Thank you to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, NRCS, EPA, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Texas Forest Service, Shell Oil, ConocoPhillips, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Harris County Flood Control District, City of Houston and multiple other counties, cities and corporate groups for their support of various Collaborative Grants faciliated by Houston Wilderness

Background

HW's Collaborative Grant Organizing (CGO) Program serves regional stakeholders, network partners and various environmental groups with 1) research, 2) facilitation of awarded grant proposals and 3) capacity building for the drafting and submission of collaborative grant proposals that can be submitted to various state and federal agencies, and accounting training processes using Quickbooks software for grant bookkeeping and accounting. Funded collaborative projects are often in “pioneering” areas of environmental planning and resilience for the Greater Gulf-Houston Region, and including critically-needed nature-based infrastructure development, such as large-scale urban and suburban natuve grass bioswales and restorative prairie and coastal wetlands, targeted large-scale native tree plantings to reduce air and water pollution, provide flood and erosion control - particularly in high environmental risk and industrial areas of the region, and sustainable fruit and nut trees in high health-risk communities.

Since 2013, the CGO Program has assisted in facilitating funding for over $2.5 million in nature-based projects and initiatives benefiting the Greater Gulf-Houston Region.

Houston Wilderness is currently working with over 125 different partners on the following advancements in nature-based infrastructure, restoration and resilience in the following pioneering areas:

Texas Monarch Flyway Strategy a statewide effort to restore, increase and enhance Monarch habitat across the state as critical links in the Monarch butterfly's journey along the Central Flyway from Canada to Mexico and back every year, facilitated by Houston Wilderness with over 100 public/private partners. The Texas MFS also serves to protect habitat for other pollinators that are crucial to local ecosystems and agriculture. Obtain a copy of the Texas MFS - Pollinator Habitat Step-by-Step Guide Here!
Houston Ship Channel Tree Riparian Environmental Ecosystem Services (HSC TREES) Program - conducting targeted large-scale native tree plantings using the 14 native Super Trees that contribute to reduced air pollution, water absorption and carbon sequestration. (see HSC TREES Program)
Riverine Targeted Use of Buyouts (Riverine TUBs) Program – In partnership with the Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas (IDRT), Texas A&M University-Galveston, Harris County and surrounding counties, Harris County Flood Control District, and the City of Houston, the TUBS Program creates river and waterway resilience by installing nature-based stabilization techniques (including large-scale native tree plantings and bioswales) on county/city buyout properties that are adjacent to various riparian corridors and continguous with existing public parks and other open spaces.
Regional Native Seed Mix Project - a multi-year collaborative program facilitated by Houston Wilderness, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD), and Texas A&M University – Kingsville focused on development of an available and affordable regional native grass seed mix(es) to provide valuable ecosystem services and increased ecological resilience along riparian corridors in Harris County. Structurally mature and floristically complex native plant communities along riparian corridors will increase ecological resilience by 1) decreasing erosion, 2) decreasing sedimentation in rivers and waterways, 3) increasing streambank productivity, 4) improving local water quality and supply characteristics, and 5) enhancing overall environmental functions and processes.