Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America Group Heads To Austin By: Mike Coston About 30 members of TLBAA met at the Texas State Capitol to support a legislative bill (HB 3037) to prohibit the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department from reducing the size of a herd of Longhorn cattle owned by the State in a state natural area by selling the cattle, unless the cattle is to remain in the state natural area. In recent months, the state began selling off drastic numbers of the Longhorn herd from Big Bend State Park, culling the herd back by roughly half. It is normal for the Ranch to sell off its yearly calf-crop to help provide additional funds for the maintenance and upkeep of the herd. This last auction reduced the herd so drastically that there were only four steers remaining and an unknown number of heifers. Big Bend State Park is located in far west Texas in the remote, high desert setting of the northern Chihuahuan Desert. The Longhorns are considered an integral part of Big Bend heritage and therefore have remained on the ranch as living exhibits of how the west once was. The importance of this herd is to also maintain the genetic integrity of one of the purest Longhorn bloodlines. With a state becoming more and more urbanized, it is important that this
Robert Richey capturing the historic moments.
Texas Longhorn Trails