Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Blackland Prairie once covered more than 20-million acres in Texas. Jason Spangler of the Native Prairies Assoc. of Texas says because of cropping and livestock overgrazing, less than one percent of this native habitat exists today.

It’s the most endangered large ecosystem in North America.

You can find a thriving 500-acre example of Blackland Prairie in Bell County thanks to the restoration efforts of Bob and Mickey Burleson.

I don’t think that any of our neighbors think of it as anything but Burleson’s folly. They all think that grass is for grazing to the ground.

Over four decades the Burleson’s visited remnant prairies collecting seeds they later used to restore their land.

Eventually it started working naturally to come back to a climax of what had been here. And, it’s still doing that. We haven’t gotten to the place where the Big Bluestem is the dominant—and that’s what would have been at one time—but we’re getting there.

The Burlesons won the Lone Star Land Steward Award for their dedication to land restoration and stewardship.

It’s what belongs here. This is where I live, This is my home, And this is what I love. (birds chirping)

Learn about land management at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Blackland Prairie, a tall grass prairie, once dominated a large area of the Texas landscape.

There were believed to be 20-million acres of tall grass prairie in Texas. Of that 20-million acres, it is believed that less than one percent of the tall grass prairie is left.

Jason Spangler is a member of Native Prairies Association of Texas. Bob and Mickey Burleson are founding members of that Association, and have spent four decades restoring 500 acres of former cropland and overgrazed pasture in Bell County back to tall grass prairie.

We bought the property in 1969, and started immediately to convert part of the cropland into original Blackland Prairie. At the time we bought this property, there was virtually no Blackland Prairie left around here.

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 successfully restored the prairie.

We went out and spent every weekend for a year collecting seed from every tiny remnant in Bell, McLennan, Williamson and Falls Counties. And then, come fall in 1969, we planted it all at one time. That was our start. Then we’ve added to it every year since then.

It’s that kind of dedication that won the Burlesons the Lone Star Land Steward Award for the Blackland Prairie eco-region. We’ll learn more about Burleson’s Prairie tomorrow.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Tom Vandivier and his family have worked tirelessly to restore the natural balance to their 51-hundred acre Llano Springs Ranch in Edwards County. They did this in part by removing acres upon acres of cedar trees.

(birds) My family and I have cleared approximately 27-hundred acres out of the 51-hundred acres we have here.

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 have paid off.

(water) We’ve got one spring that wasn’t existent at all when we got here that’s running now. Things are working.

With less cedar and more water and native grasses, wildlife is abundant on the ranch, and that brings visitors.

It’s lots of fun to see people come out and discover pretty sights, or find a big deer, of fish in the river and catch a fish. All sorts of people have come out and enjoyed this. That’s one of our true pleasures is seeing folks enjoy this ranch. (birds)

The Vandivier family’s efforts have earned Llano Springs Ranch this year’s Leopold Conservation Award from the Sand County Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife, as part of the department’s Lone Star Land Steward Awards program.

The Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation by private landowners. Learn more at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Vandivier family, owners of Llano Spring Ranch in Edwards County, is this year’s winner of the Leopold Conservation Award for Texas.

The ranch is over 51-hundred acres, and when they first purchased it, probably 80 or 90 percent of it, was covered with massive stands of re-growth cedar.

That’s wildlife consultant Fielding Harwell. The award, from the Sand County Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife, is part of the department’s Lone Star Land Steward Awards program.

(chainsaw) Tom has spent a horrendous amount of time clearing cedar. His entire family takes part in the ranching operation and just take all of these challenges with great zeal. (hawk call)

Tom Vandivier, an attorney who works near Austin, spends weekends with his family working on the ranch.

My family and I have cleared approximately 27-hundred acres out of the 51-hundred acres we have here in order to provide more food for the wildlife, enhance the water resources, and overall just bring this ranch into good productivity.

The Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation by private landowners.

Tomorrow—the impact of the improvements.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Amphibians are a remarkably unique life form.

Texas State University Biologist Dr. Mike Forstner says if you’ve ever wondered about the love lives of amphibians, he can help.

Amphibian or amphibios is a two-stage life. Those dual lives reflect water and land. When we think about the mating process or the management of the toad we have to take both in account the water and the land. All frogs and toads call. They make a unique advertisement call.

You’ve probably heard male leopard frogs and bullfrogs [bullfrogs sfx] advertising their intentions and didn’t realize it. On the eastern edge of Central Texas, Forstner says there is an endangered species that really knows how to pitch woo. [Houston toad sfx]

… further into the forest in Bastrop, we begin to hear a high-pitched trills that lasts a long time, up to 15 seconds for the Houston toad.

All calls allow the females to hone in on potential mates.

And the females will hop toward the male call that they think is the most attractive. So there is female choice- not very different from what happened in the human world.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Alanna Jones… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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CLICK HERE to go to a page where you can see images, and hear the songs, of Texas frogs and toads.
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