Historic Texas Ranch Secures Conservation Easement Protecting Thousands of Acres of Coastal Prairie

The T.M. O'Connor Ranch, a family-owned cattle operation dating back to 1834, has been placed under an $8.863 million conservation easement that protects about 6,409 acres of coastal prairie in Goliad County. Funding came primarily from a RESTORE Council grant administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, with additional contributions from The Nature Conservancy, the Knobloch Family Foundation, Frank Klein and H-E-B. This marks the first easement approved by the RESTORE Council and the largest Gulf-region land-protection deal funded through the RESTORE Act.

While the easement limits future development, the O'Connor family retains ownership and will continue cattle grazing, integrating ranch management with conservation goals. The protected landscape provides critical habitat for over 300 species, including the Attwater's prairie chicken, black rail, Sprague's pipit and the region-specific Refugio rain lily. Researchers from Texas A&M University will collaborate on stewardship and monitoring to maintain the prairie’s ecological functions, such as flood buffering and carbon storage.