Outdoor News - Wildlife Management Pro

Wildlife Conservation Reigns at Llano Springs Ranch

The famed wide-open spaces of Texas are under siege, threatened by ever-expanding suburban development and fragmenting into ever-smaller pieces as people in cities buy up land in the country. The good news is conservation-minded landowners stand as bastions against these trends, places like Llano Springs Ranch south of Junction, which on May 21 received the Leopold Conservation Award for Texas from Sand County Foundation and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, part of the department’s Lone Star Land Steward Awards program.

Every year, TPWD and Sand County Foundation recognize private land stewards in 10 ecological regions across the state, as well as the Leopold Conservation Award winner. For the fourth year, the Lone Star Land Steward Awards benefit from an association with Sand County Foundation, an international non-profit organization devoted to private landowner conservation. Ecoregion award recipients and the wildlife management association recipient receive $1,000 from the foundation, while the Leopold Conservation Award recipient receives $10,000 and the Leopold crystal. The purpose is to recognize outstanding examples of voluntary stewardship.

“I’m proud that we’ve taken a ranch that had been neglected for many years and turned it into something to be proud of, and we’ve done it ourselves,” said Tom M. Vandivier, part of the five-generation farm and ranch family which owns the 5,100-acre spread in Edwards County. He works the first part of the week as an attorney near Austin, then on Thursdays heads to the ranch and works all weekend.

“Whoever dreamed up this idea for land steward awards is right on target with what’s going on in ranching these days,” Vandivier said. “It’s a great motivator. When we learned about this, it got us motivated to do more. We’re thrilled to have won.”

The ranch contains the headwaters of the South Llano River, which flows into the Colorado. Years of work to remove water-sucking cedar and restore water-friendly native grasses are benefiting everything downriver, including thirsty cities like Austin. Land with restored grasses instead of cedar and rocks holds rainwater like a giant sponge, releasing it slowly and providing natural filtration. This helps aquifer recharge and prevents erosion, sending cleaner water downstream. Continue reading Wildlife Conservation Reigns at Llano Springs Ranch

New Website for Texas Wildlife Associations

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has created new web pages that provide a clickable statewide map and detailed local maps for dozens of wildlife management associations or co-ops across the state: Wildlife Associations. The main page states:

“Wildlife professionals believe that the greatest threats to wildlife in Texas are habitat loss and fragmentation due to population growth and changing land uses. One promising solution to these problems comes through the efforts of landowners working together to conserve and enhance their land for the benefit of wildlife.”

The new pages also allow web users to sort wildlife management associations in lists by county and by name. Each co-op Web page lists a contact name and phone number and shows a county-level map delineating the geographic boundary within which the organization works. The main page also links to the TPWD brochure “A Guide for Wildlife Management Associations and Co-ops.” The pages were developed in a collaborative effort involving the Wildlife, State Parks and Communications divisions.

Ty Patterson Memorial Scholarship Gets Support

Over 500 people attended the Ty Patterson Memorial Scholarship fundraiser in Seguin this past Saturday evening. Game Warden Patterson died in the line of duty almost a year ago when he drowned while trying to recover a flood victim in the Paluxy River. Congressman Henry Cuellar spoke and presented a flag to the Patterson family.

Representative Edmund Kuempel also spoke and handled auctioneering, and Rep. Charlie Geren also attended. The event raised funds for a scholarship program to help young people who reside in the Seguin area pursue law enforcement careers.

Donations can be made by mailing checks made out to TGWA, with a notation that it’s for the Ty Patterson Memorial Scholarship to the Texas Game Warden Association, P.O. Box 1930, Kyle TX 78640.

National Wildlife Federation Opposes Final Passage of Farm Bill

The National Wildlife Federation today announced its opposition to final passage of the farm bill. The House-Senate Conference Committee completed their work on reauthorization of the farm bill last Thursday and indicated a vote on final passage is likely in the House this Wednesday.

“This farm bill is a recipe for disaster for wildlife,” said Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of
the National Wildlife Federation. “Our Congressional leaders have put forth a bill that
jeopardizes wildlife, slashes investments to key conservation programs, and fans the flames of
global warming.”

The final bill includes drastic cuts in funding for the Conservation Reserve Program and
Wetlands Reserve Programs and includes a permanent disaster fund for farmers that would
encourage the destruction of native grasslands. Combined with last year’s ethanol mandate that would more than double corn ethanol production, this bill establishes unprecedented opportunity for habitat destruction in the United States.

“The farm bill creates a perfect storm for the destruction of habitat and the aggravation of global warming,” said Schweiger. “We have no choice but to call on Congress to reject this farm bill and demand changes that keep this bill from becoming a conservation nightmare.”
The combination of a new permanent disaster program in the final bill and a greatly weakened
“Sodsaver” provision are especially problematic for waterfowl, pheasants and other game birds
that rely on healthy grassland and wetland habitat. Continue reading National Wildlife Federation Opposes Final Passage of Farm Bill

Burleson Praire Wins Texas Lone Star Land Steward Award

It’s been four decades of hard work, but Bob and Mickey Burleson haven’t quit working to undo the damages done to 500 acres of prairie in Bell County from cropping and livestock overgrazing and their efforts have resulted in a model for native tallgrass prairie. Not only have they done a great job, they are one of the recipients of this years Texas Lone Star Land Steward awards.

By collecting and planting local ecotype native seed from area hay meadow prairie remnants, removal of invasive plants and use of various management tools, the Burlesons have successfully restored tallgrass prairie. Restoration of native tallgrass prairie has re-created habitat for grassland birds, the most declining group of birds in North America.

Native tallgrass prairie once occupied more than 20 million acres in Texas, now reduced to less than one percent of that and even less in the Blackland Prairie.

Both Bob and Mickey Burleson are former members of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission and founding members of the Native Prairies Association of Texas. They co-authored a tallgrass restoration guide, “The New Southern Reconstruction — Home Grown Prairies” and host numerous landowner field days.

Bamberger Ranch Preserve Wins Land Steward Award

David Bamberger and the Selah win one of Texas’ Lone Star Land Steward awards for 2008. Rangeland improvement, spring restoration, wildlife habitat enhancement, endangered species management, inventory and monitoring of native plants and animals, the first ever “Chiroptorium”, and “people ranching” are just a few of the accomplishments of J. David and Margaret Bamberger.

Since 1969, David Bamberger has worked tirelessly to restore “the worst piece of ranchland in Blanco County” to the model of land stewardship that it is today. For many years, the Bambergers have led by example, while communicating their conservation message to children, teachers, other landowners and policy makers. One cannot help but be inspired when listening to him speak about his land and the natural resources so dear to him.

High Lonesome Ranch Takes Home Land Steward Award

Charles and Nancy Hundley began their ranch improvement program 10 years ago by reducing the number of cattle and deer and cross-fencing to improve grazing management, but this year they take home one of Texas’ Lone Star Land Steward awards. Their wildlife program on the High Lonesome Ranch emphasizes management for trophy white-tailed deer, quail and dove in combination with a cow-calf operation.

Important goals include nutritional improvement, genetic development, and water conservation. Since water availability is an important key to wildlife diversity in South Texas, the ranch has focused on capturing rainfall through vegetation and soils management along with construction of tanks, diversion levees, and pipelines.

The ranch offers quality hunting for deer, feral hog, dove, quail and turkey as well as fishing, photography, and educational tours. According to Hundley, wildlife management is like poker — you learn what to keep and what to throw away.