The Blackland Prairie, a tall-grass prairie habitat, once flourished throughout East-Central Texas and spanned all the way from San Antonio through the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and into Southern Oklahoma.  However, due to urbanization and agricultural usage, most of the Blackland Prairie has disappeared—with less than .01% remaining, the Texas Blackland Prairie is considered one of the most endangered eco-systems in North America.  Named for its rich, black soil, the Blackland Prairie hosts a diverse and abundant variety of grasses, wildflowers, birds, insects, and animal species.  

In order to address the loss of the Texas Blackland Prairie, Boy Scout Spencer Burke, a junior at St. Mark’s School of Texas and member of Boy Scout Troop 577 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Preston Hollow, teamed up with Texas Master Naturalist Marcia Haley, Director of the Twelve Hills Nature Center, to establish a pocket Blackland Prairie plot at Twelve Hills Nature Center in the North Oak Cliff area of Dallas, not far from the Bishop Arts District.  A year ago, in November 2019, Spencer led a team of scouts and community volunteers to remove invasive grasses and plant Texas native grasses and wildflowers at the pocket prairie at Twelve Hills.  Burke and his team returned this past weekend to continue their efforts to preserve the Blackland Prairie. The volunteers removed invasive grasses, such as Johnson Grass, Bermuda Grass, Chinese Privet, and other aggressive plants, which were encroaching upon the Blackland Prairie plot, and carried away over 20 contractor bags of invasive species. Over the next few months, Burke will gather various native grass and wildflower seeds from an existing Blackland Prairie in North Central Texas and then plant those in the plot at Twelve Hills. 

Twelve Hills Nature Center is a nature conservancy in the heart of Oak Cliff that was created on reclaimed land – apartment buildings once stood where the nature center now sits; it is an urban preserve which serves as an outdoor classroom and recreation area. Twelve Hills seeks to educate both adults and children about environmental stewardship and community-building through the grassroots creation and maintenance of a native Texas Blackland Prairie. 

“It was really great seeing some of the results of our efforts a year ago.  Although we had to remove a lot of invasive grasses, we saw big bunches of Eastern Gamagrass, a plant native to the Blackland Prairie, as well as Little Bluestem, Indiangrass, Goldenrod, Carolina Horse Nettle, Gayfeather and the American Basketflower. It’s a slow process to restore the Blackland Prairie, but definitely worth it!” remarked Burke.  “Our efforts prove that no matter how old you are, you can make a difference in our environment.”

Marcia Haley, President of Twelve Hills Nature Center and Texas Master Naturalist, added, “Twelve Hills appreciates Spencer’s interest and diligence in continuing to restore the lower part of the front meadow to prairie over two years. The habitat is discernably improving! Throughout 2021, we will see many more native plants there with the resulting benefits-more native insects and birds and a prairie area for visitors to enjoy and learn from.”