Katy Prairie Conservancy - History of Katy Prairie

History of Katy Prairie

Katy Prairie lies in the Texas Coastal Plain, and encompasses over a thousand square miles, (Wermund, 1994) bound by the Brazos River on the southwest, pine-hardwood forest on the north, and the city of Houston on the east. Historically, Katy Prairie was characterized as a poorly drained tall-grass prairie subject to periodic fires and containing a considerable amount of wetland areas.

Comanche and Karankawa Native Americans were the first humans to use the prairie, following the bison herds which grazed the area. The standing ponds were frequented by thousands of ducks. Up until the end of the 19th century, the prairie remained more or less untouched by Europeans. Around 1870 the first settlers began to raise corn, potatoes, and cattle on the prairie. At the turn of the century, rice farmers appeared, creating 30-acre (120,000 m2) fields harvested by hand. Sportsmen began to take advantage of the hunting opportunities, hunting the indigenous ducks, Curlews, and Prairie Chickens. Small-scale agriculture had only a minor impact on the region, and the prairie remained primarily a plain/prairie ecosystem. In 1914, George Finlay Simmons described the area as still "a coastal prairie region with few farms and ranches; the only timber lies in strips from a quarter to a half mile wide along Buffalo and Bray's Bayous. The remainder of the country is flat, uncultivated prairie, sprinkled with small ponds and grassy marshes".

With the escalation of rice farming and population in the 1930s and 1940s came an increase in hunting and birding. Ducks remained the most popular species, but hunted species included snipe, cranes, doves, quail, rails, and geese. The presence of ducks and doves increased, directly due to the habitat availability afforded by the flooded rice fields. However, as farming ate up grassland areas, upland species such as the Prairie Chicken declined drastically.

Farming advancements during the 1950s and 1960s boosted rice farming to a large scale. It was at this time that the Snow Goose emerged onto the rairie. Historically, the snow goose wintered in the marshes and prairies along the coast. Vast amounts of available open-water habitat combined with waste rice created by modern farming methods created exceptionally conducive wintering grounds and thousands of geese moved inland to the new habitat. Migratory birds increasingly depend upon this habitat as other areas along the Gulf Coast have diminished in size or lost to development.

Eventually, developers began to appear on the prairie. The city of Houston experienced a huge growth spurt and began spreading to the west and northwest. From 1978 to 1983, 100,000 acres (400 km2) of the prairie were converted to urban use, primarily residential, with some industrial and retail. This was coupled with a decline in rice farming, with land use for rice falling 59% in Waller County from 1980-1992.

Urbanization will have consequences for the future of the prairie, as agricultural use has been consistent with its role as a wildlife habitat for nearly one hundred years. Rice farms in particular provide the wetlands necessary for migratory waterfowl to thrive, while pastures and other croplands provide essential food and cover. Encroaching development puts this function at risk.