Research

Playing fields and rare plants: A winning combination

The latest from the Recreational Sports Journal 

In an article appearing in the Spring 2007 Recreational Sports Journal, authors Dr. Susan Keith and Dr. Bonnie Amos considered outdoor recreational fields from a unique perspective. In the article “Playing Fields and Rare Plants: A Winning Combination,” Keith and Amos tell how new facility construction can occur, while at the same time, and in the same location, the conservation of an endangered plant species can be initiated.

Addressing the problem of a lack of outdoor recreational facilities for one of Texas’s fastest-growing counties, several local agencies and one state agency were involved in discussions with the surrounding community. A needs survey was developed and distributed to residents, 88% of whom indicated that there was a need for “new and different recreational facilities.” It was determined that nearly $1 million would be needed to address the most pressing community recreational needs. The partnering agencies also noted that, “to have a better chance of receiving funding to build the complex, a publicly protected sanctuary” for the Texas poppy mallow (TPM) should be included in the cost of the project.

The Texas poppy mallow is one of 28 plants on the threatened or endangered species list in the state of Texas. It grows in only a few locales within the state, due mainly to the need for an unusual soil composition. The authors indicated that the public’s lack of knowledge of the plant also has been a factor in its diminished growth. Interestingly, the soil found at the proposed sport and recreation complex site was exactly the type needed for the Texas poppy mallow.

Wild Texas poppy mallow seeds were gathered with the permission of private property owners. One acre of the proposed sport and recreation site was set aside for the TPM study, and the authors created experimental plots within the acre of land.

The county received nearly half of the identified funds for the complex and the TPM sanctuary through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Outdoor Recreation Matching Grant Program and Partners for Fish and Wildlife. The authors indicated that the funds were awarded, “in large part, because Mitchell County created a sanctuary for the TPM.”

Although this is one example of a successful recreation-conservation partnership, the authors cautioned that such efforts may be difficult to duplicate in other settings. It can be very difficult to find a situation that serves both the convenience and variety of recreation needed by a community and the specific habitat needs of plants, although, as the authors also noted, such conservational efforts are not limited just to plants. The authors cited conservation-recreation partnerships ongoing at the University of Florida and Western Kentucky University and called for involvement in such partnerships by not only scientists, but also recreational sport professionals.