Texas is vast.
With 261,820 square miles of terrain and a populace ripe with state pride, Texas boasts 10 unique, natural ecoregions.
With 89 state parks protected by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and two national parks within 14 areas protected by the National Parks Service, Texans are in a love-hate relationship with the natural environment. While park services work to make the outdoors a welcoming respite, they struggle with the human-caused damage produced by people unaware of the dangers in loving these delicate ecosystems to death.
From the sandy dunes of the gulf prairies to the towering oaks of the crosstimbers, each of the 10 ecoregions face similar — and unique — challenges. Conserving natural and cultural resources while providing hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities is TPWD’s mission, according to their website. Scientists, conservationists and volunteer groups are partnering to educate Texans and tourists about the cause and effect of people in the state’s natural paradise.
From people who flaut rules designed to preserve habitats to the universal need to manage water resources and control of invasive species, a tour through the Franklin Mountains Park in El Paso, the Panhandle and West Texas Plains, Edwards Plateau and Pineywoods, and the Gulf plains and prairies, illuminate the cause and effect of Texans loving Texas.
This story is a collaboration between The Battalion and upperclassmen in Texas A&M’s journalism degree. To see the online copy of the Climate Change extra print edition, click here.
