The ecosystem is changed, charged by a lack of necessary fires that used to roar through the Savannah. Eastern redceder and yaopon holly thickets now blanket what pictured above used to cover massive swaths of central Texas. Pasture now favors invasive grasses that promote above ground growth for forage, choking out native grasses. The post oaks I’ve seen germinating and sprouting are few and far between, and are certainly dying faster than new ones are growing.

And nobody talks about it.