In early 2018, Dustin McNabb helped his mother-in-law fill a large, deep pit (600’ x 50’ x 20’) in an unfarmed playa on her dryland farm through the Texas Playa Conservation Initiative. The playa sits on the front half of 80 acres, next to a highway in Lubbock County. The family is letting the whole 80 acres go back to natural vegetation, and Dustin is managing it for upland birds.
“I’m the president of the local chapter of Quail Forever. That’s what got me started messing around out there. I’ve always been a hunter and have an affinity for quail and pheasant. So I’ve been working on restoring everything to a native habitat that’s more beneficial to those birds—and anything else that wants to roam around out there.
“Over the last few years, I’ve learned a lot about how important things are and in some cases you need to leave things the way God made ‘em—those playas being one of them. They are designed that way for a reason.
“The Texas Playa Conservation Initiative—how it’s designed, what it’s doing, the way that it’s run—is done very well and done with the best ideas at heart. It really is something I think everyone could benefit from if they would just consider allowing somebody on their property to do some work. It was a great program for us. The wildlife, vegetation, groundwater, and everything is going to benefit in the long run.”