About Nelson Farms
The Nelson Farms Preserve is owned and operated by the Katy Prairie Conservancy, a
nonprofit land trust dedicated to preserving a sustainable portion of the Katy Prairie for the
benefit of its wildlife and all Texans forever. Nelson Farms Preserve is located in both Harris
and Waller Counties in the northwestern portion of the historic Katy Prairie. Cypress Creek,
the principal watershed of the region, flows through the preserve. KPC bought an initial part
of the preserve in 1997 and a second major portion in 1998, totaling the acreage to nearly
1300 acres. This became the foundation for pulling together the surrounding pieces to
create the current 1675 acre parcel we call the Nelson Farms Preserve.
This site has been and is currently KPC’s only active rice farm and, prior to acquisition by
KPC, was used to produce soy beans, crawfish, and cattle. Levees and other water control
structures helped to distribute waster to the rice fields and cattle. These human-made
features are still a part of the preserve landscape, and KPC continues to make use of them
in its management of the wildlife preserve. Rice production is an important tool that KPC
uses to enhance wildlife habitat and to generate revenues for the maintenance of the
preserve. Rice is grown in a three-year rotation system and, on the preserve, you will see
both active and fallow rice fields. In the summer months, wading birds, such as the great
egret, great blue heron, snowy egret, and white ibis, can be found among the rice plants
searching for crawfish and small crustaceans in the moist soil. In wintertime, rice fields are
flooding to provide excellent roosting and feeding areas for thousands of ducks and geese,
including green- and blue-winged teal, northern pintails, northern shovelers, snow geese,
and white-fronted geese, who feed off the rice stubble and grain left over from the harvest.
The Nelson Farms Preserve provides a diversity of habitat types: riparian woodlands
(locally called Barn Owl Woods), agricultural wetlands, depressional wetlands, hedgerows,
prairie grasslands, and a 24 acre reservoir (referred to as the Crawfish Pond). During
winter months, over 250 bird species species, including waterfowl, shorebirds, wading
birds, raptors, and songbirds have been seen at the preserve. Beaver dams are present at
Cypress Creek and larger mammals such as coyote, bobcat, and white-tailed deer have all
been spotted. The vegetation is a mix of native and introduced grasses, flowers, shrubs,
and vines. Though not native tallgrass prairie, this habitat is nonetheless suitable for a
diversity of resident and migratory wildlife species. There are also 300 acres of native
tallgrass prairie associated with two wetland mitigation units. This habitat is unique in that it
characterizes what the prairie may have looked like before rice farming. During wet years
this site has been a great location for the breeding, brood rearing, and molting of the
Mottled Duck which is endemic to the coastal prairies and marshes and has been
designated a species of concern. Along with the Mottled Duck, there are numerous species
of grassland dependent bird species, and other wildlife, that call this special habitat home.
Please visit our Nelson Farms Directions page and full profile of KPC's Nelson Farms Preseve in pdf.
