Animals and birds that live in South Texas have their own "sweet spots" too, just as operators do, in the burgeoning Eagle Ford shale play. The oil and gas industry needs to do more to protect them, and their habitat, says Fred C. Bryant, director of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, at Texas A&M's Kingsville campus. The institute is comprised of 17 scientists and 65 graduate students doing research on wildlife and their habitats, native grasses and soil in South Texas.

"This play is the only one in North America named after wildlife—the eagle. This is the most biodiverse region in the U.S., more so than the Florida Everglades," Bryant told attendees at Developing Unconventional Gas (DUG) Eagle Ford in San Antonio. "This is the last stronghold of the bobwhite quail population, for example."

The Eagle Ford region takes up 20 counties in South Texas and has expanded to 330 miles. It is home to ocelots, mountain lions and bobcats, javelin and some 200 native birds. Another 200 species of birds migrate through the region annually; birdwatchers from all over the world flock to the South Texas region as a result.

Bryant said the industry should care as much as landowners do, and especially now that the public is more watchful since the Macondo accident in the Gulf of Mexico.

"If we can put a man on the moon and provide you a new heart, we ought to be able to figure out how to mitigate [impacts to soil, grasses and wildlife]. If you are spending $7 million on a well, and you can't spend $100 an acre on grass seed, well, I worry."

Bryant said it costs $100 to $300 an acre for the proper mix of seeds.

Impacts of developing the Eagle Ford include the destruction of grasses and other habitat, and fragmentation of habitat due to building access roads to leases. "Impacts you see every day are real—roads, pipelines and pits. But the silent killers are the fragmentation of large tracts of land, and the seeds of invasive, weedy exotics {plants} you bring in, that are greater than your [E&P] footprint," Bryant said.

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and the university can help provide solutions and technical guidance. Operators are advised to ask commercial seed growers to provide the proper seeds for replanting. A&M-Kingsville has released to these growers 14 grass species since 2007 and is researching more varieties, but growers need confidence that there will be enough demand. Bryant said it is best to plant a mix of seeds, not just one species. Bermuda, blue stem and Buffel grass are not advised, and in fact, are the worst restoration grasses to use, he said. There are several preferred types of grass seed. Exotic grass seed costs $2 per pound, and native grass seed runs for about $30 to $45 per pound.

Operators are advised to use existing roads and rights-of-way whenever possible rather than disturbing more land.

Finally, Bryant said that the oil industry needs to donate more money for research. Currently, some 59% of the Institute's budget comes from private landowners, 30% comes from the state of Texas, and only 2.5% comes from oil industry donations.