Planning for a Grand Prairie

Land trusts are created to protect things - ways of life such as farming and ranching, scenic views such as those in the  Rocky Mountains, types of ecosystems such as a rain forest.  The Katy Prairie Conservancy is dedicated to protecting the Katy Prairie, a wetland/prairie ecosystem on Houston's west side. 
 
The New York Times recently wrote about the Conservancy in a story on Segment E of the Grand Parkway, giving the Parkway as an example of a stimulus project that has significant environmental ramifications.  In the wake of this story, we have been asked whether the Conservancy opposes the Grand Parkway.  The short answer is that, as a land trust, the Conservancy does not typically take stands for or against development projects.  But, we do believe that if the project is built, it should be coupled with adequate, timely measures to protect the Prairie from the direct and indirect impacts of the project.

The dilemma posed by the Grand Parkway points up a paradox in how we go about planning as a community on a metropolitan and regional scale.  We plan assiduously and proactively for outward growth - penciling in roadways that become self-fulfilling prophecies even as our values and needs develop in different and unforeseen directions.  At the same time, one wonders why we do not plan as vigorously and extensively for projects that would provide green space, diverse landscapes, and abundant recreational opportunities.  And why we do not work as tirelessly to find the funding necessary to make such plans a reality.

Segment E will be instrumental in opening up land on the Prairie to unprecedented levels of development.  The Conservancy hopes that the parties involved in planning and promoting the Parkway will join us in ensuring that we protect our "Grand Prairie" as well, from the forces of development that will inevitably follow in the wake of Segment E.

For more information on the Grand Parkway and for related stories, go to:
 
New York Times article
www.katyprairie.org