Category: Habitat Management

Habitat is the cornerstone of wildlife management. But having the right habitat does not just happen, it takes the right plants to provide necessary food and cover. It short, active habitat management must be implemented by landowners to enhance individual plant communities and habitat for wildlife. For Texas landowners interested in overall ranch enhancement, the Academy for Ranch Management will conduct a prescribed burn workshop at the Texas AgriLife Research Station near Sonora August 2 through 4.The station is located on State Highway 55 between Sonora and Rocksprings.

The Academy for Ranch Management is associated with the Center for Grazing and Ranch Management at the department of ecosystems science and management at Texas A&M University in College Station. The Sonora facilities provide a teaching laboratory for hands-on experience wildlife management. The Academy’s primary goal is training ranchers for effective rangeland management, and the focus now is on prescribed burning for rangelands. Prescribed burning is a habitat management tool that can be used to improve rangeland vegetation for livestock and wildlife use, and also reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires by removing hazardous fuel loads. Continue reading Ranch Management Class on Prescribed Burning for Wildlife and Habitat Management

One of the best management practices that wildlife professionals have is prescribed burning. Prescribed fire mimics the natural role of fire, but in much more controlled environment. Fire is not bad. In fact, fire is good, very good, for maintaining healthy plant and animal communities. Many state and federal agencies promote controlled burning because of its many positives. Government Canyon State Natural Area Superintendent Chris Holm announced today that Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) staff plans to conduct prescribed burns at Government Canyon State Natural Area starting in June and continuing through January.

The burns are expected to be conducted and completed in two to three days each. An open public meeting will be held at Government Canyon at 7 p.m. on June 19, 2012 to provide information about the prescribed burn program and to answer any questions about the burns. Prescribed burns are used as a management tool in natural areas and state parks to improve habitat for wildlife by restoring woodlands and savannahs in the Natural Area that were historically maintained by natural fires. They also are conducted to reduce the amount of available fuels, such as leaf litter, fallen branches, understory growth and dead trees that accumulate naturally and from storm events. By decreasing the amount of available fuels, prescribed burns reduce the chance for a potentially destructive wildfire to occur. Continue reading Prescribed Burning for Wildlife Management, Improve Habitat

In many parts of Texas habitat management is range management. Livestock forage, plant communities and wildlife habitat go hand-in-hand. New landowners can get a crash course on ranch management during the annual Texas AgriLife Extension Service Ranch Management University on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station. The class is a great introduction to the importance of enhancing and maintaining the plants found on your property.

The range management workshop is scheduled for April 9-13 at the G. Rollie White Visitor’s Center. The workshop is designed to help new landowners improve their understanding regarding management of the various resources they find on their Texas ranch properties, said Dr. Larry Redmon, AgriLife Extension state forage specialist. Continue reading Habitat Management Techniques: Range Management University

Persons interested in wildlife management understand that habitat management is the key. Wildlife will not respond without suitable plant communities; if you build it they will come. A major challenge for landowners in many areas is the proper management of white-tailed deer populations. Proper management includes the challenges of controlling population density and deer overpopulation and letting young bucks mature so that the desired antler quality can be achieved.

In many areas, lowering deer numbers to appropriate levels will improve the health of both the plant and animal communities found in the area. Fewer deer will actually improve the quality of the habitat for deer, producing large-bodied deer, and other wildlife. Deer management is a numbers game, often accomplished through regulated deer hunting. A balanced harvest of bucks and does can also improve the age structure of whitetail bucks, resulting in larger-antlered bucks. Fewer deer will also translate into bigger does, which will recruit more fawns into the population each year. Continue reading Wildlife Management, Habitat Management through Landowner Co-ops

They key to maintaining healthy plant and animal populations is active management. Habitat enhancement activities on lands promote healthy ecosystems. One way to conserve and preserver valuable wild lands is through conservation easements. Currently, the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) administered by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is accepting applications for funding on a continuous basis. NRCS State Conservationist Salvador Salinas noted that the 2008 Farm Bill provided for a continuous signup to allow eligible entities more opportunities to sign up eligible parcels.

Eligible entities must submit applications on or before March 1, 2012, to receive consideration for conservation easement funding in fiscal year 2012. Only eligible entities may submit applications of eligible farm and ranch land. Eligible entities are State, Tribal, or local governments and non-government organizations that meet specific requirements. The entities must have an established farm and ranch land protection program, have the authority to hold and manage conservation easements; have the capacity to acquire, manage, and enforce the easements; and the funds to match the Federal contribution. Continue reading Conservation Easements for Land and Wildlife Management

Habitat is the key to maintaining healthy wildlife populations. In most cases, active habitat management is the only way to promote the plant communities that native animals need to flourish. A partnership between the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, Playa Lakes Joint Venture and other conservation organizations has recently filled three new Farm Bill wildlife biologist positions in the Texas Panhandle. Their job will be to, first and foremost, promote good habitat for upland game birds.

These biologists will work with landowners, ranchers and farmers in the Texas Panhandle on habitat management and conservation measures to increase wild populations of lesser prairie chickens, pheasant, quail and other grasslands birds and animals. The state has seen populations slipping in recent years, but additional staffing centered on providing habitat will help get these birds back on track. Continue reading Wildlife Management, TPWD, NRCS in the Texas Panhandle

Wetlands provide important habitat for ducks, geese and other water birds. They help to slow flooding and cleans our waters, yet our beloved wetlands and waterfowl habitat are slipping away. The latest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report indicates that America’s wetlands declined slightly from 2004 to 2009, reiterating the need for continued conservation and wetland habitat management. In short, the trend is staying the same; previous reports have documented a continuous, but diminishing, decline in wetland and waterfowl habitat.

The report, which represents the most up-to-date, comprehensive assessment of wetland and waterfowl habitat in the United States, documents substantial losses in forested wetlands (swamps) and coastal wetlands that serve as storm buffers, absorb pollution that would otherwise find its way into the nation’s drinking water, and provide vital habitat for America’s fish, wildlife and plants. Continue reading Wetlands, Waterfowl Habitat Declining in U.S.