I-20 Wildlife Preserve
The I-20 Wildlife Preserve is a 100-acre riparian forest campus in Midland, Texas. It is a wild space – not a park – managed by a nonprofit organization. The 86-acre urban playa lake is the highlight of the wetlands, floodplain thickets, and prairie grasslands – providing abundant avian, wildlife, and aquatic habitat. The urban playa at the Preserve is a treasured ecotourism destination of regional significance and a science education resource of the Permian Basin.
PLAYA WILDLIFE
The Preserve's freshwater aquatic biome plays host to a diversity of species. Pocket gophers and rabbits tunnel through plants at the water’s edge. Flycatchers and dragonflies capture insects over the heads of sandpipers and egrets. Mammals like raccoons and bobcats patrol the playa's marshes. Amphibians find habitat in the small ponds and reptiles like turtles, lizards, and snakes make the preserve home.
86-ACRE URBAN PLAYA
A playa lake is an ephemeral wetland found across the High Plains. These features are shallow, clay-lined basins that are a primary source of recharge for the Ogallala aquifer- a vast but rapidly depleted source of groundwater vital to life in the semi arid plains. The urban playa lake of the I-20 Wildlife Preserve, with its surrounding feral forest, prairie grasses, and ponds is a rich center for biodiversity.
CONSERVATION EFFORTS
Our holistic land management practice works to conserve the vibrant nature of the urban playa environment and create opportunities for outdoor and wildlife education. Careful removal of invasive plant species opens the watershed to a greater biodiversity of aquatic and avian wildlife, fortifies the ecological integrity of native plants and animals, and maintains the wild space for future generations to enjoy.
