Grassland Restoration

The Earth Partners’ program for grassland restoration is focused on planting native grass species on fallow, idle or underutilized lands in the Gulf Coast region. This biomass supports the renewable energy market while simultaneously improving the land through increased carbon accruals, improved water quality, and improved soil health.The primary area of interest for grassland restoration is the historic range of coastal prairie along the Gulf of Mexico. This ecoregion encompasses 6.5 million acres in Texas and 2.5 million acres in Southwest Louisiana. Over the last two hundred years this ecosystem was largely converted to agriculture, including sugarcane, rice and cattle grazing, with less than one percent of native coastal prairie remaining. The productivity of this land has decreased over time due to erosion, salination, nutrient depletion, market and policy changes, and brush invasion, thereby resulting in millions of acres fallowed or idled.