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December 11, 2025
Kinder Land Bridge and Cyvia & Melvyn Wolff Prairie is wrapping up its third full
growing season since opening the project in early 2023. Since then, many labor hours have been spent caring for the prairie. In 2025, The Memorial Park Conservancy Conservation Department’s Native Habitat team spent spring and summer months mitigating invasions of unwanted plants to limit competition of desired, native coastal prairie plants. Late summer and fall months were spent mowing the prairie to optimize conditions for native seeding.
Native hay containing native plant seeds from a local coastal prairie on the brink of development was salvaged by Native Plant Rescue Project and generously donated to Memorial Park Conservancy. The Conservation team spread the native hay across Kinder Land Bridge and Cyvia & Melvyn Wolff Prairie. Additional seeds from native prairies and trusted vendors, were seeded via a no-till drill. Native seeding across the prairie helps to increase species diversity of native prairie grasses and flowers.
The conversion of this low diversity, thicketed habitat into improved native Gulf Coast prairie and post oak savannah habitats will connect Cyvia & Melvyn Wolff Prairie to the remnant prairie that runs along the railroad.
The Memorial Park Conservancy Conservation Department’s Native Habitat team is completing the first phase of habitat restoration in 7 acres of unmanaged habitat. Invasive species including tallow and deep-rooted sedge cover 30% of the interior area while the perimeter is covered by 60% of shrubby, thicket forming species including invasive ligustrum and native yaupon holly.
Canopy clearing of tallow and undesired, early successional trees will reduce canopy cover to support a native prairie grass community in the interior of this 7-acre space. Clearing of ligustrum and intentional thinning of yaupon will provide space for additional native understory shrubs and increase plant diversity along the perimeter of this space. Healthy post oaks, red oaks, and other diverse trees will remain to provide shade to the surrounding trails. Additional work in spring and summer of 2026 will prepare this site for fall 2026 seeding to increase native plant diversity.
June 4, 2026
June 2, 2026
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