Ecologists team up to buy Texas bayside ranch

HOUSTON (AP) — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation and partners have announced the purchase of a sprawling southeast Texas ranch with funds put aside after the BP oil spill.

The Powderhorn Ranch, 75 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, will be converted into a state park.

The $37.7 million purchase represents the biggest spend on Texas land for conservation. The agency says an additional $13 million will be spent on habitat restoration and an endowment.

The cost is largely covered by a BP and Transocean fund created in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

The property contains thousands of acres of freshwater wetlands, salt marshes, tidal flats, oyster beds and live Oak.

Executive director Carter Smith says it "plays an important role in protecting the integrity" of Matagorda Bay.