Back to the past: Revegetation taking root in the Valley

Little by little, acre by acre, parts of the Rio Grande Valley are returning to their original state.

All it takes is one tractor, 300 acres, 36,000 seedlings, a few people who don’t mind getting dirty and time — lots of time, maybe 10 years or more to see results.

The goal is to plant as many native plants as possible in hopes of returning parts of the Valley to pre-settlement days.

Linda Laack, with Environmental Defense, headed up last week’s revegetation in eastern Cameron County that planted the 36,000 seedlings.

“We’ve lost so much of the native vegetation down here that we’re trying to correct that by creating some new wildlife habitat,” she said.

She estimates that less than 5 percent of the Valley has original habitat. The rest has fallen victim to urban sprawl and agriculture.

Reversing the trend means jumping over two hurdles.

First, landowners must be found willing to have their fields replanted with native brush.

Second, funds must be secured for use of a tractor and to purchase seedlings. During last week’s revegetation, those 36,000 seedlings cost a dollar apiece.

“A lot of land owners these days are more recreational land owners, so they’re interested in things like deer hunting and bird watching,” Laack said. “Creating this habitat improves conditions for both deer and birds, and also for rare species such as the ocelot.

“It’s a win-win situation for the landowner and environmental organizations trying to help wildlife,” Laack said.

But, she added, not every landowner is interested. Finding those land owners receptive to revegetation is done through word of mouth.

“We talk to people to see if anyone knows someone who might have the right acreage in the right location. We’ll go meet with them to see if they are interested,” she said.

“Sometimes, we’ll have landowner meetings where we have five or 10 landowners together,” she added.

As for the cost, Laack said funding comes from either grants or the landowner foots the bill. Sometimes, it’s a combination of both.

She said her group, Environmental Defense, plants about 200 to 400 acres a year in the Valley while federal agencies such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service may plant more acreage.

Native flora such as mesquite, Turk’s cap, Texas ebony, huisache, black brush, brasil and lotebush are planted where invasive grasses such as guinea and buffle grass have taken root.

To some, the native plants may not look like much. Many are thorny and not particularly attractive. But they gave life to the Valley.

“They provided food for indigenous people and food for animals,” noted landscaper Billy Snider. “From the ebony they made coffee, and from brasil they could eat the berries to get sugar.”

The native plants adapted to an environment that at times can be unforgiving. They are able to survive long droughts, hurricanes and extreme heat.

“They handle drought conditions by having long tap roots and have small leafs to conserve energy and the sun can’t dry them up,” Snider said.

Laack said planting usually is done in the fall or early winter “because that’s when the most significant rainfall comes in the Valley, so we have good soil moisture conditions.”

Most of the time, the seedlings are planted by two people sitting behind a tractor on a specially-made till. As the ground is furrowed, seedlings are dropped into a groove and trailing tires compact the dirt around the plants.

As a basket of plants is exhausted, it is tossed aside and another basket is quickly moved into place, meaning the tractor only stops when there are no more seedlings left.

After the seedlings are planted, they are on their own.

Usually, it takes several days to plant all the seedlings even under optimum conditions.

Last week, for example, it took four and half days to plant 36,000 seedlings.