// fs-data.jsx — content & fixtures for Short's Resort Field Station (SRFS) // Voice: institutional, plural ("the Steward's Office", "the field crew"), never personal names. const SITE = { name:"Short\u2019s Resort Field Station", abbr:'SRFS', est:'Est. 2026 · Texas Hill Country' }; // funders — real programs, links, and the specific grants received const FUNDERS = [ { k:'USDA \u00b7 NRCS', mark:'nrcs', program:'Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)', office:'Lampasas County field office · Texas', url:'https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/environmental-quality-incentives-program/texas/environmental-quality', short:'NRCS EQIP' }, { k:'Texas Parks & Wildlife', mark:'tpwd', program:'Pastures for Upland Birds (PUB)', office:'Native grassland restoration cost-share', url:'https://tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/land/habitats/post_oak/pub/', short:'TPWD · Pastures for Upland Birds' }, ]; // seed supplier + the native mix (designed by TPWD under PUB, sourced from Bamert) const SEED_PROVIDER = { k:'Bamert Seed Company', place:'Muleshoe, Texas', url:'https://bamertseed.com/', note:'Regionally sourced native seed; mix designed by Texas Parks & Wildlife under the PUB program.' }; const SEEDMIX = [ { t:'G', sp:'Little Bluestem \u201cOK Select\u201d', lat:'Schizachyrium scoparium', pct:15 }, { t:'G', sp:'Big Bluestem \u201cEarl\u201d', lat:'Andropogon gerardii', pct:10 }, { t:'G', sp:'Switchgrass \u201cBlackwell\u201d', lat:'Panicum virgatum', pct:10 }, { t:'G', sp:'Indiangrass \u201cLometa\u201d', lat:'Sorghastrum nutans', pct:10 }, { t:'F', sp:'Illinois Bundleflower \u201cSabine\u201d', lat:'Desmanthus illinoensis', pct:6 }, { t:'G', sp:'Sideoats Grama \u201cEl Reno\u201d', lat:'Bouteloua curtipendula', pct:5 }, { t:'F', sp:'American Basketflower', lat:'Centaurea americana', pct:5 }, { t:'F', sp:'Engelmann Daisy \u201cEldorado\u201d', lat:'Engelmannia peristenia', pct:5 }, { t:'F', sp:'Maximilian Sunflower', lat:'Helianthus maximiliani', pct:5 }, { t:'F', sp:'Dotted Gayfeather', lat:'Liatris punctata', pct:5 }, { t:'F', sp:'Blackeyed Susan', lat:'Rudbeckia hirta', pct:5 }, { t:'G', sp:'Eastern Gamagrass \u201cPete\u201d', lat:'Tripsacum dactyloides', pct:5 }, { t:'G', sp:'Buffalograss \u201cTexoka\u201d', lat:'Bouteloua dactyloides', pct:2 }, { t:'G', sp:'Canada Wildrye \u201cLavaca\u201d', lat:'Elymus canadensis', pct:2 }, { t:'G', sp:'Virginia Wildrye', lat:'Elymus virginicus', pct:2 }, { t:'G', sp:'Vine Mesquite', lat:'Panicum obtusum', pct:2 }, { t:'G', sp:'White Tridens \u201cGuadalupe\u201d', lat:'Tridens albescens', pct:2 }, { t:'F', sp:'Mexican Hat \u201cVNS\u201d', lat:'Ratibida columnifera', pct:2 }, { t:'F', sp:'Purple Prairie Clover \u201cCuero\u201d', lat:'Dalea purpurea', pct:1 }, { t:'F', sp:'Doveweed Croton', lat:'Croton monanthogynus', pct:1 }, ]; // section registry (nav + frontispiece tiles) const SECTIONS = [ { id:'journal', no:'01', title:'Field Journal', blurb:'A field desk of dispatches, grounds reports, builds and stewardship — not a chronological feed.' }, { id:'land', no:'02', title:'The Land', blurb:'Seven restoration sections across the tract, mapped from the air along the Lampasas.' }, { id:'ii', no:'03', title:'Instruments & Infrastructure', blurb:'The things we build to do the work — from the propagation bench to wildlife guzzlers — and the open software that runs them.' }, { id:'library', no:'04', title:'R&D Library', blurb:'A credited reading list for Central Texas native propagation, and our own species notes.' }, { id:'about', no:'05', title:'About', blurb:'The property, the institution behind it and the partners who support the work.' }, ]; // field-journal sections (news-desk taxonomy, not a blog) const JOURNAL_CATS = [ { id:'grounds', t:'Grounds & Restoration', d:'Land work — clearing, burndown, seeding, survey and the plan behind it.' }, { id:'builds', t:'Instruments & Builds', d:'The apparatus and open software we make to do the work.' }, { id:'stewardship', t:'Grants & Stewardship', d:'Funding, partners and how the institution runs.' }, { id:'origins', t:'History & Origins', d:'How the place came to be, and why we started.' }, ]; // ---- land: the seven restoration sections ---- const LAND = [ { n:'01', nm:'River Conservation Strip', c:'#5C7A78', care:'Riparian', ac:'8.13 ac', ds:'Lampasas River frontage held out of production; bank stabilization and native cane.' }, { n:'02', nm:'Eastern Shelterbelt', c:'#8E9B85', care:'Woody', ac:'—', ds:'High ground along the highway; multi-row windbreak of cedar elm and live oak.' }, { n:'03', nm:'Drainage Savanna Corridor', c:'#5C7A78', care:'Riparian', ac:'—', ds:'Seasonal drainage kept as open savanna to slow and spread runoff.' }, { n:'04', nm:'Western Headwaters Savanna', c:'#B58A3C', care:'Woody', ac:'—', ds:'The spring source wedge; light woody cover over restored short grasses.' }, { n:'05', nm:'North Inflow Filter Band', c:'#5C7A78', care:'Riparian', ac:'—', ds:'Vegetated filter strip catching sheet flow before the river.' }, { n:'06', nm:'Floodplain Agricultural Basin', c:'#7A2E1E', care:'Ag', ac:'—', ds:'Bottomland transitioning from Tifton 85 hay to native prairie under PUB.' }, { n:'07', nm:'Western Agricultural Uplands', c:'#B58A3C', care:'Ag', ac:'—', ds:'Upland fields being converted to native forage and pollinator margins.' }, ]; // ---- Instruments & Infrastructure ---- const II_STATUS = { Built:'var(--sage-deep)', 'In Progress':'var(--ochre-deep)', Planned:'var(--river-deep)' }; const II_ITEMS = [ { k:'INF-01', t:'Propagation Unit No. 01', status:'Built', dept:'forestry_liveoak_bold', demo:true, d:'A four-shelf, semi-automated bench that raises native restoration stock from seed and cutting with per-shelf moisture, light and air. The flagship — with a live demo and operator control.' }, { k:'INF-02', t:'Mobile Field Unit 01', status:'In Progress', dept:'water_wavesbolt', d:'One towable platform doing two jobs: a tank-and-pump rig that carries water to new plantings through the establishment years, and a mount for trail cameras and a weather station that feed the same open record as the bench. Irrigation and monitoring, on wheels.' }, { k:'INF-03', t:'Wildlife Guzzler', status:'Planned', dept:'water_wavesbolt', d:'A roofed catchment feeding a low guzzler — reliable drinking water for wildlife through the dry Central Texas summers.' }, { k:'INF-04', t:'Bat Houses', status:'Planned', dept:'wildlife_antlers', d:'Multi-chamber roosts along the river edge for insect control and habitat — a small build with an outsized effect on the evening sky.' }, { k:'INF-05', t:'Public Water Supply', status:'Planned', dept:'water_wavesbolt', d:'A separate initiative to bring potable water on site — for drinking, to fill the Mobile Field Unit’s watering trailer and as a remote on-site water source for cabin visitors.' }, { k:'INF-06', t:'Water Well', status:'Planned', dept:'water_wavesbolt', d:'A dedicated well to supply the Mobile Field Unit’s watering trailer, provide potable water on the far side of the property, put a water source closer to the cabin and water surrounding and native plantings directly from the well.' }, ]; // ---- station telemetry (read-only placeholder; powers the II flagship board) ---- const STATION = { rackStatus:'Operational', reservoir:78, shelves:[ { n:'01', sp:'Bald Cypress', tag:'TAXODIUM DISTICHUM', m:71, lo:62, hi:80, t:74, st:'Healthy', c:'var(--sage-deep)' }, { n:'02', sp:'Possumhaw Holly', tag:'ILEX DECIDUA', m:57, lo:55, hi:72, t:76, st:'Monitoring', c:'var(--ochre-deep)' }, { n:'03', sp:'Switchgrass', tag:'PANICUM VIRGATUM', m:64, lo:45, hi:65, t:75, st:'Healthy', c:'var(--sage-deep)' }, { n:'04', sp:'\u2014', tag:'BAY AVAILABLE', m:0, lo:0, hi:0, t:0, st:'Vacant', c:'#1B181355' }, ], }; const STAT_COLOR = { Healthy:'var(--sage-deep)', Monitoring:'var(--ochre-deep)', Dry:'var(--ochre-deep)', 'Sensor Fault':'var(--oxblood)', Watering:'var(--river-deep)', Vacant:'#1B181355', Operational:'var(--sage-deep)' }; // ---- software (open source) ---- const REPO = { path:'github.com/shortsfieldstation/propagation-unit', license:'MIT', lang:'JS · Python' }; const MODULES = [ { k:'unit-firmware', t:'Controller firmware', d:'ESP32 sketch — sensors, valves, lighting, fan; serves the state API.', l:'Arduino / C++' }, { k:'unit-ui', t:'Rack + dashboard UI', d:'The 4.5-inch touchscreen and web control center you can try below.', l:'React' }, { k:'section-atlas', t:'Section atlas', d:'The tract, restoration sections and care classes as portable GeoJSON + SVG.', l:'GeoJSON' }, { k:'field-schema', t:'Field-record schema', d:'The specimen, seed-lot and event formats behind the stamps and logs.', l:'JSON Schema' }, ]; // ---- R&D Library ---- const LIB_RESOURCES = [ { t:'Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center', d:'Native Plant Database — the first stop for Texas species, ranges and growing conditions.', url:'https://www.wildflower.org/plants/', org:'UT Austin' }, { t:'Native Plant Society of Texas (NPSOT)', d:'Chapters, plant lists and propagation guidance by region — our reference for reconciling species notes.', url:'https://npsot.org/', org:'NPSOT' }, { t:'USDA PLANTS Database', d:'Authoritative distribution, wetland status and nomenclature for every species.', url:'https://plants.usda.gov/', org:'USDA' }, { t:'USDA–NRCS Plant Materials (Texas)', d:'Technical notes, plant guides and release information for restoration plantings — including the Central Texas PMC at Knox City.', url:'https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/plant-materials', org:'USDA–NRCS' }, { t:'TPWD — Pastures for Upland Birds', d:'The program guiding our grassland conversion — practices, focal species and recommended natives.', url:'https://tpwd.texas.gov/landwater/land/habitats/post_oak/pub/', org:'Texas Parks & Wildlife' }, { t:'Bamert Seed Company', d:'Muleshoe, TX — regionally sourced native seed and the supplier of our PUB mix.', url:'https://bamertseed.com/', org:'Muleshoe, TX' }, { t:'West Texas Native Nursery', d:'A source for buying native container plants and stock suited to West Texas and Hill Country landscapes.', url:'https://westtexasnursery.com/', org:'West Texas' }, { t:'Agrotech of Lampasas', d:'Our service provider for grassland restoration — drone herbicide application, burndown and native reseeding.', url:'https://agrotechtexas.com/', org:'Service Provider · Lampasas, TX' }, ]; // Focus species for the restoration — long but deliberately not exhaustive. const LIB_SPECIES = [ // ---- Trees & Shrubs (bench, shelterbelt, river) ---- { slug:'bald-cypress', type:'Woody', sp:'Bald Cypress', tag:'Taxodium distichum', sec:'01 · River', method:'Seed / hardwood cutting', treat:'Cold-moist stratify 60–90 d', prov:'Lampasas drainage', note:'Our anchor for the river conservation strip. Collect cones locally in fall; float-test to cull empties, then cold-moist stratify. Cuttings root but slowly — seed is our main line. Wants wet feet its first years, which is why bald cypress leads the propagation bench.' }, { slug:'live-oak', type:'Woody', sp:'Live Oak', tag:'Quercus fusiformis', sec:'02 · Shelter', method:'Seed (acorn)', treat:'Sow fresh — no dormancy', prov:'On-site mother trees', note:'The signature tree of the property and our Forestry mark. Acorns have essentially no dormancy and must never dry out — collect and sow immediately. Slow above ground, fast below; a lifetime tree planted for the next steward.' }, { slug:'cedar-elm', type:'Woody', sp:'Cedar Elm', tag:'Ulmus crassifolia', sec:'02 · Shelter', method:'Seed', treat:'Sow fresh — germinates readily', prov:'Eastern boundary', note:'Backbone of the eastern shelterbelt. Unusual among elms in seeding in fall; sow the winged samaras fresh and they germinate without stratification. Tough, drought-hardy and already the healthiest woody cover we have.' }, { slug:'possumhaw-holly', type:'Woody', sp:'Possumhaw Holly', tag:'Ilex decidua', sec:'02 · Shelter', method:'Seed / semi-hardwood cutting', treat:'Warm then cold stratify', prov:'Local, dioecious — keep males', note:'Winter berries for birds and a bright note in the shelterbelt understory. Dioecious, so we hold back known males when we thin. Seed is slow and double-dormant; semi-hardwood cuttings under mist are the faster route.' }, { slug:'texas-redbud', type:'Woody', sp:'Texas Redbud', tag:'Cercis canadensis var. texensis', sec:'02 · Shelter', method:'Seed', treat:'Scarify + cold stratify', prov:'Hill Country', note:'Early spring color for the shelterbelt edge. Hard seed coat needs scarification (hot water or a brief acid soak) followed by cold stratification. Glossy, drought-hardy leaves once established.' }, { slug:'buttonbush', type:'Woody', sp:'Buttonbush', tag:'Cephalanthus occidentalis', sec:'01 · River', method:'Softwood cutting / seed', treat:'Cuttings root fast in wet media', prov:'River edge', note:'A wetland shrub for the river strip and pollinator gold. Softwood cuttings root quickly; seed germinates on wet mud. Tolerates standing water better than almost anything else we grow.' }, // ---- Grasses (uplands, floodplain — the PUB drill mix) ---- { slug:'little-bluestem', type:'Grass', sp:'Little Bluestem', tag:'Schizachyrium scoparium', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed (drill)', treat:'Minimal; fresh sows well', prov:'Central TX ecotype', note:'The backbone bunchgrass of the upland mix and 15% of the PUB blend. Fresh, local-ecotype seed establishes readily by no-till drill. Copper fall color is the tell that a stand has taken.' }, { slug:'big-bluestem', type:'Grass', sp:'Big Bluestem', tag:'Andropogon gerardii', sec:'06 · Floodplain', method:'Seed (drill)', treat:'Light stratify; debeard seed', prov:'Regional ecotype', note:'Tallgrass signature, 10% of the mix. Fluffy seed drills best debearded. Slow to bulk up but long-lived and deep-rooted once it settles in — the "turkeyfoot" seedhead is unmistakable.' }, { slug:'switchgrass', type:'Grass', sp:'Switchgrass', tag:'Panicum virgatum', sec:'06 · Floodplain', method:'Seed (no-till drill)', treat:'Dry after-ripen; light stratify', prov:'Blackland / Post Oak ecotype', note:'Deep-rooted and forgiving on the floodplain. Seed benefits from after-ripening — a season in the bag sharply improves germination. We favor a regional ecotype over the tall biomass cultivars.' }, { slug:'indiangrass', type:'Grass', sp:'Indiangrass', tag:'Sorghastrum nutans', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed (drill)', treat:'Light stratify; debeard seed', prov:'Regional ecotype', note:'Golden fall plumes and 10% of the mix. The awned, fluffy seed needs a debearded drill to flow. Warm-season and reliable once established; pairs with the bluestems as the tallgrass core.' }, { slug:'sideoats-grama', type:'Grass', sp:'Sideoats Grama', tag:'Bouteloua curtipendula', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed (drill)', treat:'Minimal', prov:'Central TX ecotype', note:'The Texas state grass, with oat-like seed spikes hung along one side. Easy and quick from seed, good on thin upland soils and among the first to show in a new stand.' }, { slug:'buffalograss', type:'Grass', sp:'Buffalograss', tag:'Bouteloua dactyloides', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed (primed burrs)', treat:'KNO₃-primed; warm to germinate', prov:'Texoka', note:'A low, sod-forming shortgrass for thin spots and edges. The Texoka burrs come nitrate-primed for faster, more even germination in warm soil. Drought-proof once knit in.' }, { slug:'canada-wildrye', type:'Grass', sp:'Canada Wildrye', tag:'Elymus canadensis', sec:'06 · Floodplain', method:'Seed (fall-sown)', treat:'Fresh seed; cool-season', prov:'Lavaca', note:'A cool-season nurse grass that comes up fast to hold ground and shade weeds while slower warm-season natives establish. Fall-sow fresh; it will thin naturally as the stand matures.' }, { slug:'virginia-wildrye', type:'Grass', sp:'Virginia Wildrye', tag:'Elymus virginicus', sec:'03 · Drainage', method:'Seed (fall-sown)', treat:'Fresh seed; cool-season', prov:'Bottom edges', note:'Shade-tolerant cool-season bunchgrass for drainage edges and partial canopy. Sow fresh in fall; useful where switchgrass and the bluestems want more sun.' }, { slug:'vine-mesquite', type:'Grass', sp:'Vine Mesquite', tag:'Panicum obtusum', sec:'03 · Drainage', method:'Seed / stolons', treat:'Warm-season; spreads by runners', prov:'Disturbed & wet edges', note:'A stoloniferous grass that heals disturbed and wet-edge ground, spreading by runners as well as seed. Handy for gullies and the mouths of drainages where bare soil needs quick cover.' }, { slug:'eastern-gamagrass', type:'Grass', sp:'Eastern Gamagrass', tag:'Tripsacum dactyloides', sec:'06 · Floodplain', method:'Seed / division', treat:'Cold-moist stratify 45–60 d', prov:'Bottomland', note:'A big, clumping relative of corn for the wet bottomland. Seed is notoriously dormant — cold-moist stratify or fall-sow — but mature clumps divide easily, which is our shortcut for filling gaps.' }, { slug:'white-tridens', type:'Grass', sp:'White Tridens', tag:'Tridens albescens', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed (drill)', treat:'Minimal', prov:'Guadalupe germplasm', note:'A fine, pale-plumed bunchgrass — a modest but persistent 2% of the blend. Fills between the marquee grasses and tolerates the caliche patches on the uplands.' }, // ---- Wildflowers & Legumes (the forb fraction) ---- { slug:'illinois-bundleflower', type:'Forb', sp:'Illinois Bundleflower', tag:'Desmanthus illinoensis', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed', treat:'Scarify; inoculate', prov:'Sabine', note:'The key native legume of the mix at 6% — fixes nitrogen and its seed is prime wildlife food. Scarify hard seed and inoculate; establishes willingly and signals a healthy, balanced stand.' }, { slug:'american-basketflower', type:'Forb', sp:'American Basketflower', tag:'Centaurea americana', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed (sow fresh)', treat:'Barely cover; reseeds', prov:'Regional', note:'A tall, thistle-like annual (native, not the invasive knapweeds) that gives generous first-year color and reseeds. Sow shallow — light aids germination — for a bridge while perennials mature.' }, { slug:'engelmann-daisy', type:'Forb', sp:'Engelmann Daisy', tag:'Engelmannia peristenia', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed', treat:'Cold-moist stratify', prov:'Eldorado', note:'A deep-rooted perennial with early-season yellow bloom and good forage value. Cold-moist stratification evens out germination. Drought-hardy and long-lived once its taproot is down.' }, { slug:'maximilian-sunflower', type:'Forb', sp:'Maximilian Sunflower', tag:'Helianthus maximiliani', sec:'06 · Floodplain', method:'Seed', treat:'Light stratify; rhizomatous', prov:'Regional', note:'A tall late-summer perennial sunflower for pollinators and seed-eating birds. Sows readily and spreads by rhizome once set — best where it can colonize a margin rather than a tidy bed.' }, { slug:'dotted-gayfeather', type:'Forb', sp:'Dotted Gayfeather', tag:'Liatris punctata', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed', treat:'Cold-moist stratify; patient', prov:'Central TX', note:'Purple fall spikes and a monarch magnet. Slow and fussy from seed — needs cold-moist stratification and a year or two of patience — but worth it for the late-season nectar it brings the uplands.' }, { slug:'blackeyed-susan', type:'Forb', sp:'Blackeyed Susan', tag:'Rudbeckia hirta', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed (surface)', treat:'Light; germinates readily', prov:'Regional', note:'A cheerful, reliable pioneer that germinates on light and carries early color while the perennials find their feet. Short-lived but self-sows; one of the first blooms a new planting rewards you with.' }, { slug:'mexican-hat', type:'Forb', sp:'Mexican Hat', tag:'Ratibida columnifera', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed', treat:'Minimal; reseeds freely', prov:'VNS', note:'A drought-tough, short-lived perennial that sows easily and reseeds — a workhorse of the forb fraction. Its sombrero-shaped heads bloom for months and ask nothing of the soil.' }, { slug:'purple-prairie-clover', type:'Forb', sp:'Purple Prairie Clover', tag:'Dalea purpurea', sec:'07 · Uplands', method:'Seed', treat:'Scarify + inoculate', prov:'Cuero', note:'A premier native legume — nitrogen-fixing, high wildlife value and a favorite of native bees. Scarify and inoculate the seed; slow to start but a signature of a maturing, high-quality prairie.' }, { slug:'doveweed-croton', type:'Forb', sp:'Doveweed Croton', tag:'Croton monanthogynus', sec:'06 · Floodplain', method:'Seed', treat:'Self-sows on disturbance', prov:'Regional', note:'A native croton and a classic dove and quail food plant. A small fraction of the blend, it volunteers readily on disturbed ground and earns its place feeding upland birds through fall.' }, ]; // ---- journal entries (newest first; each carries a desk category) ---- const JOURNAL = [ { slug:'why-we-are-doing-this', date:'2026 · 07 · 02', folio:'J-006', cat:'grounds', featured:true, dept:'Office of the Steward', deptKey:'steward_star', title:'Why We\u2019re Doing This — and What the Land Needs', deck:'A plain accounting of the ground we were handed, the problems in it, our fixes and the trouble we expect along the way.', figcap:'Fig · The tract, looking west toward the river — photos to follow', body:[ {t:'p', cls:'dropcap', c:'The honest starting point for any restoration is a clear-eyed look at what you actually have. What we were handed is a tired piece of Central Texas: a hay meadow that has been run as improved pasture for decades, a river frontage thinned by grazing and uplands where a handful of tough introduced grasses have crowded almost everything else out. It is not ruined. But it is far from what this ground can be, and closing that gap is the whole project.'}, {t:'p', c:'This ground has come down through the family for four generations \u2014 cleared from cedar and farmed for seed wheat in the 1940s, grazed for decades, then held in Tifton 85 hay for twenty years — each the working use the land was asked to carry in its time. That is the inheritance; what follows is what it needs of us now.'}, {t:'h3', c:'The core problem: a monoculture that works too well'}, {t:'p', c:'The dominant cover across the working acres is Tifton 85 bermudagrass, with King Ranch bluestem and Johnsongrass filling the edges. These are excellent forage and stubbornly good at their job — which is exactly the trouble. They form dense, single-species mats that shade out native seedlings, offer little to grassland birds or pollinators and leave the soil biology far simpler than a native prairie\u2019s. A field of Tifton 85 is green and productive and nearly silent.'}, {t:'h3', c:'The fixes, in order'}, {t:'p', c:'Restoration here is a sequence, not a single act. First, convert the exotic pasture back to native prairie under the Texas Parks & Wildlife Pastures for Upland Birds program — a knockdown of the introduced grasses followed by no-till drilling of a native grass-and-forb mix designed for this ecoregion. Second, hold the river frontage out of production as a conservation strip and let a riparian buffer re-establish. Third, build back woody structure — a shelterbelt on the high ground and scattered mottes — grown out on our own propagation bench so the stock is local and cheap. Each fix has its own section on the tract and its own care class.'}, {t:'note', k:'Why native, why now', c:'Native prairie is not nostalgia. Deep-rooted natives hold soil, take rain into the ground instead of off it, feed the insects that feed the birds and — once established — cost far less to keep than a pasture that must be mowed, fertilized and sprayed to stay in one species.'}, {t:'h3', c:'The problems we already see coming'}, {t:'p', c:'We would rather name the risks than pretend they aren\u2019t there. Reinvasion is the first: bermudagrass and Johnsongrass do not surrender after one pass, and the first two or three years will be a spot-treatment fight. Establishment is the second: native seed is slow, and a dry autumn after drilling can cost a whole planting. Water is the third — new plantings need it before their roots are deep, which is why a watering trailer is on the build list. And the last is simply time and continuity: this is not a project that pays off on a growing season.'}, {t:'h3', c:'The honest horizon'}, {t:'p', c:'The native seed we drill will not \u201clook like\u201d prairie for years; realistically the mix needs five to ten years to knit into something self-sustaining, and the opening arc of the whole restoration — conversion, riparian buffer, shelterbelt, first woody plantings — is a fifteen-year undertaking. After that it is not \u201cdone,\u201d only handed forward: grassland is a disturbance ecosystem that wants fire and grazing and attention across lifetimes. We are planting things we will not see finished. That is the point.'}, ], }, { slug:'last-harvest-first-burndown', date:'2026 · 06 · 28', folio:'J-005', cat:'grounds', featured:true, dept:'Agriculture & Grazing', deptKey:'agriculture_sheaf', title:'The Last Harvest, and the First Burndown', deck:'The final cutting of Tifton 85 came off the field in late June. Now we turn roughly 45% of the property back toward native prairie.', figcap:'Fig · The last round bales of Tifton 85 — photos to follow', body:[ {t:'p', c:'Last week, in the last hot days of June, the final full harvest of Tifton 85 bermudagrass came off the meadow. It was a strange thing to stand next to — good hay, cut clean and the last of its kind we intend to make here. With the bales off, the conversion can begin.'}, {t:'p', c:'Over the coming window we will treat roughly 45% of the property to knock down the introduced grasses that dominate it — Tifton 85 bermudagrass, King Ranch bluestem and Johnsongrass — and prepare a clean seedbed for a native mix. This is the single largest intervention the restoration will make, and we want to be transparent about exactly what it involves and why.'}, {t:'plate', wide:true, src:'assets/plate-m02-tifton.png', k:'Plate SR · M-02 · Tifton Replanting Plan 1', c:'Phase 1 of the conversion: the ochre band is the native-vegetation restoration sector that goes down first — windbreak, filter band and river shade — while the interior field stays in Tifton 85 forage pending later phases. The edge goes native first; later phases work inward.'}, {t:'p', c:'We are not converting everything at once. Roughly 45% of the property stays in Tifton 85 for now — kept in hay until the native replanting proves itself out — and we will do our best to hold clean breaks between the standing Tifton and the new native stands. That retained hay carries a small but steady income that helps offset the cost of the restoration while the natives establish.'}, {t:'h3', c:'The treatment'}, {t:'p', c:'The knockdown is a glyphosate application, custom-mixed for the job. Away from water we use a standard terrestrial formulation; anywhere near the river and its drainages we switch to an aquatic-approved formulation labeled for use over and around water. Here is exactly what goes in the tank.'}, {t:'spec', k:'Knockdown mix', rows:[ ['Carrier','Water'], ['Glyphosate · upland','RoundUp PowerMax 3'], ['Glyphosate · near water','Aquaneat (aquatic-approved, in place of PowerMax 3)'], ['Surfactant','Brimstone'], ['Deposition / drift-reduction aid','Novita DownForce'], ['Application','Drone-applied by a licensed applicator (Agrotech of Lampasas)'], ]}, {t:'p', c:'We are applying it by drone rather than a tractor-pulled boom, and that buys us three things: far more targeted, accurate coverage; the ability to protect individual trees and mottes we want to keep; and reach into the hard places — the brushy, uneven ground along the river where a tractor and sprayer simply cannot go.'}, {t:'note', k:'Applied by', c:'The burndown and native reseeding are carried out by Agrotech of Lampasas (agrotechtexas.com), a local licensed applicator — our partner on the grassland conversion.'}, {t:'h3', c:'Two passes, then never again'}, {t:'p', c:'We are not casual about spraying, and we do not intend to farm with herbicide. The plan is a limited, deliberate knockdown — at most two applications to exhaust the bermudagrass and Johnsongrass rhizomes — and then no broadcast glyphosate on these acres again. After the natives are drilled, management shifts permanently to the tools a prairie actually wants: prescribed fire, timed grazing and spot treatment of individual reinvaders by hand.'}, {t:'h3', c:'Why glyphosate, and why it\u2019s the right call here'}, {t:'p', c:'Tifton 85 is a sterile hybrid bermudagrass that spreads by dense rhizomes and stolons, not seed. At field scale there is no mechanical way to remove it that doesn\u2019t also destroy the soil structure we are trying to protect — tillage that fine would invite erosion on our slopes and along the river. A targeted chemical knockdown followed by no-till drilling is the established restoration practice, and it is precisely the method Texas Parks & Wildlife specifies under the Pastures for Upland Birds program: appropriate herbicide treatment to kill the exotic grasses, then no-till seeding of natives.'}, {t:'p', c:'Glyphosate is the right chemistry for a one-time conversion: it is non-selective (so it takes the bermudagrass, KR bluestem and Johnsongrass together), it binds tightly to soil particles and is broken down by soil microbes rather than persisting or moving readily in most soils, and it has no residual soil activity that would stop native seed from germinating weeks later. Near the river we do not use the standard product at all — the aquatic-labeled formulation (Aquaneat) is manufactured and approved for exactly this situation, without the surfactant that makes terrestrial products unsafe over water.'}, {t:'note', k:'Our standard', c:'Two knockdowns to reset the field, an aquatic-safe product anywhere near the Lampasas, a licensed applicator and then a permanent shift to fire and grazing. If we cannot defend a treatment in plain language, we don\u2019t make it.'}, {t:'h3', c:'What goes back down'}, {t:'p', c:'The seedbed will be drilled with a native grass-and-forb mix designed by Texas Parks & Wildlife for this ecoregion under the PUB program, and sourced from Bamert Seed Company of Muleshoe, Texas. It is deep-rooted bunchgrasses for structure and soil, with a broad set of wildflowers and legumes for the pollinators and birds. The full mix is below.'}, {t:'seedmix'}, {t:'h3', c:'The long view'}, {t:'p', c:'None of this looks like much for a while. A drilled field looks like bare dirt, then like weeds and only years later like prairie — realistically five to ten years before the natives fully take over and the stand carries itself. The conversion is one move in a fifteen-year opening arc, and the grassland it makes will need fire and care for lifetimes after. The last harvest was an ending. This is the slow, deliberate start of something that outlasts us.'}, ], }, { slug:'propagation-unit-1', date:'2026 · 06 · 21', folio:'J-004', cat:'builds', dept:'Forestry & Fire', deptKey:'forestry_liveoak_bold', title:'Propagation Unit No. 01', deck:'Goals, and the full build list for the first semi-automated propagation bench.', figcap:'Fig · Propagation Unit No. 01 — photos to follow', body:[ {t:'p', c:'The first Propagation Unit is a four-shelf bench that raises native restoration stock from seed and cutting with as little daily attention as the work will allow. It is deliberately small: one rack, off-the-shelf parts and a controller anyone could rebuild in a weekend. The aim was never novelty — it was to see how much of a nursery routine can be handed to a cheap sensor and a valve so the field crew can spend its hours in the sections instead of at the hose.'}, {t:'h3', c:'What it must do'}, {t:'p', c:'Hold each shelf inside a target moisture band; run the lights on a per-shelf photoperiod; move air with a variable fan; water only when a shelf falls below its floor, and never more often than its cooldown allows. Log every reading and every cycle so a season can be reviewed, not just remembered.'}, {t:'list', c:['Rack — four growing shelves, 01 through 04, on a steel wire frame','Controller — ESP32 reading moisture, temperature and reservoir level','Water — 120 L reservoir, diaphragm pump, one solenoid valve per shelf','Light — dimmable full-spectrum bars, per-shelf schedule','Air — one variable-speed circulation fan per shelf, 0–10','Interface — a 4.5″ touchscreen at the rack and a web dashboard']}, {t:'note', k:'On the bench', c:'The unit is instrumented but not autonomous — a person still decides what grows where and signs off on changes. The software just keeps the shelves honest between visits.'}, {t:'p', c:'The interface is public. You can open the same rack screen and dashboard the crew uses under Instruments & Infrastructure — in observation mode, so you can click through every screen without touching the live bench.'}, ], }, { slug:'first-forestry-survey', date:'2026 · 03 · 09', folio:'J-003', cat:'grounds', dept:'Forestry & Fire', deptKey:'forestry_liveoak_bold', title:'The First Forestry Survey', deck:'Walking the tract, section by section, to record what is already standing.', figcap:'Fig · Survey plates — photos & counts to follow', body:[ {t:'p', c:'Before a single tree goes in the ground, it is worth knowing the trees already there. Over three cold mornings the crew walked all seven sections and recorded the standing woody cover — species, rough size class, condition and position — starting from the shelterbelt on the high ground and working down to the river.'}, {t:'p', c:'A fuller account, with plates and counts, will be posted here once the field sheets are transcribed. The short version: the live oak and cedar elm along the eastern edge are in better shape than expected, the river frontage is thinner than hoped, and there is more standing dead cedar than the maps suggested.'}, {t:'note', k:'Method', c:'Recorded on paper field sheets against the section atlas, then stamped and filed. The record-plate format is the same one the Propagation Unit and seed room use — one schema across the whole project.'}, ], }, { slug:'grants-secured', date:'2026 · 01 · 15', folio:'J-002', cat:'stewardship', dept:'Office of the Steward', deptKey:'steward_star', title:'Two Grants, and What They Buy', deck:'Cost-share through NRCS EQIP, and a Texas Parks & Wildlife Pastures for Upland Birds (PUB) grant.', figcap:'Fig · Signed agreements, on file', body:[ {t:'p', c:'The restoration is supported by partners, and we want to be plain about how. Two specific agreements now underwrite the work. The first is cost-share through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program — NRCS EQIP — administered by the Lampasas County field office. The second is a Texas Parks & Wildlife grant under its Pastures for Upland Birds (PUB) program, which helps landowners convert exotic-grass pasture back to native prairie for grassland birds.'}, {t:'h3', c:'What the support covers'}, {t:'p', c:'The NRCS EQIP cost-share is tied to named conservation practices — riparian buffer establishment, brush management, native seeding and a windbreak along the eastern boundary. Under PUB, Texas Parks & Wildlife provides the herbicide for the knockdown, the native grass-and-forb seed mix and technical guidance for converting our Tifton 85 hayfield to native prairie. Neither covers the cabin, and neither goes to anyone as a salary.'}, {t:'note', k:'Why say so', c:'Public support should leave a public trail. Practices, acreages and outcomes will be reported here as they are completed, in the same plain format as everything else on this station.'}, {t:'p', c:'If you are considering similar work on your own ground, both programs are worth a conversation with your local NRCS office and TPWD biologist — the paperwork is real, but the cost-share is what makes a project this size possible for a family holding.'}, ], }, { slug:'the-cabin', date:'2025 · 11 · 02', folio:'J-001', cat:'origins', dept:'Office of the Steward', deptKey:'steward_star', title:'The Cabin, and Why We Started', deck:'How a small holding in the Hill Country became a field station.', figcap:'Fig · The cabin — archival photos to follow', body:[ {t:'p', cls:'dropcap', c:'The property begins with a cabin above the Lampasas River — a modest building on a tract the family had worked and loved for generations, later left largely to the cedar. When it came into the family\u2019s keeping, the choice was the usual one: leave it as it was, or try to put it back toward what the Hill Country can be when it is tended. We chose the second, and decided that if we were going to do the work, we would do it in the open.'}, {t:'p', c:'"Short\u2019s Resort" is a small joke that stuck — there is no resort, only a cabin, a river and seven sections of ground to mend. But the name carries the spirit we wanted: that this is a place people are welcomed to, and that the work of restoring it should be hospitable too — legible, documented and free for anyone to borrow.'}, {t:'h3', c:'A station, not a blog'}, {t:'p', c:'So this became a field station rather than a diary. The sections are numbered, the species are recorded, the instruments are logged and the plans are open. An institution stands behind it — small, and mostly one family, but organized like one, because organization is what lets the work outlast any one season or any one pair of hands.'}, {t:'note', k:'A note on names', c:'You will not find people\u2019s names here. The station speaks for the work, not for individuals — partly for privacy, and partly because the land does not care who did the planting, only that it was done well.'}, ], }, ]; // ---- land history timeline (About page) ---- const TIMELINE = [ { yr:'1940s', t:'Displaced to Lampasas', d:'The federal government takes our great-grandfather\u2019s wheat farm in Killeen to build what becomes Fort Hood. \u201cShort\u201d is granted this tract on the Lampasas, clears the ground and grows it in seed wheat \u2014 by reputation some of the highest-quality wheat seed in the region.' }, { yr:'Early 1960s', t:'The cabin, and the name', d:'Short builds the cabin down by the river with his children. They call it \u201cShort\u2019s Resort,\u201d the original sign hand-painted by our great-aunts. No running water or electricity \u2014 then or since.' }, { yr:'After retirement', t:'Fallow, then grazed', d:'The field goes mostly fallow and is leased for cattle. Grazed harder than the ground could carry and unfenced from the river, the banks and the central drainage corridor begin to erode; old trees go down and little new growth comes up.' }, { yr:'A first fence', t:'A hundred feet off the water', d:'On a visit to work on the old cabin, our grandfather and I fence a hundred feet off the river bank and around the cabin to keep cattle off the water. It slows the bank erosion; the corridor washout continues.' }, { yr:'~2000s', t:'The Tifton years', d:'The cattle come off and the field is planted in Tifton 85 bermudagrass on USDA advice \u2014 low-maintenance hay and a small, steady income. For nearly twenty years it builds a monoculture that crowds out the natives, and with them the dove, quail and raptors.' }, { yr:'2023', t:'A new steward, and a plan begins', d:'Our grandfather passes and the land comes to my mother, the fourth generation to keep it. The same year, the work of building a restoration plan for the ground begins in earnest.' }, { yr:'2023\u20132025', t:'The restoration, proposed', d:'Two years of building the plan now underway: clear the monoculture and return the ground to native trees, grasses and woody shrubs \u2014 to bring back the birds, slow the erosion and restore the oak prairie and riparian woodland.' }, { yr:'2025', t:'Grants applied for', d:'Cost-share applications go in \u2014 USDA\u2013NRCS EQIP through the Lampasas County field office, and Texas Parks & Wildlife Pastures for Upland Birds for the grassland conversion.' }, { yr:'2026', t:'Grants received, work begins', d:'Both grants are awarded and the plan moves off paper and into the ground \u2014 the first field season of the restoration.' }, { yr:'June 2026', t:'Last harvest, first burndown', d:'The final cutting of Tifton 85 comes off the meadow and the conversion begins \u2014 edge first, working inward, with roughly 45% held in hay until the natives prove out.' }, ]; Object.assign(window, { FS_SITE:SITE, FS_FUNDERS:FUNDERS, FS_SEED_PROVIDER:SEED_PROVIDER, FS_SEEDMIX:SEEDMIX, FS_SECTIONS:SECTIONS, FS_JOURNAL_CATS:JOURNAL_CATS, FS_LAND:LAND, FS_II_STATUS:II_STATUS, FS_II_ITEMS:II_ITEMS, FS_STATION:STATION, FS_STAT_COLOR:STAT_COLOR, FS_REPO:REPO, FS_MODULES:MODULES, FS_LIB_RESOURCES:LIB_RESOURCES, FS_LIB_SPECIES:LIB_SPECIES, FS_JOURNAL:JOURNAL, FS_TIMELINE:TIMELINE });