Lone Star Land Stewards 2013 - Daphne prairie - Texas parks and wildlife [official]
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{Music}
[Narration] Up in North East Texas youíll find Daphne
Prairie, and that guy over on the hill, thatís landowner B.F. Hicks.
[Narration] Now this prairie is specialÖya see these
mounds are called Mima moundsÖ. and theyíre here because this land has never been plowed.
[B.F. Hicks] This particular piece was set aside as a hay
meadow about the time of the civil war, that means no cattle were even allowed to graze
on it. So youíve got these pimple mounds these mima mounds sometimes called that are
like pimples on the face of the earth and theyíre actual geological formations, the
tallest left in the state of Texas.
{Music}
[B.F. Hicks] I guess youíd have to call it pride of place,
I grew up here, I was always around this property, my family always took a lot of pride in it,
I take a lot of pride in it.
{Music fades}
[Pat Merkord] These Mima mounds are just so astounding thereís
very little of these left anywhere.
{Grasses run along boots}
[Pat Merkord] We did surveys of prairies about three years
ago and we found that there was less than one percent of the prairies that are native
still left in the whole state of Texas. That means that this is an extraordinary rare prairie
and weíre excited that B.F. has worked so hard to maintain it and save it for future
generations.
{Fire crackles}
[Narration] To help preserve it for future generations
B.F. sets fire to this prairie every other year.
[Andrew Trampus] We do prescribed burns out here on the prairie
to reduce *** stem growth, we also do it to increase nutrients back into the soils,
ya know itís just a good all natural way to do it.
[B.F. Hicks] The environment is so important to me in terms
of what we have to do to try and step up to the plate and protect what we can and if something
was given to us and is passed to us, thatís our legacy and Iíll do what I can to protect
it!
[Narration] The biggest joy for BF is to open up his prairie
home to anyone that wants to visit.
{Music}
[Tina Fountain] This is my first time, and Iím excited. My
children are excited, so itís my very first time.
{American kestrel calls}
[Cliff Shackelford] Up in the tree is an American kestrel. Itís
our smallest bird of prey, itís a raptor, itís a falcon.
{Upland Sandpiper calls}
[Tina Fountain] There go two of em, right there!
[Cliff Shackelford] Everybody see em! There that, whew,wheew,wheeew!
[Cliff Shackelford] That Upland Sandpiper that we just looked
at, heís just passing through, and the Daphne Prairie is like a gas station where you gotta
refuel on a long journey.
{Music fades}
[Cliff Shackelford] Some of our grassland species are in severe
decline, species like the Eastern Meadowlark and the Northern Bob-white, and itís critical
that we have properties like this Daphne Prairie to give those species a place to call home.
{Music}
[B.F. Hicks] There are not enough places in Texas where
small children can come out on an open piece of land and trape back across grasslands,
prairies, I want to share that.
[Cliff Shackelford] You can hear that Meadowlark heís making
that chatter.
{Eastern Meadowlark}
[Keewee Fountain] It has a little bit of blackÖ
[Tina Fountain] I like the fact that heís um, able to see
the defining colors of a bird up close and personal.
[Tina Fountain] Yep, thatís it, thatís it!
[Tina Fountain] The looks on their face is priceless, and
to see my children so anxious to come out, this is so amazing. I canít wait to do it
again!
[B.F. Hicks] The gates are always open or will be open
for them, as long as I live anywayÖ.
{Music fades}
