Building Foundations: The LLELA

Lying virtually undisturbed for more than forty years just below the Lewisville Lake dam in North Texas are 2,000 acres of freshwater wetlands, ponds, rivers and streams, riparian hardwood forest, old field regrowth, and forested upland areas. This diverse habitat is home to a wide variety of wildlife, many of which are threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The land is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers, which built the dam in the 1940s and retained ownership of the area for flood control. When the Corps recently decided that the 2,000 acres were no longer needed for flood protection, a wonderful opportunity for environmental education, research, and restoration arose.