Firewheel grows at a virgin prairie August 8, 2013 in Deer Park, TX. Conservancy groups are making a desperate final attempt to save a rare virgin tall-grass prairie in Deer Park. According to Jennifer Lorenz, of the Bayou Land Conservancy, corporate deals to preserve the unusually biodiverse prairie and create an education center there have been moving far slower than the real estate market. If the conservancy can't raise $4 million by Aug. 20, the 53 acres, untouched by plow or bulldozer, will be scraped to make room for 201 houses., August 8, 2013 in Houston.

(Eric Kayne/For the Chronicle)