Charleston Reporter

Chelsea Acres, an environmental studies alumna of the College of Charleston, is promoting land acquisition as the most effective way to save rare endangered species.

According to College of Charleston, Acres works as a rare and listed species grant coordinator for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and works around different types of grants in order to preserve land.

"I think that, dollar for dollar, the best way to conserve species is to set aside land – because we can do research all day long, and it’s very important to do so, but the biggest actual changes we can make are to conserve land," Acres said according to The College Today. "I like those grants. I feel like I’m doing a whole lot for Texas wildlife."

Almost 96% of Texas is privately-owned land, so land acquisition and protection efforts make sense.

Acres works with an annual budget of approximately $1.75 million which can be leveraged to approximately 60 grants a year.

"Just the fact that I get to directly impact wildlife conservation in the state, but I don’t have to do the research myself, is really fun," Acres said. "I get such a wide view of what is happening across the state because I manage the projects for the whole state in just this one section."