Texas is known for being larger than life — a quality that extends to the state’s forests. At its western edge, Douglas-firs and Ponderosa pines grow on the mountain ranges, known regionally as sky islands, which tower over lowland deserts. Iconic native thornforests, one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in North America, grow down south in the Rio Grande Delta. Along the Gulf Coast, the forests of the bottomlands provide both flood control and habitat for migrating birds. Across this great state, forests are home to an incredible diversity of plant and animal species. These forests are also central to the lives of the people who live here and in neighboring Mexico.
Like forests around the country, Texas’ trees are under threat from climate change, overdevelopment, wildfire and disease. So American Forests is working around the state and across the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo to restore and protect the diverse ecosystems that provide wildlife habitat, cleaner air and water, and resilience to climate change — supporting the people who depend on these forests, too.
Overcoming challenges to reforestation
In Texas, one big challenge to reforestation efforts has been the lack of seeds and seedlings to meet the huge need for trees. To address this, American Forests has been working in the Rio Grande Valley, an area that encompasses parts of southern Texas and northern Mexico, to conduct research, create conservation plans and fund seed collection efforts through partnerships with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, state and municipal organizations, and local communities, along with the private landowners who support seed collection and reforestation on their lands.
We’re expanding the approach we’ve used in the Rio Grande Valley to everywhere we work in the state — supporting the entire reforestation process from seed to tree with the help of many. Our most important partners in protecting forests are the people who live and work on this land. Throughout the region, we’re working with land managers, farmers and ranchers to collect seed to grow healthy trees for reforestation, and to restore private and public lands for future generations of wildlife and people.

