PRESIDIO COUNTY — On October 5, the Chihuahuan Desert Preserve Association (CDPA) officially dedicated a field station in a remote pocket of Presidio County. The station will soon provide a safe place to bunk for researchers hoping to study some of the Chihuahuan Desert’s rarest plants on 2,200 acres of virtually untouched wilderness.
The CDPA field station was officially named for Blake Williams, a lawyer-turned-researcher whose passion for the plants of the Chihuahuan Desert led him to join forces with botanist Martin Terry, Keeper Trout and a scrappy crew of academics, Indigenous leaders and other passionate protectors to found the Cactus Conservation Institute.
The institute’s work paired naturally with Terry’s passion project — formally designating a sanctuary for these plants in the context of their native ecosystem. In 2001, he started buying up land in Presidio County that would later become the CDPA’s stomping grounds.
Six years ago, construction began in earnest on what would later be named the Blake Williams Desert Research Field Station. CDPA board member and self-described “green builder” Kevin Bishop inherited the project, designed to function fully off-grid with solar power and water catchment.
For now, the field station is mostly a crash pad for folks from around the world who travel to the preserve for research. The board hopes to eventually fulfill the original vision of having an attached laboratory and greenhouse but for now is focused on fundraising to finish the existing building.
Bishop explained that because the facility is so remote, the up-front cost of construction is quadruple that of a traditional build — but its eco-friendly nature will cut costs in the long run. “It’s pretty amazing the way it’s designed,” he said.
The CDPA station is not open to the public without advance notice and “bona-fide credentials,” Terry’s partner Dee Blinka said. Those credentials don’t have to include a Ph.D., but cultural sensitivity and a commitment to preservation is a must.
As the Big Bend grows in popularity and becomes more developed, there are fewer and fewer places for native plants to grow without incursions from well-intentioned flower pickers to organized rings of cactus smugglers. “It’s not an elitist thing,” Blinka explained. “It’s a gem. It’s quite rugged to get to, and people will tell me that it’s like someone’s not stepped there in 20 years.”
Among the few who visit, she hopes that they will find it an inclusive space. A huge part of Terry’s work and legacy includes advocacy for Indigenous groups, preserving the native plants of the region that help tell a cultural story as well as a scientific one. As a part of that vision, he hopes to eventually put the land under Native stewardship.
That commitment to diversity extends to folks with impaired mobility. After braving the bumpy dirt road to get to the field station, the untouched desert is immediately accessible right outside the door. “If you have people that are in a wheelchair but have never been able to take a tissue sample of a cactus in the Chihuahuan Desert, they would easily be able to do that,” Blinka said.
In addition to the complex plant world at the sanctuary, endangered animal species have come home to roost. The Mexican long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris nivalis) splits time between the CDPA and a cave in Big Bend National Park. To fuel their long journey, they feed on agave nectar, which they use their signature 3-inch nose to sip between flower petals.
The sanctuary is also home to the rough-footed mud turtle (Kinosternon hiritipes). It’s the rarest turtle in Texas, and can only be found this side of the border in Presidio County. The turtles can live in small pools of water, meaning they can make a home in even the tiniest of desert oases.
Bishop hopes that the field station he’s building will eventually promote the study of a wide range of Chihuahuan Desert critters, from rare cacti to creosote, bats to butterflies. The CDPA has partnered with groups like the Rio Grande Joint Venture to help bring their collective dreams to life. “I can’t think of a better project because they’re integrated with all these different conservation groups,” he said. “Everyone backing it has the best intentions.”
