---
title: "City of Houston Nature Preserve Ordinance"
slug: "city-of-houston-nature-preserve-ordinance"
updated: 2024-03-26T18:36:44Z
published: 2024-03-26T18:36:44Z
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://fic.naturalareasnyc.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# City of Houston Nature Preserve Ordinance

The City of Houston’s Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD) created a first-of-its-kind Nature Preserve Ordinance to protect existing natural habitat within 26 parks totaling 7,423 acres of land. The purpose of this ordinance is to preserve and protect, in perpetuity, city-owned natural areas by regulating public use and development of these lands. The policy protects threatened ecosystems, important water resources, and locally rare plant and wildlife populations.

### In a nutshell, this resource offers:

- An overview of the City of Houston's nature Preserve Ordinance
- Background of how the ordinance came about.
- Results of the ordinance

### How to use this resource:

- As inspiration for natural areas ordinances in other cities.
- An an explanation of the process of drafting and passing an ordinance.

**Author:**Kelli Ondracek and Cassidy Kempt

**Date published:** 2024

**P****oint of contact:** Kelli Ondracek kelli.ondracek@houstontx.gov

**Citation:**Ondracek, Kelli and Kempt, Cassidy (2024) "City of Houston Nature Preserve Ordinance," Cities and the Environment (CATE): Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 36. DOI: 10.15365/cate.2020.1336

Resource is available online [here](https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol13/iss1/36/).

[Embedded object](https://cdn.document360.io/18a9acd7-787d-47fa-9b54-01592bb1d507/Images/Documentation/City%20of%20Houston%20Nature%20Preserve%20Ordinance.pdf)

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