KINGSVILLE (Sept. 3, 2024) — Texas Native Seeds (TNS), a research program of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute (CKWRI) at 91AV (TAMUK), recently received a grant from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
The $1.8 million grant was awarded for the project “Evaluation of Native Seed Varieties for Potential Use on Road Rights-Of-Ways,” an ongoing partnership between TxDot and TNS involving the use of native grass on road right of ways (ROWs), which includes all land along the highways and farm-to-market roads in Texas.
Funds assist TNS in its research efforts to identify and formulate seed mixes that will help TxDot create regenerative right of ways, where native grass is used to minimize maintenance through herbicide or mowing, as well as create new and have new grass species commercially available.
“Having this continued support at a state level, allows TNS to be able to put in the lengthy time needed to complete these releases,” said Dr. Anthony Falk, Dan L. Duncan Endowed Director of the Texas Native Seeds Program. “It allows us to continue to release new species and allows us to have a greater diversity commercially available on the landscape as well as help TxDot be successful in reseeding in more diverse areas.”
TxDot is tasked with caring for an estimated 800,000 acres of land across Texas, creating a need for a variety of grass species that will not only make maintenance easier, but will ensure the grass survives and thrives in different parts of the state.
That means ensuring species do not burn well, so they can hold up in areas that are more apt to burning such as the Panhandle or the Great Plains and that they are resistant to things such as erosion so that sediment can stay in place.
“The partnership is huge and it keeps us going in the right direction towards regenerative right of ways,” TxDot Vegetation Specialist and TAMUK alumnus Travis Jez said. “What TNS does is do all the research on our grasses for us. We tell them what we’re looking for, either being short variety or pollinators and they help us formulate the mixes that we use along our right of ways. (Falk’s) group has been great.
“What they are doing is beyond amazing,” Jez added. “They are able to do it so quickly in regard to finding new varieties of grasses, going out and taking wild harvest, putting them in their plots and looking at what TxDot’s needs or wants are and formulating seed mixes for us.”
Falk went on to say the support from TxDot helps allow TNS to conduct research that makes native seeds available wherever they are needed or desired.
“This underpins what we do,” Falk said. “These releases are not just available for TxDot, they are commercially available for everybody. The support TxDot provides helps native seeds available for everybody on the landscape, whether that’s a pipeline company, homeowner or another state or federal agency that wants to restore native grasslands.”
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