Lynde Dodd, a research biologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ERDC Environmental Laboratory, still recalls her summer hike three years ago. She walked drainages between subdivisions in Frisco, a booming suburb, conducting a pre-construction vegetation survey.
The first settlers to the Peters Colony 160 years ago encountered bison and a vibrant prairie. It spread across rolling hills that overlook rich North Texas riparian bottomlands. This Blackland Prairie “once exploded with a riot of colorful wildflowers and grasses,” wrote Matt White, author of Prairie Time. “From flowers that bloom barely above the ground to others 10 feet or more in height, the variety of plant life that existed within just a few feet was remarkable.”