Keeping What Little Nature We Have Left

I grew up in a small Texas town, surrounded by trees, creeks, and cows. I was able to walk out of my front door and play in any number of natural settings, so it never occurred to me until recently that this was not the norm for the rest of the world as well. Urban areas in Texas are lacking many of these natural surroundings, and it appears that some elected officials are threatening these limited areas for the sake of further urban development.

While researching parks in urban areas, I stumbled across a forum where a traveler outside of Texas asked for recommendations for local Dallas parks or any natural settings in the area. The responses speak for themselves:

“Mmmmm, pickings are slim, speaking as a Dallas native for 18 years. Consider a drive up to Lake Texoma, up on the Texas-Oklahoma border. Decent camping... fairly okay lake.”

“I am sorry to tell you there is not much in the way of nature photography in that part of Texas. Ft. Worth, about one hour west of Dallas has more to offer than Dallas. If you care anything about the Old West, go to Ft. Worth and to the Stockyards.”

“The Trinity River is a lot of unpleasant work, but it should have animals and insects all around its path. Seems like I have seen some swampy looking terrain on I-20 going to Louisiana, so bet there are some critters there, but it would take some effort, ... and you might be trespassing.”

The lack of accessibility to protected natural resources is evident around urban areas, like Dallas. In addition to developing already overdeveloped areas in the state of Texas, right-wing America would like to place a big, fat wall between us and Mexico for an ill-planned, short-term solution to reduce the number of illegal immigrants in our country, a country whose motto used to be “bring us your tired, your poor, your hungry…” which many current citizens’ ancestors benefited from and which gave them the life they lead currently.

The building of this wall is more than just a waste of resources and time; it also endangers wildlife habitats along the Rio Grande, which is home to many birds and endangered species. DailyKos has a wonderful collection of data illustrating the many kinds of wildlife in the area and the destruction which the building of the wall would inflict on the current ecosystem.

Also included in my search for natural parks and wildlife was a nice reminder of what to expect from living in Texas when I head out to the serene countryside.