Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Bobwhite quail used to be abundant in the eastern third of the state, but habitat loss sent this small game bird packing in search of hospitable environs.

05—Private landowners are the key to increasing habitat.

More than 90 percent of the state is privately owned. Jim Willis, who owns the WW Ranch, improved the habitat on his property, and rallied his neighbors to do the same; together they created the Wildlife Habitat Federation.

36—The Wildlife Habitat Federation applied [to the USDA] for a conservation innovation grant. And with this grant, we received a hundred twenty thousand dollars, which was the seed money for getting some major wildlife conservation programs off the ground. We matched that with funds that we received from the landowners that are participating. We got a lot of help from Texas Parks and Wildlife. I can tell you that we’ve been blessed with the technical and the financial help we’re getting from them. With that assistance, we’re getting landowners to sign up to put in a wildlife corridor.

At seven miles long and at least a hundred fifty feet wide, the corridor runs from the WW ranch to the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge.

Willis says he hopes their efforts reestablish wildlife in the area.

That’s our show, with support from the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program… providing funding for the Private Lands and Pubic Hunting Program.

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

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 at 12:00 am and is filed under Wildlife. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.