Saving Texas Ocelots

Wild ocelot on The East Foundation’s El Sauz Ranch near Port Mansfield in South Texas. This photo was taken with a remote camera trap, which captured the first known high-quality photos and video footage of wild ocelots in the United States.

SAVING TEXAS OCELOTS A Race Against Time

Article by KATY BALDOCK

The first article I read from Texas Wildlife magazine was a feature on ocelots that was published in the August 2018 issue. In that article, Michael Tewes, Ph.D., claimed that further construction of a border wall along our southern Texas border would not negatively affect ocelot populations in Texas.

“They could build the wall or not built the wall. It won’t make a bit of difference to ocelots on either side of the border,” said Tewes, Regents Professor and Wild Cat Researcher at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. At the time, I was in complete disagreement.

Little did I know then that Tewes was the country’s—if not the world’s—leading expert on ocelots. At that time, I had been working on a project that explored ocelot issues in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.".

Countless media outlets and nonprofit organizations claimed the border wall would be the nail in the coffin for Texas ocelots— the final barrier that would guarantee their demise. Many of these were trustworthy sources that were saying the Lower Rio Grande Valley was the only hope for the ocelots’ future and that a wildlife corridor along the Rio Grande was the best way to try and save the species. And so, I believed that too.

About a year and a half ago I began working on a different project focused on this mysterious species — a film called American Ocelot — this time alongside Tewes and his colleagues at the East Foundation and Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research

Institute (CKWRI). After spending countless hours tracking ocelots on private lands with camera traps, speaking with biologists who have spent years studying the species, and diving deeper into this issue, my mindset has taken a 180 turn.

I now wholeheartedly agree with Tewes’ previous statement and believe that there is no one better for the job of conserving ocelots than him, his colleagues at the East Foundation and CKWRI, and students at TAMUK working to implement solutions that will directly help save ocelots in the United States. That’ll teach ya’ to listen to the real experts!

THE ISSUE AT HAND

Ocelots are mid-sized wild cats, weighing about 18-25 pounds, that typically eat small mammals and birds and are generally most active at night. Historically they were found throughout central and eastern Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas. They are also found in Mexico and Central and South America, where there are still stable populations today.

Photo by Katy Baldock

Trapping, overhunting, loss of habitat, widespread poisoning from human efforts to reduce predators and, more recently, road systems and cars have all contributed to their near extinction in the United States. As land uses changed over the past couple of centuries with the introduction of livestock and conversion of land for agriculture and development, the ocelot’s range has changed drastically.

Biologists currently believe there are fewer than 80 ocelots remaining in the United States, making them critically endangered; the two known breeding populations only exist in South Texas. One, the refuge population, lives on Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Cameron County and consists of about 7-14 cats, and the other, the ranch population, on and around the East Foundation’s El Sauz Ranch in Willacy and Kenedy counties and consists of more than 50 ocelots.

The primary threats to these surviving populations are habitat fragmentation and a lack of genetic diversity. Ocelots attempting to disperse to find new habitat to claim as their own face the danger of

Jason Lombardi and Michael Tewes study a map of the East Foundation’s El Sauz Ranch to determine the best spots to place traps to capture ocelots for research. crossing roads and being hit by cars. This threat is especially significant to the refuge population because of its close proximity to highly urbanized areas. Because these populations are isolated from each other and from other suitable habitat, they face the effects of inbreeding.

Beginning in the 1980s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USWFS) began the project of creating a wildlife corridor along the Rio Grande to help a variety of wildlife and restore ocelot habitat to encourage the cats to safely disperse. This process has involved acquiring land along the proposed corridor and restoring it to its native habitat. While a seemingly beneficial effort, this corridor has not actually benefitted ocelot populations.

Jason Lombardi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Research at TAMUK, has spent the past few years focusing his research on ocelots. Lombardi believes the idea of the wildlife corridor saving ocelots is not backed by science.

“You have to look at both sides of the coin, what’s happening in Mexico, not just what’s happening in the U.S.,” Lombardi said. “The idea of a corridor along the Rio Grande or to connect the cats in Cameron County to the Rio Grande is just setting it up for failure.”

Lombardi explained that the last documented ocelot along the Rio Grande was in 1995 at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. The wildlife corridor and Laguna Atascosa NWR are separated by a vast web of urbanization, and the closest population in Mexico is over 100 miles south of the border through land claimed by agriculture and other human development.

Tewes has doubted the wildlife corridor as a solution for ocelots for almost four decades.

“Ocelots are not strong dispersers so it’s just not happening,” Tewes said. “A coastal corridor is great for shorebirds, waterfowl and a variety of beautiful natural ecosystems that occur along the coast. But in many of these places, it’s a dead zone for ocelots.”

Tewes has focused his research on ocelots for more than 37 years. According to him, there are fewer ocelots in Texas

now than when he began researching them, despite several millions of dollars spent on land acquisition, habitat recovery, and road crossing structures designed to benefit ocelots.

“It’s very frustrating for me to see the actual biology not really being applied like it should be. The idea that we’re going to create a wildlife corridor into Mexico and then with restoring habitat bring them back, I think just creates an illusion of achievement,” Tewes said. “People think these benefits are going into ocelot recovery when they’re not. Therefore, we become complacent about the recovery of ocelots, when in fact, we should be ramping up ocelot recovery—just in a more effective way.”

Some South Texas biologists, such as Tewes and Lombardi, emphasize the focus needs to shift to working with private landowners and large ranches in order to save ocelots. The East Foundation and CKWRI are working to make that vision a reality.

A RACE AGAINST TIME

The East Foundation, a conservation organization that manages 217,000 acres of native South Texas land and operating cattle ranches, “promotes the advancement of land stewardship through ranching, science, and education.” The East Foundation ranches are living proof that maintaining a strong ranching culture and conserving wildlife species are not mutually exclusive. The staff works with other landowners in the area to encourage land stewardship practices that are productive for both cattle and wildlife.

In partnership with CKWRI and TAMUK, East Foundation scientists conduct research on Texas’ largest ocelot population. Some of this research includes studying location and frequency of road mortalities, determining the size of male and female home ranges, using camera traps to monitor ocelot activity and identify individuals by their unique markings, and frequently setting live traps to capture ocelots to collect data and attach GPS collars to them to monitor their movements.

“That’s what our passion is about,” Tewes said. “Our passion is about understanding the biology of these cats and applying it in a way that will help with the recovery in this increasingly hostile environment.”

The East Foundation, similar to many other South Texas landowners, has thousands of acres of working ranchland and a long history of land stewardship and love for wildlife. In a private lands state, wildlife conservation, in many cases, falls on the landowner.

“Public lands such as wildlife refuges and national parks do a great job in preserving these small gems of ecosystems and small populations,” Tewes said. “In Texas, which is a private land state, dominated by 97 percent private lands, the future of ocelot conservation is based on the landowners and the ranchers. That’s a fundamental understanding that makes us distinct from any other state.”

While private land may be crucial for wildlife conservation, the situation becomes much more complex when an endangered species is involved. The USFWS enforces the Endangered Species Act and the regulations regarding endangered species. One of

Photo by Katy Baldock

Jason Lombardi prepares a trap to be placed in the brush for ocelot captures.

Photo by Katy Baldock

Michael Tewes places a GPS collar on a wild ocelot before releasing it back into the wild so biologists can monitor its movements for further research.

Biologists with Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute take measurements from a sedated wild ocelot to gather data for their research.

the primary challenges of conducting research of endangered species on private land is a common attitude of distrust between landowners and federal agencies.

“The ocelot is an endangered species, and with that comes a different scrutiny and approaches from different state and federal agencies, to where oftentimes the landowner is in fear of putting his name on environmental issues that have to deal with endangered species,” said Landon Schofield, Range and Wildlife Biologist at the East Foundation.

Tewes explained that while some ranchers voice concerns about their operations being negatively impacted, that oftentimes isn’t the result.

“I’ve had ranchers say the same thing I heard 37 years ago— that they are concerned about the possibility of their land being taken over because of an endangered species,” Tewes said. “In reality, that would be extremely rare. I can’t think of any situation where that has happened in the past, but that’s what is believed, and I understand that perspective.”

Seth Willey, Deputy Assistant Regional Director for Ecological Services in the USWFS’ Southwest region, said the agency is building relationships with landowners in South Texas to try and alleviate these concerns.

“I can’t imagine a scenario where we would do anything on private property that would impact anybody’s operation,” Willey said. “It’s certainly not our intention to do that, and so we’re navigating the collection of the research in a way that will provide a stronger assurance that when we say things like, ‘There won’t be an impact,’ there’s a mechanism to help guarantee it.”

Even so , distrust is still prevalent. Some argue that an official agreement is needed in order to guarantee that allowing ocelot research on private land would not affect operations.

“The current policy doesn’t incentivize that sort of interaction between landowners and policymakers and the agencies that are charged with managing that resource,” Schofield said. “And so, by incentivizing or coming to some sort of agreement where both parties can feel satisfied is a round table discussion that would yield huge dividends moving forward, especially for the ocelot.”

One solution being considered to solve this conflict is the establishment of a Safe Harbor Agreement, which is a voluntary agreement between private property owners and the USFWS on the recovery of an endangered species. The East Foundation is working to spearhead that effort and encourage an agreement between federal, state and private entities.

“A big approach from the East Foundation in terms of ocelot conservation is starting that conversation with the people that have the power to make that change, whether that be directors of the Fish and Wildlife Service, directors of different state and federal agencies,” Schofield said. “Starting that conversation and showing the enthusiasm and the eagerness of landowners down here in South Texas to support, but also be a part of, the solution. To be able to find that common ground for ocelot conservation moving forward.”

If an agreement can be made and more landowners are willing to join the effort, a variety of options may be explored for introducing new genetics for Texas ocelots, including translocations from Central American populations and establishing more ocelot populations on land with suitable habitat. However, these cats can’t afford for these decisions to be debated much longer.

“Time is ticking. The sand of the hourglass is draining fast and we’re not addressing what we should be addressing with this population,” Tewes said. “It’s very frustrating to me after 37 years of working on ocelots, to get towards the end part of my career to think that we still haven’t made major contributions to ocelot recovery at a level that will make a difference.”

Schofield emphasized that the East Foundation doesn’t take their role in ocelot conservation lightly, and they recognize the urgency to reach an agreement on management methods.

“It’s something that none of us wants to see go out under our watch,” Schofield said. “And so, with that, we’re actively committed to the ocelot, to its persistence on the landscape, to better understanding its biology, physiology. But also, to start that conversation of how we can bring it back and to help it thrive once again down here in South Texas.”

FINDING COMMON GROUND

After speaking with multiple biologists, USFWS employees, private landowners and stakeholders in this issue, it’s clear that they can all agree on at least one thing—an agreement needs to be made to advance progress on ocelot conservation.

“Really when it comes down to it, everyone needs to be on the same page. Right now, no one’s on the same page,” Lombardi said. “We should be working together on the same goal for ocelots because we all, ultimately, want the same thing — we want the cats to survive. We want the cats to thrive.”

Not only will establishing a common goal between landowners and federal agencies be crucial in this effort, but also establishing a common goal between landowners themselves.

“Wildlife doesn’t know boundaries in the sense that we understand them,” Schofield said. “Ultimately, it’s a fence line.

Photo by Katy Baldock

Ocelots are critically endangered in the United States, with only two small breeding populations existing in South Texas.

A lot of times what happens on the other side of the fence could be completely opposite, if not contradictory, to what we’re trying to achieve on this side of the fence. For the sake of endangered species such as the ocelot, it’s critical that both sides of the fence come together and have that common goal so that management practices achieve that.”

Willey makes it clear that the USFWS agrees that private landowners play a critical role here.

“Local landowners are a key part of this partnership,” Willey said. “The big ranch country down there, they’re the reason there are ocelots there, because they’ve managed it well, and they’re critical partners for recovery efforts and a partnership we continue to try to foster as much as we can.”

Even beyond reaching an agreement between all entities involved, altering public opinion and encouraging public action will be an important factor in promoting change as well.

“Many people don’t agree with what I’m saying here,” Tewes said. “Because of the information that’s been given out for decades and their understanding of ocelot biology in the Rio Grande Valley here, is not necessarily compatible with reality.”

As Tewes said this, I had a flashback to my own mindset two years ago. While I regret to admit it, it took a lot of conversations with experts to make me realize the real issue our ocelots face. The illusion that the wildlife corridor was the last hope for ocelots had been ingrained in my mind by countless articles and misleading statistics published by reputable sources. I finally realized that those claims were not using the best science, and a major shift in focus was needed.

But not everyone has the opportunity or time—or even the desire—to spend years focused on a project about this very issue. And I think that highlights the importance of the role the media has in educating the public using information backed by science.

“We can’t recover ocelots by science alone,” Tewes said. “It takes people doing the right thing to make ocelots a success story … It requires the media to really take the time to understand the situation and then report it completely as to what is really happening out there.”

While ocelot conservation has been a complex, heavily debated issue for many decades, Tewes recognizes that biologists have come a long way in what they know about ocelots, and it’s not too late to shift the focus and use the best data available to save the species.

“The refuges are going to provide a lot of benefits for a lot of things—I’ll be the first to also agree with that,” Tewes said. “You have to remember that in the beginning, we knew nothing.”

He’s also hopeful for the future of ocelots in Texas, as am I. There already seems to be a shift in tone from various entities, some progress beginning to be made between private groups and federal agencies, proper information being presented to the public, and a desire from that public to help however they can.

“I’m very optimistic about the future of the ocelot,” Tewes said. “People like Dr. Neal Wilkins, who’s in charge of the East Foundation, and his ability to work with other private landowners increases my confidence that there will be some beneficial things happening for the ocelots. I expect to see a lot of good things happening in the near future.”

From Skeptic to Advocate My Changed Perspective on Conservation Easements

Article by DAVID K. LANGFORD

Writer’s Note: The following is excerpted from the preface of the forthcoming book Replenishing Our Hills by Brent Evans. The book will be published soon by the Texas A&M University Press.

The Texas Hill Country has left its mark on me and me on it for almost eight decades. My Giles family staked its claim here in 1887. Our ranch, where my grandchildren are part of the sixth generation born to this land, still bears the name of my ancestral home, which is Hillingdon Middlesex England.

I was reared in San Antonio, but spent many of my weekends, most of my holidays and every summer into adulthood on much of the 13,000 or so acres that make up Hillingdon Ranch. While I eagerly anticipated these days in the country, they were not vacations. As a member of a ranching family, we were all expected to do our parts.

One of my earliest jobs centered on the water bucket and dipper my grandparents kept on their kitchen table. In those days, providing water for the family required a trip to a nearby spring with bucket in hand.

Carrying that heavy, water-filled bucket over uneven ground taught me lessons of conservation that I’ve never forgotten. Water is vital to life. Abundant water appears through someone’s work, not magic. Water is too valuable to waste.

An uncle demonstrated to us all that wildlife like native white-tailed deer have a place on a ranch as surely as cattle, sheep and goats. Each successive generation has managed Hillingdon’s native grass, forbs, browse and trees so both wild animals and domestic livestock thrive.

The convergence of time, experience and opportunities allowed me to carve out a career as a professional photographer who specialized in livestock, wildlife, ranch landscapes and the western lifestyle. In 1985, the relationships with my clients that I forged and treasured earned me an invitation to an early organizational meeting of the Texas Wildlife Association, a group that was being put together as a voice for landowners with an interest in wildlife. I left the meeting as a member of the executive committee.

Four years later, I left an executive committee meeting with a temporary job serving as Executive Vice President; it lasted 11 years in its first act. I flunked retirement in 2001 and came back for a second act overseeing water policy development and other special projects. My second act lasted eight years.

In 2011, I turned in my business cards, retired for the final time and came back to where I started as a volunteer again serving on the executive committee. My volunteer service continues today.

As TWA’s Executive Vice President, I spent a lot of time in the public policy arena, especially in Austin. In those days, I spent a lot of time standing behind microphones in countless conference rooms in front of a mixed bag of legislators, agency personnel, traditional environmental groups, lobbyists and the general public.

As the 80s bled into the 1990s, Texas, especially its private lands, became a contentious arena. Two little-known bird species, Golden-cheeked Warblers and Black-capped Vireos that nest solely in the cedar-spotted hills of Central Texas and the Edwards Plateau, found themselves in the headlines. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the auspices of the Endangered Species Act devised a plan to designate portions of 33 Texas counties as critical habitat for the songbirds.

At that time, it appeared as if a “coalition” of environmental groups and land trusts were going to “save” the birds by permanently wrestling control away from private landowners either by taking it or purchasing it at fire sale prices from landowners who found themselves in a financial fix. The tool of choice? A conservation easement. The goal? To manage natural resources by removing virtually all human activity.

The reaction—and rhetoric—was swift and heated. Across the state at microphones in hearing rooms and in reporters’ hands, I and others with like minds decried conservation easements as plots promulgated by landgrabbing Communists.

Against this backdrop, Blair Calvert Fitzsimons, a volunteer landowner advocate who ranched in South Texas with her husband Joseph, and I were invited to a meeting hosted by Texas Parks and Wildlife. As private property proponents, we were in the minority. Most of the invitees represented land trusts, traditional environmental groups and parks at the national, state and local levels.

As the day progressed, speaker after speaker identified the problems that estate taxes created for landowners. Because of their experience and focus, these speakers wore blinders. While they were able to see and showcase the solutions offered by conservation easements and land trusts,

the speakers only saw the application for landowners managing beautifully pristine properties. Most were committed to preserving properties with magazine cover views.

These well-meaning crusaders didn’t understand that farmers, ranchers and family foresters, the people who fed, clothed and sheltered us, faced the same pressures from estate taxes and market forces. In their zeal for pretty places, they didn’t give working lands much thought. Apparently, those of us in production agriculture had managed to hide our challenges as effectively as we’d hidden our conservation.

As these discussions were taking place, the economy of Texas was changing. Through much of the 20th Century, Texas got its wealth from the ground through oil and agriculture. In the late 80s, after

TWA: For people who may not be familiar with TALT, describe your land trust and its goals.

CE: TALT is a land trust founded by three major associations across Texas: the Texas Farm Bureau, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, and, of course, the Texas Wildlife Association. As an organization, our land goals are simple: we focus on keeping working lands in Texas working and in the process conserve agriculture, natural resources and wildlife habitat.

TWA: What sets TALT apart from other land trusts in Texas?

CE: We’re the only land trust in Texas that is solely focused on agriculture. We concentrate on partnering with producers, whether they’re ranchers, farmers, foresters or wildlife managers, and help empower them to keep their land working—and productive in perpetuity.

TWA: In its 10-year history, what has TALT accomplished and what is its next steps?

CE: As of today, TALT holds 30 easements, which conserve 236,000 acres across Texas. In the first decade, conservation easements have been our one of the periodic busts that marked the energy industry, state leaders decided to add another leg to the economic stool. They made it clear that Texas was open for business, especially technology. The Lone Star State entered a period of unprecedented growth.

Growth, as we came to learn from studies conducted by the American Farmland Trust between 1990 and 2000, comes with a hidden cost. Initially, leaders in rural counties were ecstatic as developments sprang up, but the jubilation was short-lived. Why? While new residents bring new tax dollars, they also require increased services, which cost money…big money.

According to the American Farmland Trust’s Cost of Community Services surveys, the cost of providing those public services far exceeds the amount of tax primary tools for keeping land working, but now we’re developing other tools such as free markets for ecosystem services that can help landowners diversify and keep their operations financially sustainable.

TWA: What is happening in Texas— and across the nation—that makes conservation easements and land trusts important conservation tools?

CE: Just look at Texas. We lost 2.2 million acres of working land between 1997 and 2017; we lost 1.5 million of those acres in the last five years. Texas has the unfortunate distinction of losing more working land than any other state in the nation.

Lay that on top of the state’s growth. Our population increased 48 percent in the same time period. Our current population is 25 million. At the moment, about 1,300 people are moving to Texas every day. The divide between urban and rural Texas is getting wider and deeper.

Ironically, the population growth that is driving much of the land fragmentation is also increasing the demand for natural resources such as clean water and air that come from working lands. We’ve got to come up with practical solutions that keep working lands working so they can revenue provided by residential taxpayers. On the other hand, agricultural and open space land, even with lower tax valuations generate more tax money than they require in public service costs.

This was an important realization for those who valued open spaces. We spent a lot of windshield time contemplating this and tucked it into our hip pockets for future use.

Fast forward to 2005 when Blair asked me to attend a Partnership of Rangeland Trusts meeting in Billings, Montana. I went because I respect Blair and I like Billings. I still wasn’t particularly fond of land trusts or conservation easements.

As I sat there, though, I quickly figured out these land trust cats understood agriculture from a first-hand perspective.

A Q&A WITH TALT CEO CHAD ELLIS

(Continued on page 16) continue to produce both food and fiber as well as critical ecosystem services.

TWA: What is the value of TALT to landowners?

CE: TALT is a trusted partner—in perpetuity. Forever is a long time.

As a landowner who is committing to a conservation easement, it is important to have a partner who understands agriculture and working lands and is aligned with your goals. The boots of our board and staff members are grounded in land and ag, so we don’t lose sight of the landowner perspective.

TWA: What is the value of TALT to all Texans?

CE: Working lands provide immense value to everyone in our state. Agriculture alone brought in $23 billion in cash receipts and an estimated $135.5 billion to the food and fiber sector during 2018. Taxes generated from agricultural inputs and land fund critical infrastructure and other government services that benefit the entire Lone Star State.

We also must look beyond the number of acres conserved. Currently, TALT holds easements covering 236,000 acres, but thanks to that land, Texas has netted 180,000-acre feet of water. That’s enough

water to supply the city of San Antonio for 200 years.

Our value as an organization, like the value of the state’s land stewards, extends far beyond the fencelines.

TWA: What is the difference between a donated conservation easement and the purchase of development rights?

CE: In a donated conservation easement, the landowner donates the value of the land’s development rights in exchange for federal tax benefits. When development rights are purchased, the landowner receives a payment for the full or partial value of the development rights as well as federal tax benefits. Both are real estate transactions that will exist in perpetuity and both can be customized to meet the landowners’ needs.

TWA: In Texas, what resources are available to fund purchase of development rights?

CE: Currently, there are two sources of funding to purchase development rights: The Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program, a state program administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, a federal program administered by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

TWA: In addition to conservation easements, what other solutions is TALT exploring to help support conservation of open space land?

CE: While conservation easements are valuable conservation tools, they don’t fit every situation. We need other solutions to conserve all the land that needs conserving, which is why it is so important that we identify and develop other income streams that allow landowners to keep their working lands intact. Developing markets for ecosystem services such as water, biodiversity and carbon sequestration makes the public that benefits from these resources partners in the progress.

Aldo Leopold identified the potential of these solutions when he wrote, “Conservation will ultimately boil down to rewarding the private landowner who conserves the public interest.”

TWA: Why is TALT an appropriate organization to facilitate these markets?

CE: TALT is a leading advocate for conservation and landowners. We are often invited to speak with nonprofits, foundations and top decision makers in Austin who want to understand the value of working lands. As advocates, we have the ability to help bridge the gap between landowners and the agricultural goods and ecosystem services they provide and the “consumers” who depend on these goods and services and seek to support working lands.

TWA: As the state legislature convenes and Congress goes back into session, how can people help raise the profile of this issue?

CE: The dialogue between landowners and state and federal official boils down to the benefits that extend beyond the fencelines: plentiful, high-quality water, clean air, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, wildlife habitat and scenic vistas that define our country from “sea to shining sea.” The public benefits from private land stewardship, and yet land stewards bear the full burden of responsibility and cost of providing society’s very lifeblood. It is important that we continue to provide tools to support landowners and keep working lands working.

TWA: Why is conserving open space working lands important to all Texans?

CE: Working lands produce our environmental and economic lifeblood. Without working lands, there is no food, no fiber, no water, no air—no sustainable life. It’s not hyperbole. It’s fact.

Tellingly, at least for me, production agriculture groups in these western states, where private land butts up against public land, were forming land trusts to conserve their land, their legacy and their way of life.

By the time the folks from the Colorado Cattlemen projected their guiding principles on the big screen, the tectonic plates of my paradigm had shifted. I looked at Blair. She looked at me. We both realized that we’d been angry about the wrong thing. The problem wasn’t the conservation easements, but our perception of how they were being used.

As we came to see, a conservation easement is a tool like any other, so the way it’s used determines whether it’s detrimental or beneficial. Thanks to those westerners, we both flew back to Texas, which by this time was losing open space agricultural land faster than any other state in the nation, thinking, “This just might work here after all.”

Soon after we got home, we got together with representatives from the Texas Farm Bureau and the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association to talk about the possibility of forming an agricultural land trust in Texas. We agreed that forming an agricultural land trust would help give farmers, ranchers and family foresters access to the tools necessary to combat estate taxes and keep their working lands intact in perpetuity.

While many farms, ranches and forests may not have jaw-dropping views, they have productivity, both tangible as food, fiber and shelter, and environmental as clean water and clean air. Productivity merits its own conservation value as does the lifestyle and livelihoods built on it.

In 2007, the Texas Agricultural Land Trust was born from our collective efforts. During its first decade, TALT became the second largest land trust in Texas and currently oversees easements on 236,000 acres of working lands across Texas with more in the works.

This land will continue to produce food, fiber and shelter along with a myriad of other benefits such as cleaner air, better quality water, more vibrant river flows, aquifer recharge, the aesthetics of scenic open spaces, and wildlife and pollinator habitat that benefit every Texan in perpetuity. These landowning families will continue to voluntarily steward their own land, footing the bill for its care while paying their taxes and contributing to the health and growth of their local communities.

At the moment, a conservation easement is the only tool available for landowners who want to keep their working lands open forever. This legal document, which requires much thought, commitment and planning, provides a reinforced, retaining wall around a family’s land legacy. Succeeding generations can’t convene at the courthouse to squabble over the land’s destiny and dismantle their heritage a lawsuit at a time. A conservation easement is legally unassailable.

In addition to keeping the land legacy intact, a conservation easement ensures that the best interest of the land is always an essential factor regardless of what is being discussed or what is being considered. When a conservation easement is present, the land has a seat at the table— forever. I would argue that of all the longterm benefits of this conservation tool, this is the most powerful and most lasting.

As I write this, Myrna, our children, and I have finalized a conservation easement that will keep the Laurels Ranch, our piece of Hillingdon Ranch, open and development-free forever. We have poured ourselves into this process for almost four years; it is exceptionally challenging—and taxing—to predict what will be right forever.

The Texas Agricultural Land Trust is our partner in perpetual conservation. The organization’s guiding principles align with our family’s guiding principles. Ours is a partnership, like all good partnerships, where both sides win. A conservation easement held by TALT is a voluntary solution that works for us.

I’ve unashamedly come full circle. Today, I find myself extolling the benefits of conservation easements to my extended family. As preceding generations died land ownership was spread into more hands. Hillingdon is collectively owned by more than 20 family units with some controlling a few acres and others several hundred.

Until now, the family has relied on shared memories and common experiences to keep the ranch intact. The last generation to spend summers here is silver-haired now. Succeeding generations are scattered by geography and interests. Without a series of conservation easements, there is no guarantee that the legacy that is Hillingdon Ranch will pass to the seventh generation. I hope the Laurels Ranch conservation easement will serve as template for my extended family and make the monumental task of keeping Hillingdon Ranch intact a little easier.

While our story and struggle are personal, we’re not alone. Conservation easements preserve our past, but they also assure our future. We cannot live without the land and its natural bounty— and we shouldn’t be foolish enough to try. Conservation easements, which preserve open space land and voluntary stewardship by committed landowners forever, are the key to replenishing our beloved hills, our beloved plains and our beloved rivers, lakes and streams, day after day, year after year, generation after generation.

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