MATAGORDA COUNTY — A green tractor moves slowly through a dirt field in the Mad Island Marsh Preserve, pulling a disk plow that churns and breaks up black clods of dried soil and stubble.
It’s winter, the grain has been harvested and several hundred acres are being prepared for another growing season on this 7,000-acre habitat along Matagorda Bay. As recently as two years ago, the fields were submerged in water, making them fertile ground for growing rice. They served as marsh for countless geese, egrets, herons and ducks that feasted on the harvested seed.