Passport to Texas

JA Ranch

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Andrew Bivins uses technology to manage his land.

11— He can tell you what kind of method they used. He can tell you how much it cost per acre. The amount of information he’s been able to incorporate into his databases is unheard of.

Bivins is managing partner of the historic JA Ranch in the Texas Panhandle, founded by Charles Goodnight and Bivins’ ancestor, John Adair. Texas Parks and Wildlife TV’s Ron Kabele produced a segment for the series about this fifth generation rancher.

05—When it comes to using computers and new technologies – Andrew gets it.

Bivins, a 2013 Lone Star Land Steward Award winner uses available GPS technology to keep track of his work on the property. This includes removing invasive woody species and prescribed burns to return the land to the prairie habitat it once was.

17—It’s a very long-term strategy. It will be my lifetime of working on it – and it will be my son’s lifetime of working on it. And hopefully, our grandchildren will have a ranch that’s more of a prairie than what my son and I will have.

Bivins has a detailed database of brushwork done on the ranch. Each acre he reclaims for prairie habitat translates into untold savings in water.

08— Everything out here is in competition for the little water we get. Pulling the woody invasive species out allows more water for the grasses.

This segment airs on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series the week of December 29.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Working with Landowners on Conservation

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Through confidential relationships with area biologists, Texas landowners conserve the state’s natural resources for future generations.

14 — Our goal is to develop these relationships. We do have laws that maintain confidentiality for the landowner. That’s helpful to people and gives them comfort to know that their private business is between them and their biologist.

Linda Campbell oversees the private lands and public hunting programs.

19— We have good relationships all over Texas. We have over 8-thousand wildlife management plans that we hold with active cooperators, one over 29-million acres. We do everything from deer management to quail management to whatever the landowner is interested in – and what the habitat can support.

For the past 18 years, Texas Parks and Wildlife’s honored landowner efforts through its Lone Star Land Steward Awards Program.

13 —And we hold them up to show people what they can do with this dedication and commitment these award winners show. And we want to honor those folks for their achievement and their commitment to good land stewardship.

Find information about free technical assistance and the Lone Star Land Steward Program on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and provides funding for Private lands and Public Hunting programs.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Private Ranch in Texas

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Ninety-five percent of land in Texas is in private hands, making landowners the key to long-term wildlife habitat conservation.

08 — We understand that in a private land state, we’re not going to make much of a dent in wildlife habitat conservation without our private land partners.

For the past 30 years, the private lands program at Parks and Wildlife has worked closely with landowners, providing free technical assistance for their long range land management goals. It’s another success story in the agency’s 50 year history. Linda Campbell oversees the program.

08—People can go to our website and find their local biologist, talk to them, and they can help you reach your wildlife management goals.

Through its Landowner Incentive Program, the agency provides funds to cost-share.

22 — Projects for landowners who want to enhance habitat for declining species, rare species – in certain targeted areas of the state. We also have funding for landowners who want to do work to enhance watersheds. We look at those as well, and we have a great website on that. So, people that are interested in financial incentives should certainly check out the landowner incentive program.

Find information about free technical assistance and the landowner incentive program on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series and provides funding for Private lands and Public Hunting programs.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Stewardship: Wildlife Management Associations Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

City dwelling Texans don’t want to lose touch with their rural heritage. So, large tracts of farm and ranch land get sliced and diced to accommodate the demand.

12—More and more of our land is being fragmented and broken up. And so, small acreage land holdings are more common, especially in the eastern half of the state. You know, we’re talking fifty acres to two hundred acres.

Linda Campbell directs the private lands program at Texas Parks and Wildlife. Habitat fragmentation is like living in a house where none of the rooms connect. How long could you live like that? It’s even tougher on wildlife, which is why neighboring landowners are encouraged to manage their land together.

36–We encourage landowners to join with their neighbors in what are called landowner cooperatives, or wildlife management associations. They’re becoming much more common, and landowners working together can get a lot more done for wildlife; they impact more habitat when they work together. And they can accomplish common goals. And, so, we very much encourage and work with groups of landowners to develop these landowner driven cooperatives.

Learn more about landowner cooperatives on the parks and Wildlife website, and find out how you can receive free, confidential technical assistance.

That’s our show…we receive support from the Wildlife Restoration program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

This is Passport to Texas

For the past ten years, Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine has dedicated its July issue to questions of water in Texas.

07—Big questions that we have to grapple with as a state: where’s our water going to come from, and who’s going to get it and how much are they going to get?

In the 10th anniversary publication, Texas parks and Wildlife Executive Director Carter Smith provides an overview of the past decade, including the progress we’ve made.

13—We’ve made a lot of headway. I think one of the most important things that we have done is to help elevate public awareness and consciousness about the criticality of conserving that water—not only now—but in future generations when we’re going to need it the most.

This includes ensuring plentiful water for the state’s fish and wildlife now and into the future.

19—Texans care about their fish and wildlife. Every single attitudinal survey demonstrates that. Also, there have been some legislative developments over the last 10 years that have helped put science and stakeholder processes together to help ensure that we’re going to have strategies for water that will be available for our fish and wildlife.

Learn more when you pick up the July issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine—on newsstands now.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series…and funds conservation projects in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Tenth Anniversary Water Issue Play Now | Play in Popup | Download