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City Of Houston Nature Preserve Ordinance, Kelli Ondracek, Cassidy Kempt

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

The City of Houston’s Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD) created a first-of-its-kind Nature Preserve Ordinance to protect existing natural habitat within 26 parks totaling 7,423 acres of land. The purpose of this ordinance is to preserve and protect, in perpetuity, city-owned natural areas by regulating public use and development of these lands. The policy protects threatened ecosystems, important water resources, and locally rare plant and wildlife populations.