30 Acres: Marfa Grasslands - Community Planning Phase
Marfa, Texas is surrounded by pristine landscape—an area that boasts some of Texas’ finest rangeland in a precious piece of the Chihuahuan Desert region, where desert grasslands are a critical ecosystem for many plants, animals, and migratory birds. Yet, for Marfa’s community, there is no access to the landscape that it is known for and the nearest trail areas require a sixty mile round trip to access.
As part of the project, Judd Foundation is working to restore a 30-acre section of grassland that the Foundation owns, while creating a publicly accessible recreational and educational walking trail.
Big Bend Conservation Alliance partnered in the first year of the project to coordinate community feedback through a series of focus groups and to raise funds for the planning process, conservation easement, and educational signage that includes Indigenous perspective.
Protecting the grasslands of the Chihuahuan Desert is a critical task. Many of the grasslands surrounding Marfa have been overgrazed by cattle operations, and mesquite and other shrubs have spread. Since 1970, grassland birds that winter in the Chihuahuan Desert have declined 70%—more than twice the 33% rate of decline throughout all of North America. As habitat for grassland birds continues to vanish, this has created an urgent conservation crisis.
With 95% of the land in Texas privately owned, this initiative presents a rare opportunity to restore 30 acres close to Marfa and open it up for public access; a project which will provide an opportunity for walking in the landscape, which surrounds a resident’s everyday life.
Community Planning Phase
In the project’s planning phase, Big Bend Conservation Alliance invited community members into the planning process with the goal to create a place of recreation that would improve healthy living.
Small focus groups helped inform the site design. Special attention was paid to ensure focus group representation mirrored the demographics of the Marfa community and included involvement from elders to address accessibility; parents to address the needs of children and families; and teachers and students of Marfa High School.
Small focus groups were convened to discuss the needs of community members for the site design.
Focus groups indicated:
A want to keep the site as welcoming and accessible to everyone and to accommodate as many needs as possible.
Requests for shade and accessible places to sit. Overwhelmingly, participants asked for these interventions and any structures to be designed to fit into the landscape as much as possible.
Requests for an accessible path. Elders wanted a stable walking surface and families would appreciate the ability to bring small children on pedal bikes.
Requests for accessible parking. Families will likely drive to the site to maximize time on the grasslands and elders reported the need to have the option to drive with accessible parking spots.
Requests for access to bathrooms and drinking water. Families and elders, especially, asked for bathrooms. Many felt bathrooms were a necessity even knowing the site’s close proximity to town.
Requests that the site be designed for both contemplation and social interaction.
Curiosity and learning were major themes. Many expressed a need for educational signage and families asked for kid-friendly signage and activities.
Groups agreed this site didn’t need to replicate city services found in the city parks. This site can function for a different purpose knowing that other places in Marfa already meet specific needs.
This feedback will inform the first draft of the site design and Judd Foundation will now take the project forward into its next phases.
The planning phase of the project has been generously supported by grants from Union Pacific Foundation, Shield-Ayres Foundation, East Mountain Foundation, Conservation Alliance, and Lush Cosmetics Charity Pot.
About the 30 Acres
Donald Judd and Judd Foundation have protected the 30 acres, which sits off of Ranch Road 2810, for the last forty years. Judd Foundation had been discussing the use of the land as part of broader thinking on land stewardship and its importance as part of Donald Judd’s legacy in West Texas and had been exploring how it could utilize its existing resources in partnerships with organizations throughout the Big Bend. Recognizing the lack of publicly-accessible intact grasslands of the Marfa Plateau, the Foundation partnered with Big Bend Conservation Alliance in the planning phase to utilize the 30 acres as a community trail.
Press
Big Bend Sentinel, ”Judd Foundation, Big Bend Conservation Alliance to partner on native grassland trail for Marfa” by Mary Cantrell. March 2, 2022
Big Bend Sentinel, “Portraits from the Big Bend: Nakaya Flotte, advocate and student of traditional Lipan Apache culture” by Mary Cantrell. June 15, 2022