Texas Wildlife - Speckled Trout Bringing Back a Saltwater Favorite - January 2024

MAGAZINE OF THE TEXAS WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION

Speckled Trout

Bringing Back a Saltwater Favorite

JANUARY 2024

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TEXAS WILDLIFE

CEO COMMENTS JUSTIN DREIBELBIS

Texas Wildlife Association Mission Statement Serving Texas wildlife and its habitat, while protecting property rights, hunting heritage, and the conservation efforts of those who value and steward wildlife resources.

A

s a hunter, it has always been my hope that my kids would become interested, too. While they have been heavily exposed through frequent trips to the family ranch each fall and wild game meals nearly every week of their life, we have tried not to force it on them. That said, you can imagine my excitement when my 8-year-old daughter recently began showing some interest in going after her first big game animal.

June has been sitting in the stand with me for a few years now and while she likes everything else about hunting, she is not a fan of a rifle’s report. When I shared this with my friend Tyler at Archery Country in Austin, he suggested I borrow the cross bow that his son has been hunting with for the last couple of years. When June found out this was an option, she was all in. We met Tyler and his son at the shop one Sunday afternoon for a practice session and after several well-placed shots on the target, we were all confident that June was ready to go hog hunting the following weekend.

The next Saturday morning found us hunkered down in a dilapidated pop-up blind as the sun came up. The pigs were extremely cooperative but were spooky and didn’t give her a great opportunity for a shot. June tried a shot on one of the last anxious pigs as they were about to head out. That shot was a clean miss.

To her credit, she immediately asked me to load another arrow and settled in to see if she would get another chance. To my surprise, another group of hogs were in front of us within 15 minutes. And this time, they were much calmer. June quickly steadied the bow and placed a perfect arrow right behind the shoulder of a large sow.

After a short tracking job that she did herself, she recovered her first big game animal and immediately began planning our dinner of pulled pork sandwiches after the Aggie game. We also made a couple of stops on the way into Austin the following day to deliver pork to uncles/aunts, neighbors, and friends. By the time we were done, there was one shoulder left.

While selfishly, I’m excited that I have a hunting buddy for life, there were several things I noticed though the experience that impressed me. I was proud of the way she practiced, focused, worked through some adversity with the miss, and then was generous in sharing the meat with her friends and family. When you stop and think about it, these are all the life lessons that can be gathered from hunting and some of the many reasons that TWA takes Hunting Heritage so seriously.

Thanks for listening to my proud dad hunting story. I hope you and your family make a bunch of good memories in the field this season, too.

Thanks for being a TWA member.

Texas Wildlife Association

TEXAS WILDLIFE is published monthly by the Texas Wildlife Association, 6644 FM 1102, New Braunfels, TX 78132. E-mail address: twa@texas-wildlife.org. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Texas Wildlife Association, 6644 FM 1102, New Braunfels, TX 78132. The Texas Wildlife Association (TWA) was organized in 1985 for the purpose of serving as an advocate for the benefit of wildlife and for the rights of wildlife managers, landowners and hunters in educational, scientific, political, regulatory and legislative arenas. TEXAS WILDLIFE is the official TWA publication and has widespread circulation throughout Texas and the United States. All rights reserved. No parts of these magazines may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without express written permission from the publisher. Copyrighted 2023 Texas Wildlife Association. Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Texas Wildlife Association. Similarities between the name Texas Wildlife Association and those of advertisers or state agencies are coincidental, and do not indicate mutual affiliation, unless clearly noted. TWA reserves the right to refuse advertising.

4 TEXAS WILDLIFE

JANUARY 2024

6644 FM 1102 New Braunfels, TX 78132 www.texas-wildlife.org (210) 826-2904 FAX (210) 826-4933 (800) 839-9453 (TEX-WILD)

Texas Wildlife MAGAZINE OF THE TEXAS WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION

JANUARY VOLUME 39 H NUMBER 9 H 2024

8 Speckled Trout

28 Brush

Bringing Back a Saltwater Favorite

It’s for the Birds

by WILL LESCHPER

by STEVE NELLE

36 Horned Lizards in Texas

18 Lessons From Leopold

A Photo Essay

Sharpening Our Tools

by JOSEPH RICHARDS

by STEVE NELLE

44 Complicated Conservation

20 Guns & Hunting

by LORIE WOODWARD

They Really Do Come When Called

by LARRY WEISHUHN

50 The Public-Private Model For

22 Borderlands News

Access Success

BRI Celebrates 15 Years of Conservation Research in the Trans-Pecos

by ANDREW EARL

by SHAWNA GRAVES and LYDIA SALDAÑA

54 Outdoor Traditions Taking Flight

26 TAMU News

by SALLIE LEWIS SCHNEIDER

Preparing Your Pond for Spring

by TODD SINK and BRITTANY CHESSER

Photo by Lefty Ray Chapa

Magazine Staff

MAGAZINE OF THE TEXAS WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION

On the Cover For inshore saltwater fishing die-hards and the average weekend angler alike, the speckled trout in Texas is hands down the game fish of choice along the coast yearround. But are the “good old days” over? Did Winter Storm Uri hurt the fishery to the point that big trout and lots of them are a thing of the past? Perhaps, but there’s a new ethic that may well help the speckled trout regain its place among Gulf Coast anglers, as Will Leschper details in his article beginning on Page 8.

MAGAZINE CORPS Justin Dreibelbis, Executive Editor David Brimager, Managing Editor Burt Rutherford, Consulting Publications Coordinator/Editor Lorie A. Woodward, Special Projects Editor

JANUARY 2024

Cover Photo by Lefty Ray Chapa Speckled Trout

Bringing Back a Saltwater Favorite

Publication Printers Corp., Printing, Denver, CO

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TEXAS WILDLIFE

MEETINGS AND EVENTS

FOR INFORMATION ON HUNTING SEASONS, call the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at (800) 792-1112, consult the 2023-2024 Texas Parks and Wildlife Outdoor Annual, or visit the TPWD website at tpwd.state.tx.us.

PROGRAM

ENTER THE

DEADLINE TO ENTER IS MARCH 1, ANNUALLY. For more information on how to enter, find a certified scorer and much more, please visit www.TexasBigGameAwards.org

TEXAS WILDLIFE

C O N S E R VAT I O N L E G A C Y A D U LT P R O G R A M M I N G

TEXAS WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION OFFERS FREE LUNCHTIME WEBINARS Would you like to spend your lunch break learning about wildlife management? Join us for our FREE monthly program, “Wild at Work: A Stewardship Series.”

Wild at Work’s are one-hour long webinars scheduled from noon to 1 pm on Wednesdays to give working people a chance to virtually attend. These webinars will cover a variety of topics concerning everything from private land stewardship to Texas wildlife management to natural resource policy updates. Topics planned for the remainder

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of this year include conservation easements and mitigation banking, North American model of wildlife management, and natural resource legislation updates.

Date and Time: Second Wednesday of every month | noon – 1 PM with time for live Q&A Who: Variety of speakers from Wildlife Biologists to Natural Resource Lobbyists Cost: Completely FREE (Donations are helpful) Contact Jared Schlottman at jschlottman@texas-wildlife.org or 512-350-5563 for more information

JANUARY 2024

or visit https://www.texas-wildlife.org/waw/.

Details on future webinar dates/ topics will be forthcoming.

Photo by Will Leschper

SPECKLED TROUT

Speckled trout remain the top game fish along the Texas coast, though many fishing enthusiasts would rather catch flounder, redfish, or black drum for the dinner table.

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JANUARY 2024

SPECKLED TROUT Bringing Back a Saltwater Favorite Article by WILL LESCHPER

R

edfish may fight harder.

Flounder may taste better.

And black drum may be every man’s fish.

However, for inshore saltwater fishing die-hards and even the average weekend angler, the speckled trout in Texas is hands down the game fish of choice along the coast year-round.

Whether it’s flipping free-lined live shrimp in the summer along sloping flats lined with sea grass or lobbing a hefty topwater plug in the dead of winter to find large females aggressively feeding before the spawn, the speck is a mainstay in almost every angler’s bag when the bite is on.

The story of the Texas speckled trout fishery certainly is one of many ebbs and flows. It’s a history dotted with tales of the “good old days” when anglers who ventured into the back reaches of the Laguna Madre could land untold numbers of 30-inch plus trout all day long and those who ventured onto piers at night anywhere could fill an entire cooler with legal 12-inch fish.

My, how times have changed along our 400-mile coastline that stretches from the Mexican border to Louisiana.

In February 2021, Texans who live along the coast faced the uncertainty that came with a historic weather event in the form of Winter Storm Uri. While other portions of the state saw

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9

SPECKLED TROUT

detrimental conditions to say the least, in South Texas it was simply something we’re not used to dealing with.

In Corpus Christi, the temperature didn’t get above 8 degrees for more than two days. That had a devastating effect on fish like speckled trout that simply aren’t designed to withstand that type of weather, even if they can get lower in the thermocline.

The only bay system that had an increase was Corpus Christi Bay at about 9 percent above the 10-year gillnet average. That bay is a deeper system than other water bodies on the Texas coast and biologists think that aided in more fish moving into those waters during the freeze, causing the rise in that specific figure.

Corpus Christi Bay was included in the new regs due to concern over increased fishing pressure—meaning folks might target the bay more if it wasn’t included, officials noted. TPWD also cited movement of fish between adjoining bay systems and “genetic connectivity that should help restore populations across all of them.”

TPWD looked at multiple slot limit and bag limit combinations before deciding to propose what was adopted post-freeze. The new three-fish bag limit would result in a 6 percent increase in what biologists call “biomass,” a fancy word for how many more trout will be estimated in the population as a result of the new regs. The 17- to 23-inch slot limit (with no oversized fish) would result in a 21 percent increase in trout biomass in the affected areas. Overall, that would be 27 percent more trout, TPWD estimated.

Photo by Will Leschper

A HISTORIC AND DAMAGING TEXAS FREEZE The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission in January 2022 adopted proposals reducing the speckled trout slot limit and daily bag from the Matagorda Bay system all the way down the coast to the Mexican border, a direct result of fish kills from Uri. The new trout regulations enacted a 17- to 23-inch slot limit with no keeping oversize fish and changed the daily bag to three fish in the Upper and Lower Laguna Madre, as well as Corpus Christi Bay, Aransas Bay and San Antonio Bay, in addition to Matagorda. The regulations also went into effect 500 yards off the beach into the Gulf of Mexico in those areas.

The previous trout regulations across the coast featured a 15to 25-inch slot and the ability to keep one fish over 25 inches as part of a five-fish daily bag. In September 2023, the freezerelated slot and bag limit reverted to the previous statewide regs allowing the five-fish daily limit.

Fisheries officials and biologists rely heavily on gillnet surveys to estimate trout populations across multiple bay systems, and the numbers from the post-freeze surveys showed sharp downward trends in almost every bay:

• The Lower Laguna Madre was down about 31 Percent • The Upper Laguna Madre was down about 27 percent • Aransas Bay was down about 10 percent • San Antonio Bay was down about 34 percent • Matagorda Bay was down about 44 percent • Galveston Bay was down about 1 percent • Sabine Lake was down about 14 percent

This diminutive trout was caught and released three months after Winter Storm Uri in 2021, providing hope that many more this size and larger made it through unscathed.

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Photo by Will Leschper

SPECKLED TROUT

Trout regulations were altered as a result of Winter Storm Uri across much of the coast. The hope is that will eventually restore the population, bringing more and bigger fish to the boat.

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Photo by Lefty Ray Chapa

SPECKLED TROUT

While the effects of Uri linger, speckled trout populations are recovering.

TPWD fisheries officials also acknowledged larger fish produce more eggs. However, they noted much of the spawning biomass is in the 12- to 17-inch range. That would mean the largest number of reproductively mature fish is in that length size and the new regulations would ease pressure on that “cohort” of fish.

TPWD noted the 2021 freeze wasn’t on par with the major fish-killing freezes in 1983 and 1989, when parts of some bays actually froze. On average, it took two to three years for speckled trout catch rates to bounce back after those “benchmark events.”

However, it should be noted there also were fewer fishing guides and less fishing pressure at that time across the entirety of Texas’ bay framework.

In direct correlation to the 2021 spring gillnet surveys, the 2023 figures from TPWD, in relation to the 10-year mean averages showed both positives and negatives for speckled trout: • The Lower Laguna Madre was still down about 14 percent • San Antonio Bay was still down about 34 percent • Matagorda Bay was still down about 32 percent • Sabine Lake was still down about 7 percent • Galveston Bay was at the long-term average • The Upper Laguna Madre was up about 104 percent • Aransas Bay was up about 42 percent • Corpus Christi Bay was up about 55 percent

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HISTORY OF SPECKLED TROUT CONSERVATION The current statewide five-fish bag limit — which previously took effect Sept. 1, 2019 — was years in the making, mostly due to an increase in fishing pressure on the state’s bays and waterways. Back in 2014, TPWD enacted a five-fish limit for speckled trout in the Lower Laguna Madre up the coast through the Highway 457 bridge near Sargent. The move was mostly met with positive commentary from fishing guides and the general public, though some outlying opinions suggested an overreach by government authority.

At the time, TPWD offered overwhelming data showing that the reduction in the trout limit along the Middle and Lower Coasts would benefit the overall fishery, which certainly has seen an increase in fishing pressure from both guided and nonguided fishing parties within the past few decades. At the time, multiple angling groups backed the five-fish speckled trout measure across the coast and they’ve continued to beat the drum for increased conservation.

The overall conservation sentiment can best be summed in the Coastal Conservation Association opinion on the matter, which has detailed the influx of anglers along the Texas coast that is only going to increase: “The CCA Texas Executive Board supports TPWD efforts to manage and conserve the speckled trout fishery for current and future generations. With the

SPECKLED TROUT

MOVING FORWARD ON CONSERVATION Dr. Greg Stunz, senior executive director of the Harte Research Institute and director of the Center for Sportfish Science in Conservation, is an avid angler who has spent years on numerous fisheries research projects ranging from sharks and red snapper to speckled trout and redfish.

He noted the February 2021 freeze highlighted just how fragile Texas’ salt-

Photo by Nate Skinner

Houston area expecting to add roughly 2.2 million people by 2030 and fishing license sales continuing to increase annually, we know this is the right thing to do for the resource. Texas recreational anglers have greatly benefited from decades of coastal fisheries management

by TPWD. We boast some of the nation’s best inshore saltwater angling because as recreational anglers we remain engaged in the conservation and protection of our marine resources. That engagement coupled with sound fisheries management

by TPWD has proven effective time and time again; This time is no different.”

As part of their previous research, TPWD officials had offered projections on the reductions in trout harvest expected as a result of changing the daily trout limit from 10 fish to five, and those figures showed interesting trends. This especially is true in regard to guided fishing pursuits.

Aransas Bay saw a 9 percent harvest reduction during non-guided trips and a 13 percent reduction from guided trips, according to TPWD, while Corpus Christi Bay saw a 3 percent harvest reduction during non-guided trips and a 27 percent reduction from guided trips.

The Upper Laguna Madre seemingly benefitted the most from the bag limit change, with a 14 percent harvest reduction during non-guided trips and a 30 percent reduction from guided trips, according to department data.

Coastwide, the halving of the daily bag limit elicited a 12 percent reduction during non-guided trips and a 22 percent reduction from guided trips, fisheries officials noted as the reasoning for the changes to trout frameworks.

An increased focus on conservation and catch-and-release of fish of all sizes is beneficial to the future of the overall speckled trout fishery along the entire Texas coast.

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Photo by Will Leschper

SPECKLED TROUT

Photo by Will Leschper

The Texas speckled trout fishery is varied and diverse, with fishing inhabiting a variety of differing saltwater habitats.

Speckled trout can be caught using many different means and methods, including wade fishing, which many fishing guides say is the best way to target trophy trout up to 30 inches.

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water resources are and the lasting impact Mother Nature can have moving forward.

“There’s not much we can do about weather events, and we have to roll with those ebbs and flows, but we can do things about how we manage our fisheries,” Stunz said. “I would encourage Texas Parks and Wildlife to move forward with public hearings to retain the three-fish bag limit and the reason is that I really think we need to adopt a conservative approach.”

Stunz cited that demographic studies have shown the population of Texas is slated to double within the next 30 years and will likely only add to what has been an increase in fishing pressure up and down the entire coast for all species.

“When you’re not really looking forward to future trends and angling effort and that sort of thing, it’s a lot harder to dig out of the hole that we might be in if we don’t practice good, wise conservation,” Stunz said. “I’m certainly not preaching to not keep trout by any means, but three trout, three redfish and throw in a few black drum and maybe a flounder … that’s a pretty good box for those who want to keep some fish. I think that that’s a nice, conservative approach that we want to maintain these robust, world-class trout fisheries we have had.

“There’s a lot of support, and generally people are happy with that three-fish trout limit. And under that slot limit, I think a tag like we have for red drum or tarpon would be a good measure as

Photo by Lefty Ray Chapa

SPECKLED TROUT

Whether from the shore or a boat, speckled trout have long been a coastal favorite.

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SPECKLED TROUT

Photo by Will Leschper

well to preserve that ability to still once in a while keep some of those exceptional fish.”

Fishing guide David Rowsey, who has fished the Texas coast for about 35 years, has gained a reputation for being among the best at helping others land and release huge speckled trout.

He, like other guides up and down the coast who target big trout with artificial lures, has noted a large increase in fishing pressure on the overall fishery in the past decade.

“I keep detailed notes, and back in 2010 I had a stretch of 73 consecutive days with somebody landing a trout over 7 pounds on my boat,” Rowsey said. “And prior to the freeze, and there’s some well-known guides that will vouch for this, we were just praying for a 7-pounder a week. And a lot of times it didn’t happen … it might be every two weeks.”

Rowsey said the decrease in the speckled trout bag limit and slot limit has shown promise at helping protect the fishery and is in favor of making the post-freeze frameworks permanent.

“In the last year, we started seeing there is a recovery happening. There’s a lot of small fish and there are some big

Speckled trout have striking features including a distinctive yellow mouth.

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fish, and we attribute that to the lower limit,” Rowsey said. “You know, a lot of guys say, ‘don’t change anything, fishing’s great,’ and it’s great because we’ve had a reduction in the limit and the slot size (in the areas affected by the freeze).

“By old standards, we’ve watched the size and scale come down … we used to catch 8-pounders, which was a lot of times daily, and now we’re catching 5- and 6-pounders that have taken that place. We’ve got a new high point now, and unfortunately, it’s lower.”

Rowsey points to a shift in mindset he has seen among anglers after the freeze as a clear path forward to helping conserve the overall trout fishery.

“Just because you catch it doesn’t mean you have to keep it,” Rowsey said. “There are arguments about hooking a fish deep and it’s going to die, so you have to keep them, but if you look at the Harte Research Institute who does tracking studies of trout, they have a great survival rate. They put transmitters in them, release them back in the bay, and they get pings back for a year or even longer.”

Photo by Will Leschper

SPECKLED TROUT

Big speckled trout remain at the top of the list for most Texans who target saltwater species.

Fishing guide Chad Peterek has taken anglers out on the coast for 28 years, and in that time has seen an exponential increase in fishing pressure and fishing tournaments, which led to good anglers keeping untold numbers of large trout for weigh-ins.

As a result, he founded the Saltwater Legend Series, a circuit that is much different than tournament slates of the past, with every angling team carrying along a certified scale and practicing a catch-and-release mentality.

“I started a catch, weigh, and release program with all of our anglers, and it was very challenging,” Peterek said. “It was scary at first to do it. I think it was received very well by the fishing community though. Tournament anglers catch, weigh, take video and then release the fish right where it was at. Before that, we always kept the fish (in tournaments).”

Peterek, who guides in the trophy trout mecca that is Baffin Bay, in addition to other big fish hot spots, said the winter freeze certainly didn’t help the overall trout fishery but only added on to other issues that have encroached upon coastal fishing.

“I think that everyone thinks the freeze was the problem, but what I’ve seen beforehand, is the problem already existed before the freeze,” Peterek said. “The pressure has impacted it, in my

opinion, and you can see a drastic change in the number of bigger fish. You always hear stories about the ‘good old days’ and ‘you should see the way it used to be,’ and now I’m the one telling younger generation guides ‘you don’t know good compared to the way it used to be.’ ” Perry Trial, TPWD regional director for the lower coast region, said any regulation changes to speckled trout frameworks would need to be proposed first through a series of public meetings that typically would be held at different sites along the coast to gather more official comments.

Those comments would then be compiled by fisheries staff and provided to members of the TPWD Commission, who would then discuss the situation and any necessary action at one of its public meetings in Austin. The Commission could then take action on any changes, and like in previous years, they typically would go into effect on September 1 of that particular year.

Making the current speckled trout regulations permanent will no doubt produce plenty of opinions. But it’s a conversation that needs to take place for the long-term conservation of the speckled trout.

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BY STEVE NELLE

Photo Courtesy of the Aldo Leopold Foundation and University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives

Sharpening Our Tools “Our job is to sharpen our tools and make them cut the right way. The sole measure of our success is the effect which they have on the forest.”

Aldo Leopold, 1913

O

ur tools can cut the right way or they can cut the wrong way. Anyone who has ever tried to cut wood with a dull saw can attest to this. It is sheer frustration to cut with a dull blade and much more dangerous. The same can be said for skinning or processing a deer with a dull knife.

Saw blades and knives do not stay sharp; they must be repeatedly sharpened to remain effective. A sharp blade is a joy to use if one has the proper skills, but a dull blade or poor skills is an accident waiting to happen.

Leopold was addressing his colleagues at the Carson National Forest in New Mexico and was challenging them to take the extra time and attention to make certain the tools being used are working properly and achieving the intended result. Success in land management is not just a matter of using a tool or carrying out a practice. It is about the skill and effectiveness in which it is used and the outcome. It is easy to pick up a tool and use it, but it is much harder to use the tool properly.

Leopold was not speaking so much about common tools such as saws and knives, although the advice applies. He was speaking about any technique, method, or practice used in land management, whether on a National Forest or a private farm or ranch.

In making application, we can consider the five well-known tools espoused by Leopold. The axe includes brush control, timber harvest or selective tree thinning. There is no universal right or wrong way to harvest or manipulate trees and brush.

There are a thousand variations, each fitted to a specific situation. The plow is the use of tillage or soil disturbance to grow crops, restore grasslands or stimulate weeds. The effectiveness depends on many variables.

The tool of the cow is grazing management and includes stocking rate, stocking flexibility and adjustments, rotational grazing, prolonged rest when needed, and sometimes heavy

grazing when warranted to achieve specific purposes. The tool of fire is prescribed burning done in a specific way under specific conditions for a specific purpose; not just burning for the sake of burning.

The tool of the gun includes the big game harvest to keep populations in balance and achieve desired herd composition. It can include predator management. The tool of the gun includes the enjoyment derived from responsible hunting as well as the income it generates, both of which are vitally important parts of land management.

Any of these tools can be used constructively or destructively, for benefit or for harm. The tools themselves are not inherently good or bad; it is the way they are used that matters. Just as important as the skillful use of a tool is to know when not to use the tool. It is better not to use a given tool at all than to use it improperly.

To sharpen our tools means the effective and beneficial use of the right tool for the right purpose, used the right way for a good outcome. We sharpen these tools when we use them thoughtfully, carefully, skillfully, with the proper intensity, and with ongoing follow-up. No tool is stand-alone and no tool is a one-time application.

Leopold clearly understood that the human mind governed by responsible conservation ethics is the most basic tool that must accompany any use of any tool or practice. Today, our tools are much more powerful and sophisticated than in Leopold’s day.

They can accomplish more good when used properly, but they can also do more harm when used improperly.

In this coming year let us each strive to become better craftsmen, sharpening our skills of observation, curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, and logical deduction as well as our ability to use our tools the right way for the right outcome.

WRITER’S NOTE: Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) is considered the father of modern wildlife management. This bi-monthly column will feature Leopold's thought-provoking philosophies as well as commentary.

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GUNS & HUNTING

They Really Do Come When Called Article by LARRY WEISHUHN Photos courtesy of LARRY WEISHUHN OUTDOORS

Bobcats, along with coyotes, offer hunting opportunities in the off-season, although January and February are the prime times to take prime pelts.

T

here was a time when deer hunting seasons were over and done by the first of January. In recent years, as a result of Managed Land Deer Permits, we can now hunt whitetail deer until the end of February. I intend to do so. But, I also will be doing some serious predator hunting, particularly on property in eastern Texas where we want to increase the fawn survival rate.

Some will tell you putting intense pressure on coyotes results in them producing larger litters. That certainly may be true. But at least I will have reduced predator populations prior to whitetail fawns.

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January and February are ideal times to hunt predators, primarily coyotes and bobcats. I seriously doubt there is a county in Texas that does not have at least a decent population of both of these predators.

Years ago, Winston and Murry Burnham from near Spicewood, taking what they learned from their father Morton about calling critters, created commercial predator calls. A short time later, Johnny Stewart from Waco also came out with what he called varmint calls. For years, Burnham Brothers and Johnny Stewart dominated the predator call market. Through their filmed presentations, magazine articles written about them, and

GUNS & HUNTING

spoken word, they educated many about calling coyotes, bobcats, and foxes.

Their calls helped hunters take furbearers during the days when hides brought decent money. Back during those years, many of us supplemented our income by calling, shooting, and skinning coyotes, bobcats, foxes, and raccoons. Unfortunately, fur no longer brings what it once did.

In time, electronic calls using recordings of prey animals in distress became tremendously popular, although some of us continued using mouth-blown calls. Frankly, I almost always have a Burnham Brothers Game Calls C-3 with me whenever I am hunting, photographing, or simply looking at country.

Back in 1991, Gary Roberson bought Burnham Brothers Game Calls, reportedly the oldest game-calling business in the world. He thereafter moved the company from Marble Falls to his hometown of Menard.

When Roberson started noticing predators were no longer responding to electronic game call systems as they once did, he began seriously researching the real sounds that distressed prey made in terms of ultrasonic frequencies and what coyotes and bobcats could actually hear. From these efforts he learned young humans can hear up to about 22,000 Hertz (a measurement of sound). Then, he learned coyotes can hear up to 45,000 Hertz and bobcats can hear upwards of 65,000 Hertz.

Using sophisticated equipment, he and his team learned rabbits in distress produce ultrasonic sounds upwards of 65,000 Hertz. Some of the high-pitched, ultrasonic sounds made by mice can go even higher. Next, he tested to what Hertz levels the Burnham Brothers and all other electronic calls on the market produced. Interestingly, none exceeded 20,000 Hertz, no matter the volume or whatever was done to the electronic call.

Armed with scientific data, Roberson set out to create recorded sounds to the ultrasonic Hertz levels that distressed prey actually make and then an electronic call that would broadcast sounds in excess of 40,000 Hertz on the high-pitched side of things but also the much lower growls made by cottontails and jackrabbits. Those efforts took several years, involving numerous sound engineers.

Finally, involving extremely sophisticated work, they accomplished patented and copyrighted processes to do so. The result is Burnham Brothers Game Calls’ Freq Ultrasonic Game Call. The Freq call was recently released to the public.

During the development of the Freq (www.burnhambrothers. com) I had several opportunities to hunt coyotes and bobcats with Roberson. Often, we hunted areas where locals told us, “Predators no longer respond to electronic predator calls. If you try, you’re wasting your time.”

That was not the case. Challenged with such words and using the Freq, we called in predators in those “can’t call ‘em anymore” places. Coyotes and bobcats were finally hearing the sounds truly made by distressed prey, far beyond the 20,000 Hertz produced by existing electronic calls. During those hunts, I put my Mossberg Predator rifles loaded with Hornady’s Precision Hunter ammunition to use many different times.

I learned much on those hunts. Roberson hunts predators only during daylight. The reason is partly because of filming for

The author intends to do some serious predator calling this month and next in an effort to increase fawn survival rates on a property he manages in East Texas.

his extremely popular “Carnivore TV” show, but also because he can see critters responding, often from great distances, and learn from what he observes.

In setting up Roberson and his son, Steve, who has long been the primary videographer for the show, they do so where they can see incoming predators. “Doesn’t do any good to call in a coyote or bobcat and not see them. I always make certain out in front of us there is not anything a predator can hide behind. We pay attention to the wind, too. Given the opportunity, a predator will come in or circle downwind to catch scent.” He continued, “Remember even if you call in a coyote and shoot him, it’s a good idea to keep calling. Quite often more than one will respond to the calling. Coyotes are quicker to respond than are bobcats.”

All that said, I have several predator hunts planned using my Freq call right after the DSC Convention starting January 11. It’s that time of the year!

WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG

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TEXAS WILDLIFE

B ORDERL ANDS NEWS BORDERLANDS RESEARCH INSTITUTE AT SUL ROSS STATE UNIVERSITY

BRI Celebrates 15 Years of Conservation Research in the Trans-Pecos Article by SHAWNA GRAVES and LYDIA SALDAÑA Photos courtesy of BORDERLANDS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Students celebrate after finishing a day in the field.

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he Borderlands Research Institute (BRI) celebrated its 15-year anniversary, a major milestone for the small but mighty research organization located at Sul Ross State University in Alpine. Its mission is to conserve the natural resources of the Chihuahuan

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Desert Borderlands through research, education, and outreach.

The organization was launched in the fall of 2007, inspired by West Texas’ expansive private lands that harbor many wildlife species and unique habitats that were relatively understudied.

JANUARY 2024

Since then, BRI has been a key player in collaborative wildlife research while offering meaningful graduate projects for students enrolled in the Natural Resource Management program at Sul Ross State University.

Students have come from all over the United States, and even internationally,

BORDERL ANDS NEWS

to join the BRI research team. During its first 15 years, more than 100 students have received their master’s degree with a thesis project focused on conservation research in the Trans-Pecos.

This focus on Trans-Pecos’ natural resources has helped build the knowledge base of the wildlife in the region.

Researchers continue to learn more about their diets, the factors influencing their survival, the boundaries of their range, habitat selection, and inter-species overlap.

Wildlife studies cover many species, including mule deer, pronghorn, kit foxes, black bears, mountain lions, grassland birds, hummingbirds, small mammals, and more. Research also includes the study of wildlife habitat, livestock, and rangeland relationships.

Researchers often do their work in unchartered territories.

BRI Big Game Specialist and Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Management Dr. Justin T. French was one of those master’s students. He attended BRI as a graduate assistant to study pronghorn foraging ecology as a component of a pronghorn restoration project led by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD).

French graduated in 2015, earned his Ph.D., and promptly returned to West Texas to work with BRI as a post-doc, where, as a faculty member, he now studies the interactions of aoudad and desert bighorn sheep.

TPWD has led multiple restoration initiatives in West Texas, and BRI has had the opportunity to partner on many

and to add data from a research capacity.

One of those restoration efforts involved reestablishing desert bighorn sheep herds across West Texas.

“Desert bighorn restoration was a success,” French said. “We achieved historic population levels.”

But new threats face the herds, and that is where French’s current work comes into play.

“Bacterial pneumonia and aoudad interactions imperil that success,” French noted. He is now mentoring new cohorts of BRI graduate assistants as they study the carrying capacity, space use, competition, and disease risk to desert bighorn sheep.

Fifteen years ago, there weren’t any organizations dedicated to this kind of

Taking in the beautiful scenery of the Trans-Pecos is one of the perks of doing fieldwork for Borderlands Research Institute graduate assistants.

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BORDERL ANDS NEWS

Students and staff work together to process data and tissue samples before placing a tracking collar on this black bear in Black Gap Wildlife Management Area. BRI researchers are studying the natural recolonization of black bears in West Texas. What researchers learn about black bear ecology and habits will help black bears and people peacefully coexist.

work in the Trans-Pecos. Dr. Louis A. Harveson, who is the Dan Allen Hughes, Jr. Endowed Director and founder of BRI, as well as associate provost of research and development at Sul Ross, recalls seeing an opportunity for this type of institute at the university when he was a new hire almost 25 years ago.

Harveson first arrived to teach in the Natural Resource Management program at Sul Ross as a young Ph.D. graduate of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University Kingsville.

“Of all places in the state, the TransPecos, with its intense variety of wildlife and vast landscapes, makes for the most compelling outdoor research laboratory,” Harveson said. “I was inspired by the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute model and began thinking about what the possibilities might be for a similar organization in West Texas that is based on public-private partnerships.”

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Sul Ross State University is surrounded by significant state managed lands, including Elephant Mountain and Black Gap Wildlife Management Areas and Big Bend Ranch State Park—Texas’ largest state-managed park, plus Big Bend National Park along the border. But most importantly, landowners have been actively managing large tracts of ranchlands for livestock production and hunting for many generations. There was clearly a need for science-based wildlife and land management research dedicated to this region.

“All the ingredients were here to build a successful wildlife research organization,” Harveson said.

With the support of the administration at Sul Ross State University, BRI was born.

It was a natural expansion of long-lasting partnerships between private landowners, the Natural Resource Management program at Sul Ross, and cooperating state, federal, and non-governmental organizations that were already in place.

BRI Advisory Board Chairman Dan Allen Hughes Jr. has been involved since day one. He was attracted to BRI because of its ability to address important wildlife issues at the landowner level. Other parts of Texas had resources available to landowners regarding wildlife and habitat

Borderlands Research Institute graduate assistants get hands-on experience working with wildlife of the Trans-Pecos, alongside agency partners like Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

BORDERL ANDS NEWS

management, and there was a need for that in West Texas.

Hughes grew up as an active hunter and outdoorsman all over Texas. He has held leadership positions in a variety of organizations, including chairman of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.

His family stewards a ranch in Culberson County. While developing a management program for the wildlife there, he wondered what the home range was for mule deer bucks. No one in West Texas had a clear answer.

Enter BRI. Researchers conducted one of their earliest studies on mule deer, using the latest technology in tracking collars to follow the animals for five years. The results showed a much larger home range than was expected, approximately 15,000 acres on average, for adult males. Some bucks would roam as many as 20 to 30 miles before returning to their home base.

“It all comes back to BRI doing studies that have never been done in the TransPecos,” Hughes said.

BRI staff has grown from a couple of professors to now include a handful of post-doc researchers, four endowed positions, support staff, and a communications team. Collectively, they produce multiple research papers, newsletters, scientific publications, and reports each year.

“Our whole purpose is to share data with landowners and land managers about how wildlife and landscapes are most effectively conserved and managed,” Harveson said.

The transparency with which the organization operates and its emphasis on outreach has helped BRI gain its stellar reputation.

“A lot of people know BRI; it’s very well respected,” Hughes said. “Biologists, ranchers, conservationists recognize the good work BRI has done with TransPecos wildlife, and they appreciate the value of science-based research to guide management decisions.”

The scope and scale of projects has broadened, as researchers build on the strong foundation laid in the organization’s early years.

Over the next 15 years, BRI researchers will continue to expand our understanding

of Trans-Pecos wildlife. Several long-term projects are already underway, including the study of black bears as they begin to naturally recolonize Texas.

Black bears were extirpated from Texas by the 1950s, but have made a comeback on their own. BRI is working to understand their needs and habits on the landscape. This information will help Texans be the best stewards they can be for this incredible mammal as it returns to its native habitats.

Additionally, the organization’s land stewardship program was recently es-

tablished. This program is dedicated to partnering with landowners on habitat enhancement projects that will benefit wildlife. They recently embarked on a collaborative multiyear project to restore function of riparian systems within the region.

Thanks to the growing support for conservation research in Texas, BRI envisions a bright future for wildlife and their habitats in West Texas.

Learn more about BRI at bri.sulross.edu and follow on social media @BorderlandsResearchInstitute.

WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG

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Natural Resources Institute

Texas A&M University

TAMU N E W S

Preparing Your Pond for Spring Are You Ready?

Article by TODD SINK, Associate Professor and Aquaculture Extension Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and BRITTANY CHESSER, Aquatic Vegetation Management Program Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Winter is the time to service and repair pond equipment such as aerators and replace cracked, damaged, or worn-out airlines and tubing, such as those on the left side of this picture.

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oo often, people forget about their pond around the time dove or deer season starts, or shortly after the first major cold front rolls through the state. The first time they give thought to their pond again is during the first warm spring day when the itch to go fishing strikes.

But often, they are greeted by glaring issues on their first visit to the pond because they have ignored it since the previous fall.

Now is the time to start prepping your pond for spring and planning the necessary activities that should be performed so that the first fishing trip can be enjoyed rather than a frustration.

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Shoreline vegetation does not grow much if any at all during winter, so this is a great time to manage vegetation.

Trim and remove any unwanted trees and saplings around the pond, and make sure to remove any saplings establishing on the pond dam that could one day lead to dam failure if allowed to grow. Trim or mow any shoreline vegetation to 8-10 inches in height while it is dormant, but make sure to leave vegetation at least 15 feet from the bank and no shorter than 8 inches as a buffer strip to trap sediment, stabilize the bank, and filter nutrients.

Early spring is the time to reseed areas that have been eroded, such as cattle trails

JANUARY 2024

or washes around the pond, to prevent erosion and trap excess nutrients before they enter the pond. Winter grass mixes can also be seeded during the winter in problem areas such as gullies and washes caused by erosion.

Winter is also a good time to perform maintenance on fish feeders and aerators.

Feeding should be discontinued at water temperatures below 55°F. Feeders can rust when they sit idle during the winter, the batteries can run down or die, parts can seize or bind from general lack of use, and old feed and dust in the feeders can mold and mildew. Clean old feed from feeders thoroughly, replace batteries, and

TA M U N A T U R A L R E S O U R C E S I N S T I T U T E N E W S

lightly oil moving parts to prevent rust and seizing.

Aerators do not need to run during winter months as cool water holds more oxygen than warm water, unless the aerator is used for deicing, which is rare in Texas. Now is the time to service and oil air pumps and compressors, clean or replace air filters, clean air stones and fountain propellors, and replace old, brittle, or waterlogged aeration tubing.

Winter is also the time of year to create a stocking plan for spring. Fish transport better, survive handling stress better, and are less susceptible to most bacterial diseases at cooler temperatures. If you know restocking will be required in the upcoming year for your pond, including stocking fish such as triploid grass carp for biological control, it is best to do it in early spring when the water temperatures are between 60° and 75°F. If you cannot get your fish stocked by the time the water temperature is 80°F, it is best to wait until the following fall when the water temperature is again within the 60° to 75°F range.

If the water temperature has warmed above 65°F, you can perform your annual water quality test. A water quality analysis should be performed annually as water quality in a pond is not static and changes both daily over a 24-hour cycle and long term as new nutrient inputs are added to the pond and as biological processes occur such as denitrification by bacteria or photosynthesis by phytoplankton and vascular vegetation. Ponds naturally acidify over time due to photosynthesis and denitrification, so most ponds require liming every 3-7 years to ensure adequate alkalinity and a stable pH. Water quality tests also identify other issues that could cause the fishery to underperform or suffer low recruitment and fish growth. Test your pond every spring for alkalinity, hardness, pH, calcium, chlorides, total dissolved salts, nitrite, and total ammonia nitrogen. Water can be tested for these parameters by sending samples to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Aquatic Diagnostic Laboratory at https://fisheries.tamu.edu/aquatic-diagnostics-lab/.

Finally, as soon as the water temperature reaches 60°F in early spring, it’s time to start aquatic vegetation management

and prevention. If you’re using a fertilization program in the pond to grow bigger fish and prevent establishment of aquatic vegetation, the first fertilization should be made between 60-65°F when phytoplankton has emerged from dormancy, but vascular vegetation is still dormant. This is also the same temperature range to add pond dyes to prevent aquatic vegetation from establishing. Waiting until warmer temperatures to add pond dyes (above 85°F) allow vascular vegetation time to grow and build biomass and can lead to low dissolved oxygen fish kills.

If a pond historically has filamentous algae mats in the summer months, once the water temperature reaches 65°F, it is time to apply copper-based algaecides mixed with diquat to areas of the pond where those mats typically occur to kill the new algae growing along the bottom as a carpet and prevent those mats from forming during the summer.

Finally, pond owners should check their pond every 2-3 weeks at a minimum during the winter by doing a simple

drive or walk around. This is especially important anytime you have a couple of warmer days in a row after longer cold spells, as this is the time any fish would start to float and the best indication of finding that a winter kill occurred.

Often, pond owners never see any fish floating as a result of winter kill because they either rarely visit the pond during winter, or it is simply too cold for the fish to bloat and float, so they slowly decompose at the bottom of the pond.

Visiting the pond regularly during the winter can also help you identify signs of winter predation such as otters and birds (cormorants, herons, egrets, and pelicans) that can wipe out an entire pond in a very short period. Regular human presence can help deter these predators.

While there is much more you can do to prep your pond for spring, starting with the management recommendations above will help to ensure your pond is ready to go for the year and that first warm spring day fishing trip will be an enjoyment, not an unpleasant surprise.

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Photo by Rita Frey

BRUSH

Mountain bluebirds and hordes of other songbirds use mesquite and other brush for perching, singing and resting. Without brush, bird life would be much reduced.

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JANUARY 2024

BRUSH It’s for the Birds

Article by STEVE NELLE

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For some landowners, the word “brush” is a negative and derogatory term used to describe growth that is excessive, undesirable, and in need of control. It is true that several kinds of brush have the nasty habitat of growing too thick, causing problems for livestock production, hunting, and enjoying the land. But most brush species are desirable and never get thick enough to cause problems.

FOOD, WATER, COVER Every wildlife student learns that habitat for any species consists of food, water, and cover and that every species has its own unique requirements and preferences for these elements. Birds vary in their food requirements which may include insects, seeds, fruits, and greens. Some birds eat only insects and no seed. Some eat only Photo by Larry Ditto

rush is one reason why Texas has such a rich array of bird life— they use it for resting, nesting, feeding, and hiding. Second only to California when it comes to bird diversity, many of Texas’ 673 bird species depend on brushy habitat.

Much attention is rightly directed at the conservation of grassland birds, wetland birds, and birds of the forest, but let us not forget the great bounty of habitat that is provided by brush. Without brush, Texas would not have nearly the diversity or abundance of bird life that we enjoy.

Brush is a generic term for just about any mixed growth of shrubs, vines, and small trees in varying densities. From the thickets of South Texas to the open shrublands in West Texas, birds often find what they need in brush.

This female bullock’s oriole is eating fruit of anaqua in South Texas. Many kinds of brush provide excellent berries and fruits for birds. Protecting these brush species when conducting brush sculpting is an important management practice.

WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG

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Photo by Rita Frey

BRUSH

Photo by Patricia Wright

Brush is used by many bird species for a variety of reasons. This large algerita bush provided excellent nest concealment and protection for a turkey vulture nest and young.

Whooping cranes aren’t normally considered brushland birds, but upon their arrival on the Texas coast, they gorge on the fruit of wolfberry, the low brush in the immediate background.

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seeds and no insects while others eat a combination of foods. Larger predatory birds eat small mammals, reptiles, or other birds. All these foodstuffs are found in brushlands, creating a buffet for many kinds of birds.

All birds need water, but not all species need to drink standing water. Many birds get their water from berries and/ or insects. When the brush is harboring insects or producing berries, many birds can get their water without ever physically drinking.

Perhaps the primary value of brush for birds is its physical structure which provides protection against predators and harsh weather. No sane hawk will dive into a thicket of algerita to get to the birds hiding under the spiny branches.

Protection from sun, wind, hail, sleet, snow, and ice are among the benefits that brush provides.

OTHER BRUSH ATTRIBUTES Brush has other indirect benefits beyond food, water, and cover and these are sometimes overlooked. Shrubs such as mesquite, catclaw, guajillo, Roemer acacia, and kidneywood are legumes that add nitrogen fertility to the soil.

Spiny shrubs such as algerita, lotebush, pricklypear, or coma protect desirable forbs, grasses, and shrub seedlings from getting heavily grazed or browsed. Shrubs and trees also cast various degrees of shade on all except their south side, thus reducing ground temperature, helping maintain soil moisture and providing a more favorable environment for other plant species.

Multi-species brush clusters often start from the nucleus of an old mesquite or hackberry. Over time, birds perch and roost in these singular trees, dropping the seeds of other brush they have been feeding upon. It is very common to find 10 or more brush species intermixed around and under an old tree. These clusters grow in diameter as the shrubs get older, providing more habitat and more berries for more birds.

Evergreen brush such as cedar, scrub live oak, algerita, or yaupon provides superior winter cover compared to deciduous brush. Root-sprouting brush often provides some of the best cover since a dense colony forms from the interconnected root system. Brush such as wild plum, soapberry, chittam, coma, and shin oak are some of the common root-sprouting brush species that provide excellent bird cover.

BRUSH SCULPTING Despite its benefits, most landowners do not want a thick ocean of brush from fence to fence. Many prefer moderate brush cover mixed with some open and modestly wooded areas. This mixture of various brush densities provides increased habitat diversity and will usually maximize the diversity of birds as well as provide good habitat for deer and livestock.

Many landowners now do their brush work in a way that enhances, not detracts, from wildlife habitat and most are willing to tolerate more brush than in the past to retain good habitat for many species.

The days of widespread, wholesale brush

Photo by Larry Ditto

BRUSH

Many species of birds including the golden-fronted woodpecker nest in tree cavities. Woodpeckers create their own cavities, while other birds use cavities made by woodpeckers.

WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG

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Photo by Larry Ditto

BRUSH

Photo by Larry Ditto

One of the greatest assets of brush is the cover it provides for nesting. Loggerhead shrikes and hundreds of other birds find good nesting and brood rearing habitat in brush.

A brightly colored verdin rests on desert yaupon in South Texas. The small shrub is also called chile de pajaro or “bird pepper” for the small berries relished by birds.

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clearing are coming to a close in most regions and this is largely due to increased interest in wildlife management.

The term “brush sculpting” was coined in the late 1990s but the basic concepts had been in use for much longer, especially in South Texas. Credit is given to Dr. Dale Rollins, Shawn Vickers, and Mike Gibbs for popularizing and promoting the concepts and taking it to a new level.

Brush sculpting describes the whole process of effectively managing brush in keeping with individual ranch goals and especially for the dual objectives of wildlife habitat and livestock production.

Brush sculpting includes the careful and thoughtful consideration of all factors long before the equipment is moved in.

Brush patterns, brush thinning, and brush retention are planned out well ahead of time and choices are made based on the landowner’s specific goals. The operators are trained to recognize the different brush species so that selective control can be carried out.

The first requirement in brush sculpting is to know the brush species on your place and their relative value

Photo by Rita Frey

BRUSH

to livestock and wildlife. If you are interested in bird habitat, you will develop a fond appreciation for many species that others may not care for. Plants such as wolfberry, pricklyash, sumac, hackberry, granjeno, coma, brasil, plum, lotebush, and many others become sacred to those interested in brushland birds.

Every brush sculpting plan is different and unique to the situation. Sometimes there are strips or irregular clearings with stringers and mottes of brush left within the clearing for added habitat value. Sometimes there are no clearings per se, but rather selective thinning of the brush canopy to the desired density while leaving thicker brush in other places.

Creating gradual “feathered edges” at the perimeter of clearings is more natural looking and aesthetically pleasing compared to stark edges. A good job of brush sculpting will impress hunters, birders, and visitors because it looks natural and blends well with the landscape.

Brush sculpting is a way to retain the benefits of brush while simultaneously creating strategic open areas for improved grazing, forage production and hunting.

Photo by Rita Frey

This wood duck drake uses the brushy edge of a creek for cover and food. Buttonbush in background is a common shrub of wetlands and riparian areas, providing seclusion and abundant seed.

Although primarily a grassland species, lesser prairie chickens utilize brush such as sand sagebrush as an important part of their habitat, especially for nesting and brood rearing.

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BRUSH

Photo by Rita Frey

The concept has caught on in many places and landowners are increasingly careful and thoughtful in how they plan and conduct brush control.

Brush of many types provides excellent screening and refuge for countless species of birds including this roadrunner.

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JANUARY 2024

BIRDING AND HUNTING More Texans now own binoculars than own a deer rifle or shotgun. In a hunting state like Texas, we often forget about the number of citizens who love wildlife as much as we hunters do, but they prefer to observe and admire, not harvest. Both kinds of wildlife enjoyment are important and both are compatible with each other and with private lands stewardship.

As Texans become more disconnected from the land, birding is one good way for them to develop lasting relationships with nature. Birders are generally well behaved and respectful of private land; seldom will you find a birder throw out a beer can, leave trash, drive on a muddy road, or leave a gate open. They prefer to walk quietly rather than pursue their craft on rubber tires.

As more Texans are learning to appreciate the joys of birding, it creates demand for quality private land birding opportunities, especially during the nonhunting season. A well-placed deer blind can serve equally well as a bird watching blind. Likewise, the cabins, camps, and lodges used primarily by hunters can serve dual purposes for allowing birders access during the off season. The income opportunity can be impressive.

One of the special things about brushland birds is that you can often find a dozen or more species at one location.

Who wants to see a hundred robins when you can see a mix of robins, bluebirds, scrub jays, bobwhites, orioles, cardinals, mockingbirds, woodpeckers, chickadees, towhees, and wrens all in close proximity?

Hunting game animals and birding are not mutually exclusive. Hunters can become some of the best birders and birders can learn to appreciate the value and enjoyment of hunting. Both groups learn the value of brush as important habitat.

Texas is blessed with many kinds of desirable brush which adds to wildlife diversity. When brush needs to be managed it can be done in a way that benefits birds, livestock, hunting, and aesthetics.

A recently hatched Texas horned lizard perches on a researcher’s index finger. Texas horned lizards are of special conservation interest, and there are multiple statewide research and reintroduction projects looking at how to best manage and restore populations of this iconic reptile.

HORNED LIZARDS IN TEXAS Photos by JOSEPH RICHARDS

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he horned lizard, affectionately known as the horny toad from one end of the Lone Star State and beyond—and a species of concern because of declining numbers—is truly an iconic species. Enjoy this photo essay of Texas’ official state reptile.

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HORNED LIZARDS IN TEXAS

Habitat for horned lizards in South Texas typically incorporates early successional forbs and grasses with some open bare ground. The lizards are found in close association with red harvester ants which provide the bulk of their diet.

WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG

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HORNED LIZARDS IN TEXAS

Designated the official state reptile in 1993, the Texas horned lizard is an iconic symbol many Texans know and love. There have been perceived declines of this unique Texas native with many culprits, including loss of native rangelands, pesticides, illegal collection, and invasive red imported fire ants.

Horned lizards exhibit a unique defense behavior known as reflex bleeding. When threatened, the lizard can eject a stream of blood from orbits in its eyes at an attacker.

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Erroneously known as horny toads, the Texas horned lizard is a ground-dwelling lizard in the family Iguanidae. Their scientific name Phrynosoma means “toad-bodied.”

HORNED LIZARDS IN TEXAS

Even with spiny scales and protuberances covering its body, the Texas horned lizard is not immune to predators. This colubrid snake caught and was in the process of cautiously consuming an adult horned lizard.

In the eat or be eaten world of nature, horned lizards are found in close proximity to their favorite meal, red harvester ants.

WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG

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HORNED LIZARDS IN TEXAS

An aerial view of a Texas horned lizard illustrates the superb camouflage of this species against a textured background. The horned lizard’s flat body is often colored like the soil they inhabit. Color patterns are not generally good for distinguishing between species because of the soil color variation in local environments.

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HORNED LIZARDS IN TEXAS

During breeding, the male Texas horned lizard grasps the female and bites one of her horns as a means of staying joined. Males will display by bobbing their heads up and down, appearing as if they are doing push-ups in sight of the female.

There are three species of horned lizards in Texas. They can be distinguished by the arrangement of the horns on their head or by the number and presence of enlarged scales on their lateral sides. The Texas horned lizard is the only species in Texas with two prominent horns positioned on the backside of the head.

WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG

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HORNED LIZARDS IN TEXAS

A Texas horned lizard raises its body off the ground in an alert position. The lizard’s activity relies on the surrounding environmental temperature. They are ectotherms and cannot regulate their internal body temperature. The horned lizard can often be found in the early mornings basking on large rocks to raise its core body temperature and metabolism.

Many Texans enthusiastically recall their first or most recent encounter with a horned lizard. Texas horned lizards appear abundant on private lands, making restoration efforts and collaborations with private landowners critical for studying and protecting this unique species.

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Photo courtesy of USDA What may be considered normal in rural areas, like prescribed fire or hunting and shooting, may be considered obnoxious and annoying by newly-arrived residents from out of state. This could potentially cause conflict.

COMPLICATED CONSERVATION Article by LORIE WOODWARD

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a three-part series on complicated conservation inspired by the 2023 Private Lands Summit: Innovative Solutions to Complex Conservation Challenges.

Writer’s Note: While the Private Lands Summit offered an array of complex conservation challenges to explore, it seems as if the series needs to be teed up by an examination of what makes conservation complicated. The facts, figures and examples are verifiable, but the analysis, observations, and conclusions are all mine. And I realize I’ve left things out…a lot of things. This an essay for a magazine, not the content of an encyclopedia-sized set of books.

I take full responsibility for any shortcomings in logic and offer this only as food for thought and fodder for conversations. If any of us had all the answers, then conservation wouldn’t be complex

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and the natural world would be humming along as well-balanced, complementary systems, just as it was before man’s needs, desires, and numbers disrupted the flow.

S

uccessful conservation is often a Herculean task because it requires navigating the complexities inherent in nature and people. Nothing about either is simple. Nothing about either is cookie cutter.

The Texas Hill Country, with its booming population, looming water crisis, and fragile ecosystem with thin soils and shallow rechargeable limestone-covered aquifers, provides an interesting

case study of what happens when suburban and urban migration collide with rural areas and natural resources. While the ecosystems, cultures, and governments are different, it is a scenario that is being played out around the globe.

THE BIG PICTURE More people mean more demands and more needs. As “civilization” gobbles up working lands in the name of progress, it places a greater strain on the remaining working lands to provide not only food, fiber, and shelter, but clean air, water, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, and a host of other life-giving and spiritsustaining goods.

In Texas, the numbers, while familiar now, are still shocking. The exponential growth that began in the 1990s has picked up pace and currently, 1,400 people a day are moving into the state. To accommodate that growth, about 660 acres of working land is being converted daily.

The effects of this growth are being compounded by increasingly unpredictable weather. While parts of Texas have always been desert, most of the state received more abundant rainfall that was periodically interrupted by drought. Today, it appears that the dryline demarcating the desert climate to the west is moving farther east, throwing more of the state into extended drought.

To those who pay attention to such things, the toll is already obvious. Water is being pumped from rural areas to supply urban centers. Grasslands, once carbon sinks, are sprouting houses and strip centers instead of big bluestem and Indiangrass. With the power of eminent domain at the disposal of private entities, energy, and transportation, infrastructure is leaving an industrial footprint on working lands furthering fragmentation.

Increasing demand on rivers is not only pitting urbanites against small communities and agricultural interests, but changing the salinity of bays and estuaries, threatening the diversity of the Gulf Coast. This list is just the tip of the iceberg that those who pay attention to such things say are rapidly melting…

And yet, state and local leaders continue to roll out the welcome mat

Photo by Judi Niernberger

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Urban and suburban residents want to live in green, verdant, attractive communities. However, lawns and landscapes require an incredible amount of water to maintain, water that is becoming increasingly scarce in the Lone Star State.

for new businesses and new residents, offering incentives for titans of industry to relocate to the state. On the ledger sheet of value, the potential for tax revenue trumps the environmental infrastructure on which the economy rests.

This mindset persists despite studies in the early 1990s by American Farmland Trust in Bexar, Hays and other fastgrowing counties that working land, even with agricultural and wildlife valuation, produces tax revenue. Development, on the other hand, costs governments money because the new businesses and residents of new developments require expensive government services that cost more than what their tax bill covers.

Of course, only 11 percent of Texas’ 30.1 million residents live in rural areas.

The numerical clout at the ballot box is small compared to the cities and suburbs.

Nationally, farmers and ranchers make up less than 2 percent of the population. Texas is no exception. The voice of working landowners is hard to hear above the roar of voters in cities, suburbs and towns.

If you put 100 people in a room and asked them to identify the highest and best use of any given natural resource, it is likely that there will be 100 slightly different answers. Successful conservation is an exercise in competing visions and priorities. Whose vision and priorities take precedence? And how will the resource be successfully conserved without a shared vision and aligned priorities?

A HILL COUNTRY SNAPSHOT The Hill Country, known as the Edwards Plateau, covers about 36,680 square miles of Central Texas. Because of its rugged beauty, the region is often compared to Tuscany.

The region, characterized by thin soils overlying porous limestone formations known as karst limestone, sits atop two aquifers, the Edwards and the Trinity.

These unique aquifers hold water in the karst and are directly or indirectly recharged by the rain that falls. Crystal clear springs bubble to the surface from the underlying aquifers.

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Photo courtesy of the University of Florida

users. There are two edges to every conservation sword.) In late June after spring rains and before the searing heat of last summer, the output was at its lowest level for that date in 70 years according to the mysa.com, an online service of the San Antonio Express-News.

If the springs serve as the canary in the coal mine for the region’s water supply and they obviously are struggling to sing, why aren’t people moved to collective action?

What complicates successful conservation?

The municipal demand for water to maintain green spaces and landscaped areas only adds to the water woes that Texas is facing.

The live water once provided hope and sustenance to the hardy pioneers who raised sheep, goats, and cattle. It is now one of the features that makes the region one of the most coveted residential destinations in the state. The central Hill Country, the area closest to Austin and San Antonio, is particularly desirable.

How desirable? In 2000, the population of Kendall County, located about 47 miles west of San Antonio, was 23,980.

Today it is 47,540. During the same time, Williamson County, home to Georgetown and Round Rock, grew from 255,379 to 664,919.

Bexar County, home to San Antonio, had its own growth spurt. In 2000, county residents numbered 1.39 million.

Today, there are 2.12 million residents.

Travis County’s growth with Austin and its suburbs kept pace with the Alamo City. Growing from 819,692 in 2000 to 1.37 million in 2023.

All these places—and many more— derive some or all their water from the underlying aquifers. More people mean more straws pulling from the same “cups.” Texas is the last state in the nation to be governed by the Rule of Capture, which in practice means the one with the biggest straw wins.

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All the siphoning and sipping is taking its toll, especially in the face of ongoing drought. Since 2000, the region has experienced ongoing drought broken by periodic floods.

The springs, which act as an overflow valve for the aquifers, not only characterize the landscape but their flow—or lack thereof—signals the health of the underlying aquifer. When the aquifers are full, the springs flow. Springs throughout the region are drying up.

Victims of the drought and over pumping include Jacob’s Well, an iconic springfed swimming hole outside of Wimberley that quit flowing for the fourth time since 2000. To put that in perspective, the spring didn’t quit flowing in the seven-year “drought of record” that gripped Texas in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s. The state’s spring-fed rivers including the Guadalupe, Frio, Llano, and more have fallen victim as well. None are flowing.

San Marcos Springs, which carries additional restrictions because of the Endangered Species Act, continues to flow, albeit at lower levels. (In this case, the ESA, which was created with good intentions, but has often been implemented poorly and used a bludgeon, is functioning to the benefit of the resources and the

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TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS In the Lone Star State, surface water and groundwater are regulated separately and differently. Surface water belongs to the citizens of Texas and is overseen by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. As another layer of complexity, surface water is also governed by a labyrinth of federal regulations including the Clean Water Act implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency. Overlapping jurisdictions, changing regulations, and bureaucracy don’t simplify conservation.

On the other hand, groundwater, because of Texas’ adherence to the Rule of Capture, is the property of the person who owns the land above it. Texas is the last state to manage its groundwater using this law, which the Texas Supreme Court says, “…essentially allows, with some limited exceptions, to pump as much groundwater as the landowner chooses, without liability to neighbors [emphasis added] who claim that pumping has depleted their wells.”

The Rule of Capture puts Mother Nature and human nature on a collision course. As our society has morphed from one where the mindset of “good for us” seemingly has been replaced by the attitude of “good for me,” groundwater in Texas has become a subterranean “tragedy of the commons.”

The metaphor, first discussed in those terms by Garret Hardin in 1968, describes a situation in which individuals with access to a public resource (aka a common) act in their own interest and, in doing so, deplete the resource.

Across the Hill Country, this plays out in ways large and small. While there are many responsible developers, there are also a large number who simply want to

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make the money and run. As a result, high-density residential subdivisions where each ¼ acre homesite has a private domestic well are popping up like regrowth cedar.

Newcomers landscape their yards with plants that might thrive in water-rich Brazil but struggle to exist in Central Texas without high-volume irrigation.

Evidence of those systems is obvious in the emerald-green patches that exist despite Level 4 drought conditions in many towns.

Some people’s new homes, ranchettes, and ranches are only deemed complete with the completion of a vanity pond or two. In the most egregious cases, the landowners break state law by pumping groundwater into the pond to keep surface impoundment full, even as their neighbors’ wells dry up. When confronted by the illegality of their actions, many hide behind private property rights and their wallets, insisting that “It’s my property, so I can do what I want. Sue me, but I’ll win.”

In our instant gratification society where people embrace YOLO—you only live once—as a philosophical construct, it’s difficult to get anyone to look at immediate, much less long-term consequences. When it comes to groundwater, it’s even harder because as the Texas Supreme Court famously opined in 1904, that the “movement and course” of underground water are “so secret, occult and concealed” as to defy comprehension.

Out of sight, out of mind—and it appears to magically flow out of our taps endlessly.

When it comes to natural resources conservation, America has always been blessed with plenty. Unlike other nations, we’ve never contended with widespread shortages of water, open space or fertile soil. Since the pioneers were encouraged to “Go West, young man,” we’ve believed that nature’s bounty will continue to be found abundantly just over the next hill.

That’s no longer true.

PUTTING POLITICAL BOUNDARIES ON MOTHER NATURE Both government and society are organized by political boundaries. As a matter of practicality, humans impose

People who move to Texas from out of state are likely not aware of the danger of planting non-native, invasive plants.

political boundaries on natural resources even though rivers, lakes, and aquifers (and critters) ignore city limit signs and cross county and state lines.

By 1997, it was apparent that Texas was changing quickly. To address the changes, the Texas Legislature passed SB1. It was landmark legislation that that instituted a bottom-up approach to state water planning through 16 regional planning groups representing diverse stakeholders.

At the same time, the Legislature confirmed that groundwater conservation districts were “the preferred method of groundwater management,” but prevented districts from prohibiting the export of groundwater. (Loopholes complicate conservation.)

To further complicate the situation, many different groundwater districts, which are political boundaries or borders, overlay the same aquifers that’s borders and boundaries are not man-made or controlled. A straw sipping near the political boundary of

Groundwater District A and Groundwater District B is pulling from the same pool of water, regardless of who has jurisdiction.

Each district has its own version of what is acceptable and sustainable, therefore neighboring districts may have completing different philosophies governing the shared water. (There are those darn conflicting priorities and philosophies again.) Any land that lies outside the boundaries of groundwater districts is ripe for exploitation by the biggest straw.

While the Legislature gave groundwater districts authority, it didn’t provide adequate funding for the tasks at hand.

They have no budgets to enforce the laws, pay for research to provide the best data for decision-making, nor to withstand legal challenges that arise when permits are denied.

The act of conservation is complicated by toothless laws and regulations, limited research funding, inadequate data and

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the looming threat of lawsuits filed by people with different and competing priorities.

MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL… For an inanimate object, money wields extraordinary power in the realm of conservation. The needs of the economy and the environment must be balanced for a nation to thrive, but that is easier said than done. While money itself is neither good nor bad, it drives decisions and influences behavior. Sometimes, it’s for the better and sometimes it’s for the worse.

Land ownership and management is expensive. The promise of payment for ecosystem services can inspire higher, more committed levels of land stewardship, while the promise of large payments for a solar energy lease can prompt the industrialization of private land. Either case, if the goal is to keep the land intact, is arguably better than developing the land unless of course you’re a developer looking to turn a profit.

Research is essential for sound decisions but expensive, so funding must be raised. Depending on the subject, government funding may or may not be available because there are a lot of demands for limited resources. When legislators must decide between mapping an aquifer or providing medical care for impoverished children, it’s likely that the aquifer will remain “occult and unknowable.”

Business entities may fund research, but they may also be looking for specific outcomes that strengthen their bottom lines.

Is it legitimate science if the questions are posed in way that guarantees answers that profit the benefactor?

When it comes to salaries, generally government agencies, universities, and non-profit organizations pay less than other enterprises. Passion fuels discovery, but it doesn’t pay the mortgage. It can be difficult to find qualified individuals to put conservation on the ground. And those individuals often find themselves caught in the crossfire of politics.

Legislative bodies and agencies are not immune to influence peddling. Unfortunately, money can equal power. Being powerful doesn’t necessarily guarantee being right. It depends on the motivation behind the position. Is the power being applied to benefit the resource and society as a whole or is it being wielded to favor a few and generate more money for them?

Policies and interpretations of rules, regulations, and laws change as the dynamics of power, including political parties, change.

Conservation can get lost in the chaos of cash…

And natural resource illiteracy and lack of experience is not limited to the current crop of school children, it is a plague that grips adults in all professions…teachers, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, CEOs, athletes and political leaders at all levels of government.

How do you encourage conservation when people don’t understand the relevance much less the urgency?

To exacerbate the problem, our schools have been tasked with measuring benchmarks established by standardized testing. In the race to achieve measurable results, curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking, long the hallmarks of strong education, have been left behind.

Successful conservation requires all these attributes. As the world and its demands become increasingly complex, these skills are needed more than ever and yet we may be creating our own shortage of visionary leaders right when we need them most.

In recent years, the public has grown to question science, especially if a finding does not align with their personal views.

Thanks to the advent of the Internet and social media, findings are thrust into the public eye as soon as they become available, often without context. The world has a front row seat to discovery.

As we’ve moved away from hands-on science and experience with the scientific method, the public has seemingly forgotten that there is as much to be learned from research that doesn’t bring the expected results as there is from that which does. And we’ve forgotten that science is a process that often produces seemingly conflicting results that require further investigation and a larger body of evidence to determine what it is right.

Science has not been spared from the extreme politicization that seems to be creeping into every aspect of our society. Thanks to algorithms and the bully pulpit of social media, people can surround themselves in an echo chamber of their own beliefs.

The current “you’re for us or against us” climate, does not cultivate civic or civil discourse at any level. If one were to believe social media and its pundits, it is impossible to be, for instance, fiscally conservative and pro-conservation. In our land of labels, one must be either a blue-blooded liberal tree hugger or a red-blooded conservative earth torcher. Positive progress is gridlocked because very few are brave enough to venture toward to the middle ground where consensus and answers are found.

Successful conservation requires consensus, which is difficult in the best of circumstances. It is seemingly impossible when people can’t even agree to ask: What is best for Texas—or America?

THE DEATH OF CURIOSITY, CREATIVITY, CRITICAL THINKING, AND COMMUNICATION As America (and Texas) transformed from a rural, agrarian society to an urban society, our collective understanding and attachment to the natural world dwindled. Several generations have now been reared in the confines of concrete; not only do they not understand the natural world, they may also fail to recognize its relevance to their daily lives.

Water is produced in taps. Wildlife thrives in the habitat of YouTube. The outdoors is foreign and without experience, foreboding.

THE GREAT HOPE Despite the looming conservation challenges, committed stewardship and passion exists in Texas, America, and in far flung places around the globe. Where there’s a will there’s a way, although it may not be straightforward or clear cut.

At the turn of the 20th century, North American wildlife was brought back from the brink by a visionary group who rolled up their sleeves, pushed and persisted and succeeded beyond all imagination. They directed people’s focus to the common ground of the common good. Their mantle has been passed and as U.S. Marines say, “Failure is not an option.”

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While hunting and fishing on private land have long been part of the Texas culture, many Texans, whether natives or new arrivals, don’t have the wherewithal to afford a lease. The success of the public-private partnership between federal and state agencies and private landowners has opened up thousands of acres of land to public access.

THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE MODEL FOR ACCESS SUCCESS Article by ANDREW EARL Photos courtesy of TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT

F

or Texans, and most sportsmen and women east of the 100th meridian, private acreage provides sustains a lifetime of hunting and fishing. Whether in a tree stand or over a stock tank, the convenience of local private lands are often the onramp for new hunters. In Texas, the work of private landowners has produced some of our most pristine and productive habitat and created a paradise for big and small game hunters.

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A PUBLIC-PRIVATE MODEL FOR SUCCESS As an illustration of the economic muscle of Texas’ habitats, our state of more than 95 percent private lands supports a deer hunting economy exceeding $4.3 billion annually. This economy of licenses, outfitters, equipment, leases, processing, and more is the lifeblood of many rural communities across the state.

In recent decades, Texas has succeeded in making wildlife

T H E P U B L I C - P R I VAT E M O D E L F O R AC C E S S S U C C E S S

management a viable tool for helping landowners keep lands productive and economically viable. The Wildlife Tax Valuation and Managed Lands Deer Permit program are a testament to that, as well as our rich market for leased hunting. The market for hunting leases in Texas is a proven success, but forking over a seasonal or annual lease can be a hurdle for some hunters looking for a space to get afield.

In addition to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department’s inventory of state parks and wildlife management areas accessible for hunting, the state maintains a system of drawn private land hunts and holds leases on dozens of private tracts for dove and small game that are open to public hunting access. TPWD’s access programs are supported in no small part due to the USDA Voluntary Public Access-Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP).

Since the 2008 Farm Bill, VPA-HIP has grown into a bipartisan feature of an otherwise hotly debated Farm Bill.

It operates simply, providing funding

to states to improve recreational access through administering walk-in hunting and fishing access agreements with landowners. This can include incentives like financial support, liability protection, or even habitat restoration.

In 2018, the Farm Bill apportioned $50 million to the program, from which Texas was awarded $1.83 million. TPWD invested that funding into expanding the Public Hunting Draw System and River Access and Conservation Areas Program, growing their inventory of available private acreage for not just big game and bird hunting, but also fishing and boating. Ultimately, this resulted in more hunters and anglers spending more days afield than the previous year—an outcome with a significant economic return.

BY THE NUMBERS In December 2022, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies studied the economic benefits associated with the VPA-HIP in 2021. In 2021,

As this map shows, just about anywhere in the state, people have access to private property for hunting.

TPWD utilized $286,971 to support the enrollment of 22,890 acres for public access. That acreage supported more than 6,900 hunters and anglers spending a collective 32,000 days afield.

As a result, hunters spent morethan $3.38 million on additional equipment and trips. That’s nearly $11 of economic activity for every $1 of federal investment.

Add in multipliers like impacts to gas stations and local diners and the ripple effect grows that number to more than $6.45 million.

MAKING THE CASE FOR MORE For some time, states have argued that their greatest limitation in growing walkin access programs is limited funding.

In fact, in the 2020 funding cycle, only 27 states succeeded in their bid for funding. In recent AFWA meetings, representatives from state agencies nationwide determined that sufficient funding for VPA-HIP would be three times the currently authorized $50 million. As a result, more than 30 hunt/ fish organizations including TWA have called on Congress to fund the program at $150 million in the forthcoming Farm Bill. A growing number of Republicans and Democrats have voiced their support, and we continue to await consideration of a final bill, expected in 2024.

THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE The changing populations and land use underway in the Lone Star State are going to require that landowners, sportsmen and women be proactive in passing down our traditions to future generations of Texans, many of whom are growing up in cities and suburbs and more removed from the outdoors than those before them. It can’t be expected that the traditions and values instilled by hunters will be absorbed by osmosis.

There is no doubt that Texas hunters today benefit from the stewardship of previous generations of landowners.

Similarly, enduring the future will require that organizations like TWA, its members, and all Texans passionate about the outdoors work at all levels to ensure that our lands and wildlife are available for those yet to have the opportunity.

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Welcome to the NEW

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Taking Flight Article by SALLIE LEWIS SCHNEIDER Photo by DR. DAVID TARVER

Much is yet to be discovered about hummingbirds. That’s why there’s a concerted banding effort to collect data that will lead biologists to better understand hummer behavior.

H

appy January, everyone. While this month always fills me with hope for the year ahead, at the same time I find these winter days are ripe for reflection.

As I think back over the last 12 months, I am immensely grateful for the many memories made outdoors, and the countless stories I was able to tell. One of my favorites, which is published in the current issue of “Garden & Gun,” took me back to The Hummer House, a pristine private ranch in Christoval, Texas, for a morning of hummingbird banding.

If you’ve never heard of hummingbird banding, chances are you’re not alone. Currently, there are only roughly 150 master banders permitted to band hummingbirds in the United States, all of whom work on a volunteer basis. Charles Floyd is one.

Last summer, I met Charles and his wife, Nancy, beneath a canopy of live oaks near the Concho River. Over a small table laid with calipers and scales, I watched as a black-chinned hummingbird, retrieved from a nearby trap, was aged, weighed, and adorned with an aluminum leg band the size of a chia seed.

The alpha-numeric code printed on the band serves as the bird’s unique identifier, like a social security number.

The objective of banding hummingbirds is to learn more about where they are going, along with factors such as longevity and site fidelity. The data are regulated by the Bird Banding Laboratory of the U.S. Geological Service in Laurel, Maryland.

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While banding is a critical first step, the only way to adequately gather new information is through recapturing, which is further complicated by the fact that an average 80 percent of hatch-year hummingbirds don’t make it to their first birthday due to natural mortality and other factors such as window strikes and habitat loss. We can assist with the latter by having native flowering plants at home.

Still, as banders nationwide continue to cross-reference and catalogue records, new patterns are emerging. Charles once recaptured a black-chinned hummingbird that was 11 years old—a far cry from the previously presumed three- to five-year lifespan. In addition to living longer than historically expected, hummingbirds are traveling farther and to different regions, too.

Just last year, one of Charles’ colleagues, a retired Air Force pilot-turned-master-bander named Fred Bassett, banded a rare Mexican Violet Ear hummingbird on Lake Eufaula, between Alabama and Georgia. Today, Bassett’s research is focused specifically on wintering hummingbirds in the southeastern United States. Contrary to popular belief, various western species are now known to winter in the Gulf Coast states in lieu of migrating south to the tropics.

“It’s indescribable to catch a bird that you absolutely do not expect,” he said. “The thing about hummingbirds is the more you study them, the more you realize we don’t know very much.”

Kyle Shephard, along with 28-year-old Auburn Ph.D. graduate, Emma Rhodes, are among the new generation of young birders moving the field forward. Today they co-operate a public banding station in Gulf Shores, Alabama, through their personal non-profit, the Banding Coalition of the Americas.

Most recently, Rhodes and Shephard, along with Bassett and another bander named Fred Dietrich, have been developing an ambitious new research project that is pending approval from the Bird Banding Laboratory.

Utilizing ultra-light solar tracking devices originally designed for Monarch butterflies, the project aims to help researchers unlock the many secrets withheld by these enigmatic migrants.

“This isn’t going to get rid of banding,” Rhodes assured. “It’s just going to add to the picture.”

Though a long learning process awaits, technology’s role in the future of banding is a source of excitement for this tight-knit network.

“Eventually, this could completely change the way we look at hummingbird movement as a scientific community,” Shephard said. “As technology gets more advanced, and people get more involved, it’s really going to close the gap.”

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