Short’s Resort
Field Station
Est. 2026 · No. 01
Section 01 · J-002Field Journal
Field Entry J-002

Two Grants, and What They Buy

The StationOffice of the Steward

Cost-share through NRCS EQIP, and a Texas Parks & Wildlife Pastures for Upland Birds (PUB) grant.

Diagram of grant support: USDA–NRCS EQIP and Texas Parks & Wildlife PUB flow into the station and out to land & vegetation, water & habitat, and stewardship workFig · How the support flows — two grants, pooled into the work

The restoration is supported by partners, and we want to be plain about how. Two specific agreements now underwrite the work. The first is cost-share through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program — NRCS EQIP — administered by the Lampasas County field office. The second is a Texas Parks & Wildlife grant under its Pastures for Upland Birds (PUB) program, which helps landowners convert exotic-grass pasture back to native prairie for grassland birds.

What the support covers

The NRCS EQIP cost-share is tied to named conservation practices — riparian buffer establishment, brush management, native seeding and a windbreak along the eastern boundary. Under PUB, Texas Parks & Wildlife provides the herbicide for the knockdown, the native grass-and-forb seed mix and technical guidance for converting our Tifton 85 hayfield to native prairie. Neither covers the cabin, and neither goes to anyone as a salary.

Pastures for Upland Birds program mark — a meadowlark perched in bluestem and basketflower
Mark · TPWD PUB · The Pastures for Upland Birds program mark — a meadowlark in the bluestem. The grassland conversion on Sections 06 and 07 runs under this flag.
Why say soPublic support should leave a public trail. Practices, acreages and outcomes will be reported here as they are completed, in the same plain format as everything else on this station.

If you are considering similar work on your own ground, both programs are worth a conversation with your local NRCS office and TPWD biologist — the paperwork is real, but the cost-share is what makes a project this size possible for a family holding.

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