Just south of Houston, past the oil refineries and wedged between two housing subdivisions is one of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet — a coastal prairie.

At the College Park Prairie, Jaime González, community education director at the Katy Prairie Conservancy, clips the withering blossoms off of rough coneflowers, which are now rich with seeds. All around him, prairie plants are thriving. Bright purple prairie blazing stars and spiny white rattlesnake masters mix with tall green grasses and yellow black-eyed susans across the 53-acre prairie.

González's mission, along with a group of other conservators, is to ...

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