern boundary of Deer Park Prairie, where an ugly, gray, concrete ditch resides.  I talked about the need for all of us to take personal action and responsibility to ensure that places like Deer Park Prairie and our public lands are protected, particularly since the outcome of recent elections.

I then did something that I rarely do.  I spoke about Aldo Leopold, the pioneering forester, wildlife biologist, and ecologist who is famously known via the book, “A Sand County Almanac,” that he wrote about his efforts to restore back to health his Wisconsin prairie and forest.  Leopold talked about a “land ethic” that was needed as a moral imperative as part of the relationship that we should have with our natural landscapes.

Some of Leopold's quotes that I read to people included:  “There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot”, “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering”, One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds”, “That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics”, and finally, “We abuse land because we see it as a commodity belonging to us.  When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”     

We finished our tour of Deer Park Prairie and some folks had to leave.    However, eight of us visited “Mama Mia's Restaurant” in Deer  Park, and had a fine Italian lunch and great conversation.  The affection and camaraderie runs deep on these outings.  I look forward to my December outing and the ones I will lead in 2017 for more natural beauty and companionship that will feed my eyes and soul. 

Brandt Mannchen

November 13, 2016