Coastal Prairie Conservancy enters preservation agreement with Three Oaks Farm in Waller County | Houston Public Media

The Coastal Prairie Conservancy has preserved another 220 acres of land in the Houston region.

The organization has entered into an agreement with the landowners of the Three Oaks Farm, which is located about an hour northwest of Houston. It will permanently protect the property from development, even if it’s sold to other owners.

“We have been working since 1992 to protect a contiguous, large preserve area,” said Elisa Macia Donavan, the organization’s vice president and general counsel. “The new transaction that we just recently closed is right in the middle. It was a critical puzzle piece within the midst of our already protected lands.”

The property is home to wetlands, farmland, and native grasses, offering a habitat for birds such as the bobwhite quail, loggerhead shrike and eastern meadowlark.

“Having that mosaic of all the different types of land uses is super valuable for all the different kinds of birds that use it and other animals,” Donavan said.

Though it’s still privately owned, the Three Oaks Farm is now part of the protected lands in the Katy Prairie Preserve, which spans more than 19,500 acres across Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties.

Three Oaks Farm is located in Waller County, a rural, fast-growing part of the greater Houston area. The county is on track to hit 120,000 residents by 2040, according to the Houston-Galveston Area Council. That’s more than double its population during the last U.S. Census in 2020.

Wesley Newman, the organization’s conservation director, has seen that development take off throughout the years. In a town near the nature preserve, a row of signs at an intersection advertises new homes, both for sale and for rent.

Newman said that preserving and managing the wetlands and prairies helps to prevent flooding in neighborhoods downstream.

“We can hold more water out here than we could if it were rooftops,” he said.

Newman also said it’s important to preserve the natural habitats of native species and provide an area where people can relax in nature, even as the city grows.

“People need spaces to decompress, and having some large areas of open space, I think, is beneficial,” he said.