One of my favorite sounds in the world is a turkey gobbling. Whether it is a flock of birds waking up on the roost as the sun comes up or a single tom shock gobbling at a truck door slamming, this strange sound is an important symbol of spring here in Texas that lets us know the seasons have changed. Just thinking about it (as I pen this article from town in early January) gets me excited for the upcoming spring hunting season and the fun adventures that will come along with it. It also makes me think of all the memorable hunts I’ve shared over the years with friends and family pursuing these fascinating, but sometimes frustrating, birds. I’m hopeful that the 2025 Texas spring turkey season provides you with plenty of time in the field and plenty of opportunities to interact with vocal wild turkeys.
All of these great memories in the field hunting turkeys also makes you remember the importance of the advocacy work the Texas Wildlife Association does on behalf of our landowner and hunter members each year. That point is particularly important now as we approach the two month mark of the 89th Texas Legislative session. In the coming pages you will read about our very successful TWA Boots on the Ground event that was held back in early February. This event was a great way for our TWA volunteer leaders to directly interact with law makers and make sure they know that TWA is here to serve as a resource to them and their staff on any issues affecting private landowners, hunters or wildlife. We still have at least a couple of months in the regular session and things are bound to heat up as we near the end. We will keep members up to date on what is happening around the capitol and ways to help.
As you are planning your summer, please remember that the 40th Annual TWA Convention will be held July 10-12 at the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa. This will be a special weekend for the entire family with an expanded trade show, great educational events, multiple auctions and plenty of special 40th Anniversary events. Book your room now and register the whole family for this momentous occasion for our organization. We look forward to seeing you all in San Antonio in July to celebrate the 40th!
Thanks for being a TWA member.
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.
OFFICERS
Jonathan Letz, President, Comfort
Nyle Maxwell, Vice President, Georgetown
Dr. Louis Harveson, Second Vice President for Programs, Alpine Parley Dixon, Treasurer, Austin For a complete list of TWA Directors, go to www.texas-wildlife.org
PROFESSIONAL STAFF/CONTRACT ASSOCIATES
ADMINISTRATION & OPERATION
Justin Dreibelbis, Chief Executive Officer
TJ Goodpasture, Director of Development & Operations
TJ Goodpasture, Director of Development & Operations
Denell Jackson, Development Associate
ADVOCACY
Joey Park, Legislative Program Coordinator
MAGAZINE CORPS
Sean Hoffmann, Managing Editor
Lorie A. Woodward, Special Projects Editor
Publication Printers Corp., Printing, Denver, CO
Texas Wildlife Association
6644 FM 1102
New Braunfels, TX 78132
(210) 826-2904
FAX (210) 826-4933
(800) 839-9453 (TEX-WILD) www.texas-wildlife.org
Texas Wildlife
MARCH
March 1
Texas Big Game Awards Registration Deadline. Divisions include Youth, First Big Game Harvest, Scored Entries and Ranch Recognition. Registration is free. For information, visit https://www.texasbiggameawards.org/
March 7
Landowner Workshop: Managing Forestland for Multiple Use, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Habitat Select Nursery, 2121 CR 392, Nacogdoches. Register at www.texas-wildlife.org/lw/
March 13
College Station Regional Banquet Committee Meeting, 6 p.m. Capital Farm Credit HQ, 3902 S. Traditions Dr., College Station, 77845. Email nvonkrosigk@texas-wildlife.org for details.
March 19
Wild at Work Webinar: Stomp Out Screwworms. Featuring Dr. Sandra Leyendecker, DVT, Texas Animal Health Commission. Register at https://bit.ly/WatWScrewworm.
March 19
Abilene Regional Banquet Committee Meeting, 6 p.m., Perini Ranch Steakhouse, 3002 FM 89, Buffalo Gap, 79508. Email nvonkrosigk@texaswildlife.org for details.
APRIL
April 4
Landowner Workshop: Riverby Ranch in Bonham, 75488 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mark your calendar, more information to follow!
April 25
Landowner Workshop at Mason Mountain WMA, Mason, 76856. Mark your calendar, more information to follow!
MAY
May 8
Texas Outdoorsman of the Year, Fort Worth Zoo. For information, contact djackson@texaswildlife.org or www.twafoundation.org
JULY
July 10-12
WildLife 2025, TWA’s 40th Annual Convention, J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort & Spa, San Antonio. Mark your calendar, more information to follow! Register at www.texas-wildlife.org/lw/
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.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
TWA LETTER TO THE EDITOR POLICY: Texas Wildlife Association members are encouraged to provide feedback about issues and topics. The CEO and editor will review letters (maximum 400 words) for possible publication. Email letters to shoffmann@texas-wildlife.org
TWA MEMBER PHOTO CONTEST
TWA MEMBER PHOTO CONTEST: Email us your best photos, TWA! We’ll accept them from members through Oct. 31, 2025 and publish the best ones in upcoming issues of Texas Wildlife Extra, our digital magazine. One entry per member per category; must be a current TWA member when photo is entered. Categories are landscape, wildlife, humor and game camera. Also, an open youth division for photographers who are 17 and under. Photos must be taken in Texas! Email your high resolution, unedited and unenhanced picture to TWA@texas-wildlife.org
Texas Turkey Conservation Science
ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY BRET COLLIER ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF WILDLIFE ECOLOGY, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
When the Texas Wildlife Association asked me to write an article about wild turkey science in Texas, I realized that I started my first wild turkey research project in Texas in 2004, so this is about my 20 years of continuous wild turkey research in Texas. As I thought back to the enormous variety of scientific questions, graduate students and field technicians, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) biologists, ranch
managers, landowners, and members of the public that I have interacted with over the years, I realize that this story is about their drive to further the conservation and management of Texas wild turkey. I hope I do them and all their efforts justice.
For decades, Texas has led the country in wild turkey science. This game bird represents one of the greatest, ongoing conservation success stories and in this article I
will highlight a few recent projects. However, there are dozens more that are equally important when it comes to Texas turkey.
Three native subspecies of wild turkey are native to Texas. Eastern wild turkeys range in the pineywoods of East Texas. Rio Grandes inhabit the central third of the state from Oklahoma to the Rio Grande, while Merriam’s have purportedly trickled in and out from New Mexico into the Davis Mountains of West Texas. From a management standpoint, TPWD generally focuses regulatory and conservation efforts toward the Eastern and Rio Grande subspecies, since Merriam’s populations remain relatively low and isolated. There are counties where Eastern and Rio Grande wild turkeys intergrade on the Rio Grande’s eastern range boundary, but for management purposes this boundary does not come into play.
Texas Rio Grandes are the most numerous, most sought after and represent the majority of wild turkeys harvested in Texas annually.
Working with TPWD, we recently completed a 7-year project where we captured about 3,100 Rio Grandes, both male and female, from across the state with the intent to provide TPWD with two pieces of information: harvest rate and abundance. Each bird was tagged with a metal leg band
that included a TPWD phone number for hunters to report their harvests. A subset of turkeys were tagged with a light blue reward band worth $100 if the hunter phoned in their harvest.
Approximately 200 males were recovered through harvest reporting. Combined with a lot of math, we estimated that each year, on average, about 240,000 adult male Rio Grande turkeys call Texas home. We did the same extrapolation for female Rio Grandes and estimated an average population size of about 560,000.
Why is knowing that there are about 800,000 Rio Grande wild turkeys in Texas important? TPWD uses estimates of abundance for many wildlife species to recommend regulatory strategies, such as bag limits and season timing, to ensure adequate opportunity for hunters while also ensuring that harvests remain within population allowances.
Interestingly, we also determined from our data that on average, wild turkey hunters in Texas harvest about 10% of the total adult male population size each year while another 20-30% dies of natural causes. Hunters harvest less than 1% of the juvenile males (jakes) each year. Overall, jakes have a comparatively high survival rate as <5% succumb to natural causes each year.
A hen Rio Grande turkey is harmlessly outfitted with a GPS tag so that researchers can track her movement. This technology was first implemented for turkey in 2009.
Rio Grandes hold a unique place in the recent history of Texas wild turkey science. For example, the walk-in trap was developed and tested on Rio Grandes. Their breeding season chronology was researched to determine if jakes can successfully breed (short answer to that long study was no, jakes cannot breed). Additionally, an abundance of Rios in certain regions of Texas has created opportunities for them to be trapped, transported and used to restore or create new local turkey populations all over the United States.
The primary approach for field biologists and university researchers to learn about wild turkeys rests on our ability to track them and observe their activities. Old school technology, called very high frequency (better known as VHF), involved a tag that would emit a beep detected by a radio receiver. This would allow us to find each turkey, if we could after following them around, every few days. VHF
was the foundation of how scientists tracked wildlife across the globe and was the mainstay in tracking wild turkeys throughout Texas for over 50 years.
One of the most important advances in wild turkey science occurred in 2009 on an uneventful morning in South Texas out on the Temple Ranch, where the first ever global positioning system (GPS) tag was hung on the back of a female Rio Grande turkey. Now, GPS technology is commonplace thanks to cell phones and Google Maps. Yet on that day, we transitioned wild turkey science from an approach that required us to locate and follow turkeys around, try and get in fairly close (<100m) and maybe collect a couple of approximate locations of where a turkey was each day, to an approach where we could map the movement of an individual wild turkey each day for over a year and never have to disturb them. That morning, when Josh, Stephen, Robert, Jason and I hung the first GPS on that hen, Texas and TPWD were propelled to lead the nation in combining technology and wild turkey science to further conservation. Since then, TPWD has supported a variety of
This is a roost location at the MT7 Ranch. Left is nighttime with the turkeys visible (black bodies with white heads), right is the same location in the day.
Turkeys are highlighted in this nighttime aerial video still captured with the use of a drone.”
Tracking turkey is much more efficient with GPS technology as opposed to old school VHF.
research projects across the state using GPS technology and we estimate that Texas has collected well over 1.5 million high resolution wild turkey daily locations and another 85,000 night roosting locations.
GPS technology has proven to be extremely beneficial for wild turkey conservation in Texas—especially the restoration of wild turkeys in East Texas. TPWD began actively restoring Easterns into the Pineywoods region about 50 years ago. Following some initial misfires using pen-reared birds, the science-based strategy of super stocking took hold and now turkeys are released in groups every year which increases long-term survival and recruitment. However, GPS-tagged restored wild turkeys brought a very interesting twist to the restoration activities. We learned that many restored wild turkeys took long walkabouts immediately after release, sometimes moving upwards of 200 miles. TPWD used that information to ensure
that more recent translocation releases were staged such that other wild turkeys (either released in previous years, or extant), were in the area, which increased fidelity of released birds to the release areas and significantly improved survival and recruitment.
The use of GPS on wild turkeys allows TPWD to better manage habitats for Rio Grandes and Easterns. For example, prescribed fire is an integral management tool for both species as it helps maintain the open mixed rangelands for Rio Grandes. Two to three year burn cycles produce early successional vegetation communities used by Eastern wild turkeys for nesting and brooding. The ability to monitor turkeys with high resolution GPS locations provides managers with a litany of information on how turkeys respond to fire. Eastern wild turkeys rarely, if ever, move more than 250 meters into a fire scar, choosing to stay near the unburned edges the season of the burn.
The technology supporting wild turkey conservation is not limited to what we put on the birds. It also focuses on what we can do to better monitor changes in wild turkey population size and distribution...
Technological improvements in wildlife research allow landowners to hone the management tools that benefit their target species.
However, during years one and two post-burn, nearly 75% of Eastern wild turkeys were found to nest and brood in those same burned areas.
As we know, not all fires are good, and every year certain areas of Texas are impacted by wildfire. When these major environmental events occur in proximity to ongoing research, there is a lot that can be learned by monitoring the potential impacts on wildlife and to provide an opportunity for us to learn what we can do better in the future. For example, in spring of 2011, TPWD District 3 staff and I had an ongoing Rio Grande wild turkey project up on the MT7 Ranch and the surrounding north central Texas area. The Possum Kingdom Complex Fire started right at the peak of the reproductive season for wild turkey and we just happened to have some birds tagged adjacent to the fire, so we had the opportunity to evaluate how wild turkeys responded to a wildfire. Now, as we have established, wild turkeys respond very well to low intensity fire, but what happens when a major wildfire blows through and scarifies the landscape? The first, and probably most relevant piece of information is that turkeys seemed to vacate the area and head for safety when the fire approached. Equally important is that right after the wildfire, wild turkeys were right back in the burned areas foraging and occasionally roosting in trees that were spared. We did see a fairly nuanced effect of how fire intensity impacted turkey. The hotter the fire, the more likely a turkey was to avoid a burned area due to scarification of the ground. Lesson learned from a prescribed fire management standpoint.
The technology supporting wild turkey conservation is not limited to what we put on the birds. It also focuses on what we can do to better monitor changes in wild turkey population size and distribution based on riparian corridor management. In semi-arid regions, roosting habitats are
Research shows that on average, wild turkey hunters in Texas harvest about 10% of the total adult male population size each year while another 20-30% succumbs to natural causes.
critical for wild turkey conservation--think a mesquite/ hackberry creek bottom in South Texas, or cottonwoods along the river in West Texas. Ensuring that these roosting areas are conserved has been an important focus for TPWD. Recently, the use of drone technology combined with high resolution spatial data has allowed scientists to better evaluate how many wild turkeys are using a roosting location, and whether management actions to improve roost sites are showing any benefit. Some of my colleagues, working with TPWD and MT7 Ranch, have discovered that by strapping an infrared camera to the bottom of a drone, we can remotely survey roosting habitats and identify wild turkeys at night by the heat signature from their heads. The use of drones ensures that we are not disturbing the turkeys on the roost or impacting their behaviors, and allow us to gather important management data that both local landowners and TPWD can use to evaluate the impacts of restoration and management actions.
It is important to note that wild turkey science in Texas has trained scores of graduate students and hundreds of field technicians who have gone on to work as biologists for state, federal or non-governmental organizations across the United States. For example, Texas Wildlife Association’s own Justin Dreibelbis cut his wildlife biology teeth working for me in the Hill Country chasing VHF tagged wild turkeys, as did Kyle, Mason, the other Kyle, and a suite of others who manage wild turkeys and other wildlife in Texas. Additionally, the relationships built between university researchers, TPWD, and private landowners, which were initiated when we simply requested access for tracking a nesting female or to recover a tag from a mortality, have led to the long-term partnerships across the conservation field that continue to support wild turkey conservation in Texas and across the United States.
Forty Years of Reflection… and Change
ARTICLE BY GREG SIMONS
The year 2025 marks 40 years since the inception of the Texas Wildlife Association, a milestone that is certainly worth celebrating. Much has been discussed, and even cussed, regarding the reality that one of the constants in life is change, and as one might expect, a time that spans four decades is sure to see plenty of change. In this issue of Texas Wildlife magazine, Lorie Woodward looks at some of the noteworthy features that characterize the timeline-history of TWA. Keeping in step with Lorie’s look back, I thought I would share some of my personal observations and perspectives that are reflective of the changes across the hunting scene here in Texas. Much of my
information in this article is white-tailed deer centric, but there are various aspects that have broader application.
The year was 1985, eight to 10 years removed from the publishing of the books Producing Quality Whitetails, Big Rack, and Hunting Trophy Deer, collectively fueling an appetite for growing and hunting big deer. That same era was seeing an uptick in interest to understand habitat needs for other game species including quail and turkey, to name a few. Private landowners were beginning to place more emphasis on fee-based hunting programs to diversify their enterprise portfolios for their farms and ranches. That same year also witnessed the formation of a new special interest
Fee-based hunting programs and the commercialization of hunting mushroomed during the 1980s, an era when TWA was formed.
group to serve as a voice for private landowners, wildlife enthusiasts and wildlife. Since its inception, TWA has grown into a special interest powerhouse, evolving with changing times and changing opportunities. Let’s take a closer look at some of these more noteworthy changes.
HIGH FENCES
The 1980s and 1990s saw a mushroomed interest in landowners and deer managers stringing up what we sometimes refer to as “game proof” fences. These eight- to nine-foot fences changed the landscape of deer hunting in Texas, while also fostering the growth of exotic game ranches. There is no other tool in a deer manager’s toolbox that is more profound than a high fence. Creating a somewhat “closed” system is likened to managing fish in a pond versus those in a
As Leopold often opined, when it comes to managing wildlife, it’s not always the tool itself that matters the most, but rather, it’s how the tool is used. This observation applies in spades to the use of a high fence. And whether you, I, or anyone else likes the idea that Texas has a nationwide stigma of game farms, canned hunting, and something less than fair chase in much the big game community, these high fences are here to stay, and we need to learn to embrace the ability to use them as a tool in a responsible and effective manner.
FEEDERS AND FEEDING
By 1985, the appetite for growing big deer and an abundance of wildlife was accelerating. Through the 1980s, most feeding was in the form of baiting, dispensed by a growing
river. The consequences of the decisions, or lack thereof, of the wildlife manager on a high-fenced area are amplified. Reasonable management decisions on these sites can result in improved wildlife habitat, increased diversity of plant and animal species, and improved antler quality. However, poor decisions over time can result in habitat degradation, while also impeding the natural flow and movement of wildlife that may have negative consequences on the broad ecological health of the area.
variety of sling-type feeders. From a baiting standpoint, tailgate or road feeders did not begin to gain much momentum until the late 90s. Today, I cannot imagine how much more challenging that some of the hunting in Texas would be if not for the advancement of feeding applications across the Texas landscape. Though there are some concerns over disease transmission due to concentrating animals at feed stations, the assistance that baiting plays in harvesting game and in harvest management is immense.
The progressive change of intensity in which we manage wildlife, especially white-tailed deer, has morphed immensely since the inception of TWA. It’s debatable whether changes in game laws have adequately kept pace with these changes in practices.
(Above): Recent years have seen a huge upswell in the emphasis that hunters are placing on the meat part of the hunt.
(Right): Feeders, supplemental feed and game cameras are all examples of tools and technologies that have changed our approach to hunting and managing wildlife over the last 40 years.
Through the 1990s and still today, extruded pelleted feed as a supplement has taken on its own life. Free-choice, bulk feeders come in an assortment of shapes and sizes. There are many feed rations on the market with special blends of protein, vitamins and minerals. Though the efficacy of feeding in terms of raising more quail or turkey may be in question, when combined with a high fence, elevating deer numbers and antler quality through intensive feeding is undeniable.
GAME CAMERAS
Over the last decade or two, game cameras have become popularized as the ultimate scouting tool. Initially, these cams were on the pricey side, but as one might expect, the price of technology has made it affordable where the average hunter can, and often does, have a cam on every feed and water station. And when we mention cost of technology, I’m reminded of Dr. Bill Eikenhorst’s saying of, “The edge of intensity cuts both ways,” which begs the question of can you know too much about the animal you are hunting? Too much information (TMI) is real in the world of hunting and when TMI breaches certain esoteric thresholds, a property of the hunt is diminished and so are elements of the mystery and magic that go along with the hunt. Cell cams that feed images to the hunter’s phone allow one to keep up with what’s going on at these cam stations 24/7, on a real-time basis. Such technology can create a new degree of entertainment to the whole experience, but for some hunters there are diminishing returns when TMI becomes too elevated. Have we gone a little too far here?
CULLING/GENETICS
Genetic studies at the Kerr Wildlife Management area through the late 1970s and 80s brought attention onto the idea of culling “inferior” bucks as part of the deer management suite. Initially, the focus was on spikes, but culling programs quickly evolved into strategies of culling across age classes that often include 8 and 10 point bucks these days, much of which was fostered through antler gains via high fences and feeding.
In 1999, the Texas Deer Association was formed to serve a special interest group and a trade that involved captive propagation of deer in Texas. From the late 1990s through 2008, emphasis with some landowners and deer mangers shifted from traditional culling practices to liberating deer from pens that had desirable pedigrees and big antlers. This industry largely morphed in 2009 when the business model shifted from a breeder-to-breeder market to a shooter buck market and that’s when pen-raised deer began to become a face of the commercial deer hunting business in Texas and elsewhere. For someone who built his business on a platform centered around white-tailed deer, I can tell you with certainty that this new emphasis of releasing deer from pens for hunting purposes was a paradigm in the hunting business like we had never seen before, and I’ll leave it at that.
FEE-BASED HUNTING PROGRAMS
During the 1970s, landowners were monetizing hunting access on their properties, but many of those fee-
based programs were nominal and represented a far less revenue stream than other traditional ranching practices like livestock production. However, things changed during the 1980s and fee-based programs changed in scale and in complexion. Season leases, day hunts, hunting clubs, and package hunts fed a growing market of hunters who had a wet appetite to enjoy the quality hunting experiences found behind closed gates in Texas. The broad commercialization of game species and hunting in Texas seemed to grow larger than life and by 2000, hunting was a big, BIG business in Texas. It’s still that way today. This amazing financial economy has a double edge, indeed. Landowners are able to reap the rewards of their management efforts, incentivizing many of them to maintain their open space in wildlife habitat, but as many of us hear these days, “hunting is a rich man’s sport.” True or not, as they also say, “perception is reality,” so there you go. These pitched up hunting prices certainly create a barrier for entry and participation, while also generating a huge sum for conservation funding, resulting in a classic conundrum, but it is what it is.
HUNTING FOR FOOD
The foodie group movement has been ticking up across much of our American society for multiple decades, but COVID undoubtedly set this societal value-trend on a higher plane with an increased awareness and emphasis on human health and wholesome foods. More specifically, we’ve been witnessing a growing interest in people who want to source their foods from locally produced organic platforms, while also wanting to be actively involved in the procurement, processing and cooking of those foods. In the hunting world, we occasionally refer to this as the locavore movement. We can point toward the Steve Rinella following with MeatEater, the popularity of Austinite wild game chef Jesse Griffiths, or the rise of book author Hank Shaw with his focus on using naturally produced foods, as each of these are examples of this elevated focus on naturally produced, organic foods, including game and fish meats. As someone who has been in the hunting business for 38 years, I can say that it’s refreshing to have conversations with hunting clients regarding flavor profiles and pounds of meat yield, as opposed to scores and inches of antler. Meat procurement was the original main stimulus of the hunt, and it appears that our human instinct is taking us full circle as a large percentage of new hunters are entering this space due to their interest in game meats, and a growing number of existing hunters are placing increased value in the food-related aspect of hunting. And that’s a good thing.
So, time marches on and TWA continues to evolve with changing pressures and emerging opportunities, which is a true test of resiliency and sustainability. Serving private landowners, hunters, and wildlife enthusiasts, while also serving as a voice for the wildlife resource requires balance and dance. I think TWA is in a great position to continue to effectively deploy our mission for the next 40 years, bringing value to our members and ensuring appropriate stewardship of the land, water and wildlife that makes Texas a special place to call home.
Fine-Scale Behavioral Patterns of Newly Recolonizing Black Bears in West Texas
ARTICLE BY NICOLE DICKAN, DR. JUSTIN FRENCH, DR. DANA KARELUS, DR. AMANDA VEALS DUTT, and DR. LOUIS HARVESON
Two black bear cubs watch from nearby as researchers put a new collar on their mother.
PHOTO BY MATT HEWITT/BRI
American black bears (Ursus americanus) exhibit considerable behavioral flexibility which allows them to inhabit a diverse range of ecosystems ranging from the boreal forests of Canada to the desert landscapes of the American southwest. As of 2014, the southwestern and southeastern United States had suffered the greatest loss of black bears’ historical range. However, many areas within these regions have seen population increases as bears have begun to recolonize parts of their historic range in recent years. In Texas, black bears began naturally recolonizing West Texas in 1988 after being extirpated from the state in the 1950s due to predator control measures and unregulated hunting. Bears
inferences on potential negative impacts those behavioral adaptations could have on their health and survival (i.e., foraging during suboptimal times). Additionally, human-bear conflicts are on the rise in this region, and understanding when and how often bears are using supplemental resources (such as deer feeders and garbage) can help guide the development of targeted and proactive management strategies that can minimize these conflicts.
In order to investigate the behavioral patterns of this recolonizing population, we captured and GPS collared 23 black bears (14 males, 9 females) between September 2022 and July 2024 throughout the Trans-Pecos. The collars
returned to Texas in Big Bend National Park from the mountains of northern Coahuila, Mexico, where remnant populations survived. Black bears are listed as state threatened, but recent expansion from Big Bend to adjacent areas suggests natural recovery is underway, and in its early stages. Consequently, little is known about this population and there is no information on their fine-scale behavioral patterns.
The hot, arid climate of the Chihuahuan Desert within the Trans-Pecos, combined with the abundance of supplemental feed on the landscape, has unique implications for bear behavior. We can better understand how bears adapt to these unique local conditions by examining their behavioral patterns and activity budgets (i.e., time spent per activity). For example, investigating how those patterns fluctuate throughout the year, particularly during the summer, can illuminate the extent of their behavioral flexibility and guide
A black bear cub peeks out of a deer feeder after climbing in for a large meal.
PHOTO
in West Texas
recorded locations every two hours, and a total of 56,809 locations representing 5,429 bear-days were included in our analyses. We used statistical models to identify distinct behaviors in these data. Our models ultimately identified four kinds of behavior: traveling, resting, foraging, and using localized attractants (attractant-use) such as deer feeders, water sources, or dumpsters. These models used characteristics of the bears’ movements, such as how fast they were moving, how straight they were walking, how long they spent at a given point, and how many times they revisited that point, to identify these behaviors. We then examined variation in activity budgets by looking at the influence of season, time of day, and sex on the proportions of time spent in each behavioral state.
Black bears in West Texas were more likely to be foraging and traveling during early morning and evening, which is consistent with crepuscular activity patterns documented across a large portion of their geographic range. When bears used localized attractants (e.g., deer feeders), they spent a disproportionately high amount of time at these sites compared to resting or at natural foraging sites and revisited them five times more frequently than locations associated with the other three behaviors. During April, females spent a higher proportion of time in the attractant
Graduate research assistant Nicole Dickan records GPS coordinates of a potential bear bed site in Black Gap Wildlife Management Area.
A view from a bear travel corridor in Black Gap Wildlife Management Area near the Mexico border.
PHOTO BY NICOLE DICKAN/BRI
PHOTO BY DAVID
state than males throughout the day. This could be a result of high nutritional demands associated with lactation and replenishing energy reserves post-denning, or a means to provide supplemental nutrients for offspring. However, there was considerable variability in how frequently or long bears used attractants between individuals. Proportion of time that bears used feeders or other attractants ranged from 2% to 28%, showing that some bears heavily rely on these supplemental resources, whereas others rarely take advantage of them.
Activity budgets also varied substantially depending on the month. Both sexes spent more time travelling during the summer months, but more so for males who generally search for mating opportunities or disperse during this time. During the fall, bears reduced time spent travelling and increased time spent using attractants. Given the opportunistic nature of bears, it is not surprising that use of an abundant, localized, and easy to access food source such as a deer feeder would spike as they begin hyperphagia, when bears attempt to intake as many calories as possible to prepare for denning. However, we did see instances of bears forgoing denning and using these resources
...proactive management will be necessary to facilitate amiable coexistence and ensure the continued recovery of black bears in Texas.
throughout the winter. This could have negative long-term health consequences, such as increased cellular aging and decreased gut microbiome diversity. However, supplemental feed could serve as a nutritional subsidy for bears during times of natural food failures. Thus, the potential effects of this behavior are complicated and merit further study.
Interestingly, summer activity patterns differed from other bear populations. Trans-Pecos bears were more active near dawn and from dusk into the early night in the summer months. Contrastingly, studies in more northern populations saw increased daytime activity in summer compared to other seasons, indicating that this may be a behavioral adaptation to cope with extreme desert temperatures. Despite this shift, bears did not avoid activity altogether during the hottest part of the day, which could indicate that they are able to sufficiently select for microhabitats (i.e., shaded wooded habitats) that help with thermoregulation (thermal refugia) in between bouts of activity.
This research provides novel insights into behavioral patterns of the newly recolonizing West Texas black bear population and improves our understanding on how bears adapt to the extreme, highly variable desert ecosystem. Furthermore, this understanding of temporal patterns associated with attractant use behaviors will help guide decisions by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department about when to prioritize conflict mitigation and prepare for potential increases in bear use of human-derived resources during the fall. Proactive management techniques, such as bear-proof dumpsters and electric fencing around deer feeders can reduce human-bear conflict, the number of lethal removals and translocations, and property damage. As human and bear populations continue to grow in this region, there will be greater potential for human-bear conflicts, and proactive management will be necessary to facilitate amiable coexistence and ensure the continued recovery of black bears in Texas.
CENTER FOR LAND STEWARDSHIP & STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Helping Landowners Meet Their Conservation Goals
A black bear culvert trap placed in Terlingua Ranch, a small rural community near Big Bend National Park.
PHOTO BY NICOLE
Spring 2025 Conservation Legacy Update
YOUTH EDUCATION
• Land, Water & Wildlife Expeditions are in full swing! This Spring, TWA will engage more than 2,000 middle school students in conservation and stewardship principles by educating them via a series of land, water and wildlife hands-on stations. Reach out to the youth education team if you would like to host an Expedition Field Day on your property.
ADULT EDUCATION
• It is not too late to register for upcoming Spring Landowner Workshops! We hope to see you soon in Bonham or Mason. www.texas-wildlife.org/lw
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
• TWA is proud to partner with Plateau Land & Wildlife and Braun & Gresham, PLLC in developing landowner educational opportunities in 2025. With their support, TWA is able to provide relevant educational content to new audiences on a more frequent basis. We are grateful for such an impactful partnership, and hope you will join us at a workshop soon!
YOUR EDUCATION CALL TO ACTION
• Make sure the youth in your community are becoming more natural resource literate with the help of TWA programs! All youth education programs are available AT NO COST. Tell a local educator about our programs today! www.texas-wildlife.org/youth-education/
Memories of the Early Days
ARTICLE BY LARRY WEISHUHN
PHOTOS BY LARRY WEISHUHN OUTDOORS
Bright embers drifted skyward like many prayers when I poked a stick at the late night mesquite campfire coals. The northerly breeze accentuated the unseasonable cold of the mid-March night reminding me of Gary Machen, Murphy Ray, Sidney Lindsay and Homer Saye and a whitetail hunt we did together in the far reaches of Saskatchewan, Canada about the time we started Texas Wildlife Association. Gary, Murphy and I may have founded TWA but during those first years of our organization, Homer and Sidney had played major, integral roles.
I could not help but smile as I recalled that hunt. Upon arriving in Saskatoon, we loaded all of our gear and ourselves into the outfitter’s Oldsmobile 88, push-button transmission-drive car. When the outfitter pushed the button to drive, nothing happened. He tried reverse. No movement. At that point Homer got out and walked toward the back wheels. Our combined weight between the six of us was likely over 1,500 pounds (Sidney was no small boy) and our gear weighed at least 500 pounds.
“We aren’t going anywhere! The frame is solidly on the tires. They can’t turn!” said Homer. What to do? We decided to get a taxi to help take us to the hunting camp, many miles away. Our only stop was to get licenses and to fill the trunk and what little room we had in the taxi with Crown Royal.
During that hunt there were many decisions made about where we hoped to take TWA in future years. Gary, Murphy, Homer and Sidney are unfortunately no longer with us, but the influence they had during the early years of TWA will not be forgotten.
I felt their presence that evening as I sat next to that campfire on my lease in western Texas. During our early years of TWA, Gary and I hunted together quite often. I tried to buy a hunt on his ranch each year. These we filmed for outdoor television shows I was involved in and for articles and columns for several outdoor publications I wrote for, or was on staff with.
One buck on Gary’s ranch sticks out in particular. In some ways he reminded me of a truly big 8 point I shot hunting with Bobby Parker, Bob Christy and friends down in Maverick County with my .309 JDJ Thompson/Center Contender handgun. I was driving in my Jeep Cherokee toward where I hoped to hunt a big typical 12 that had been I spotted earlier in the week. My .270 Winchester, complete with a sling, rested on the passenger side. My .309 JDJ lay on the seat.
I spotted six does and stopped to glass them. The rut was just about to begin. I looked over the does, then spotted the profile of a tall 8-point. Hmmm, interesting!
Just then the buck turned to look in my direction revealing his overall height and particularly his 26-inch outside spread. He stepped into the brush. I jerked the door open, stepped out, then grabbed the rifle and tried to pull it out of my Jeep. It wouldn’t come out! I pulled harder! Still I could not pull the rifle out of the Jeep. I pulled ever harder!
I was flustered. The tallest, widest 8 point I had ever seen was getting away and I could not pull my rifle out of my vehicle. Then, I spotted the single-shot handgun on the seat. I reached in, grabbed it, loaded a shell into the chamber and quickly headed to where I had last seen the buck.
I was flustered. The tallest, widest 8 point I had ever seen was getting away...
I walked around some blackbrush and spotted the buck a mere 50 yards away. He was watching the does. Thankfully there was a dead mesquite nearby making a good solid rest. I raised the handgun, pointed it in the direction of the buck, cocked the hammer, then planted crosshairs on his shoulder. At the shot the buck dropped in his tracks. I quickly reloaded and walked toward the buck’s side. He was huge of body and especially of antler. Just monstrous. I was thrilled beyond words!
Today the mount of that buck hangs in the TWA headquarters conference room. Interestingly, he had been born in 1985, the same year we started TWA!
When I walked back to my Jeep I discovered why I could not pull out my rifle. My sling had caught the stick gear shift. I was amazed I had not bent it, knowing how hard I had pulled.
The moral to the story: it’s a good idea to always have an alternative--at least a Plan B if not C, D, E and F!
Another poke at the campfire.
Team CFC Impacts Students Through TAMUKingsville Partnership
ARTICLE BY CAPITAL FARM CREDIT
Capital Farm Credit recently partnered with the Texas A&M University-Kingsville agribusiness program at the RELLIS Campus to develop a semester project for university farm management students.
The project was created to give students hands-on experience in agribusiness, preparing them to be successful agricultural producers and operators.
The project has been so successful, Capital Farm Credit is expanding it to students at Texas Tech University.
Throughout the project, students had the opportunity to collaborate with Capital Farm Credit’s experienced lenders, creating business opportunities through real-life scenarios to help navigate a successful agriculture operation.
“To be a part of these students’ educational programming is an honor for our team,” said Jeff Norte, Capital Farm Credit chief executive officer. “We are strongly committed to helping establish young people and believe giving, whether that be through resources or knowledge, is a priority we want to extend as often as we can.”
Students said the project set them up for success in the future, giving them new perspective and understanding for applying for an agriculture operating loan.
“This was a great experience,” said Lyndi Sanders, Capital Farm Credit relationship manager. “I enjoyed working with these students and see how it can impact young and beginning farmers prior to starting an operation.”
Property Tax Appraisal Season
Critical
Things for Landowners to Know (#3 is for All Homeowners)
ARTICLE BY SHANE KIEFER, CEO OF PLATEAU LAND & WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
Landowners typically have a more complex challenge monitoring their potential property tax liability each year than a typical homeowner. Homeowners need to pay attention to appraised values and whether their homestead exemption and a few others are in place (more on that later), but landowners have to keep track of the appraised value of the land and any structures other than their home, whether their open space valuation is in place, whether they need to reapply for open space, whether their land use type(s) is accurate, and whether their raw land and residential land are valued proportion-
ally. And they often must do this for multiple parcels. For landowners with dozens of parcels, this can make for some interesting spreadsheets.
To help, here’s a list of three critical things for landowners to know for the 2025 tax year. Note that #3 applies to anyone that owns a home.
CRITICAL THING #1:
READ YOUR NOTICE OF APPRAISED VALUE
In the property tax cycle in Texas, January to May 15 is Appraisal Season, which is not nearly as fun as Spring Tur-
key Season. This cycle ends when you receive your Notice of Appraised Value (NOAV) and can file a protest (typically by May 15). You can protest any decision the central appraisal district (CAD) makes that affects your tax liability or negatively affects you as a property owner, including the values they place on your property and whether your land qualifies for open space.
The NOAV is not a tax bill, but it is the prescribed way for the CAD to notify you of their value decisions for the current tax year, so it is critical that you pay attention and protest anything that is incorrect or inaccurate in your opinion. Notices will vary in appearance from county to county, though they all have specific information they must include by law. Look for a table similar to Figure 1. Check your market values (both land and improvements) and how much they have changed since the prior year. Look for a “Productivity Value” if your land should be in open space. Also check for any exemptions (HS, OV65, DV, etc.) that you expect to apply for (note that some CADs will list AG, WM, or Timber in the Exemptions line, even though they are not tax exemptions).
• Purchasing property: If you bought your property in 2024 and want to keep its special tax valuation, you must file an application by April 30, 2025.
• Change in ownership: If the legal ownership name on the property has changed (e.g., through a sale or transfer), you’ll need to file a new application.
• Change in acreage: Any change in the size or makeup of your property, whether from buying or selling land, or subdividing it into parcels, requires a new application.
• Appraisal district request: Your Central Appraisal District can also request a new application at any time. If they do, it’s crucial to respond promptly and meet all deadlines to avoid losing your special tax valuation.
CRITICAL THING #3: CHECK YOUR HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION!
Whether you own land with your homestead on it or just own a home in town, be sure to pay careful attention to your homestead exemption on your NOAV this year and going forward. This started last year, but we are seeing increased questions and concerns from landowners in 2025.
Exemptions
CRITICAL THING #2: CONFIRM YOUR OPEN SPACE VALUATION
While the law does not require an annual application for open space valuations (ag, timber, wildlife management), you may need to submit evidence of current use (ag activity, wildlife management annual report, timber management, etc.) and there are many circumstances that may necessitate filing a new application.
The most common is any change to your property deed that was filed with the county clerk. CADs use county records to discover property and identify ownership. If you changed the name(s) or ownership entity on the deed (even if you still control the property) you’ll need to submit a new open space application to your CAD to maintain your current tax valuation. This is the responsibility of the landowner. The CAD is not required to ask for a new application when land changes ownership. There are a few exceptions to this, but as a rule, file an application when anything has changed in the prior year. Changes that require a new application include:
Texas law now requires appraisal districts to verify homestead exemptions every five years (Texas Tax Code 11.43 (h-1)). This took effect Jan. 1, 2024, but most appraisal districts are implementing verification in phases over five years. You may receive a simple form requesting confirmation of your homestead status, a request for a new homestead exemption application, or notice that your homestead exemption has been removed, and you must reapply. It is important to respond to these requests promptly, as they are part of the CAD’s mandated verification process. Don’t ignore these notices!
Whether you receive a request for verification or not, remember to carefully check your NOAV (see Critical Thing #1) in April to confirm your homestead exemption is still in place. If it isn’t, be sure to protest and call your CAD so you can reapply or get it reinstated. The good news is that you can apply for a Homestead Exemption anytime during the year without a late penalty and it can be retroactive for up to two years prior to the application. No need to press it, though.
Figure 1: Example table from NOAV.
Legislative Update Boots on the Ground 2025
ARTICLE BY SEAN HOFFMANN, TWA DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
TWA Directors met in Austin on February 4 and visited the Texas Capitol the next day for Boots on the Ground—a biennial event when our volunteer leaders meet with state lawmakers to impart the vital connection between private landowners and the continued health of Texas’ natural resources.
TWA leaders, both veteran and new, spent the day walking the halls of the Capitol to support landowners, hunters and conservationists. One of the highlights was when Sen. Pete Flores took a few moments to recognize our TWA contingency from the senate floor. As an added bonus, Sen. Lois Kolkhorst echoed Sen. Flores’ accolades for our organization’s impact across the state.
During our visits with state representatives and senators, we shared a handout that outlines our legislative priorities for this 89th legislative session.
These include:
TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE FUNDING
• TWA supports $30 million over the biennium for the Texas Farm & Ranchland Conservation Program, our most valuable tool in keeping working lands intact for generations.
• TWA opposes efforts to redirect funds from the Game, Fish & Water Safety Account to use outside of the TPWD budget.
One of the highlights of our Boots on the Ground visit to the Capitol on Feb. 5 was Sen. Pete Flores and Sen. Lois Kolkhorst recognizing TWA for 40 years of advocating for landowner rights, hunting heritage programs and the conservation ethic.
GROUNDWATER OWNERSHIP & CONSERVATION
• TWA supports the Texas Constitution and over 100 years of caselaw in protecting and reaffirming that groundwater, including brackish groundwater, is the vested, real property of private landowners.
• TWA supports funding for groundwater conservation district data collection and modelling to improve local decision-making and aquifer management.
RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
• TWA supports innovative solutions to ensure that the siting of renewable projects mitigate impacts to neighboring lands and minimize disturbance to native wildlife.
• TWA supports updated bonding requirements for the decommissioning of renewable energy project sites to ensure the proper, timely reclamation of private property.
WILDLIFE & DISEASE MANAGEMENT ISSUES
• Public ownership of wildlife is central to the North American Model of Conservation. TWA strongly opposes any effort to transfer Texas native wildlife to private ownership.
• TWA supports tax policies and other tools that ensure property owners’ ability to effectively manage their lands and resources for the benefit of all Texans.
• TWA supports the retention of permanent, visible identification on all released deer to aid disease traceability. TWA supports enforcement of TPWD Code Sec. 43.3561 on this matter.
• TWA supports heightened penalties and enforcement of deer breeders willfully operating outside of Parks & Wildlife Code.
As the session progresses over the next couple of months, TWA leadership will continue to monitor filings and support bills that protect and benefit private landowners.
In the meantime, it is imperative that we, as landowners, hunters and stewards, contact our elected officials to fully engage in the legislative process. Find your representative and his/her contact information on the TWA website at https://www.texas-wildlife.org/program-areas/issues-andadvocacy/
TWA directors and staff listen intently from the senate gallery as Sen. Flores recognizes the organization’s 40 years of service to Texas wildlife, conservation and private lands during Boots on the Ground 2025.
District 16 State Representative Will Metcalf shows off his gate sign with some of TWA’s 2025 Boots on the Ground crew.
TWA staff and leadership appreciate Todd Hunter, District 23 state representative, for taking time out of his day to briefly meet during Boots on the Ground.
PHOTO BY
Prayer for the Prairie
Private and public groups plant seeds of change to
restore Texas’ once-bountiful grasslands
ARTICLE BY LOUIE BOND
“From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans, white with foam…”
Acentury after “God Bless America” was first belted out with patriotic gusto, the nation’s mountains and oceans still dominate the landscape. Our prairies? You’ll have to zoom in closer to find the miniscule remnants. Much, much closer. Those treasured prairies have nearly disappeared.
If you weren’t fortunate enough to grow up on some portion of the remaining 1% of our original grassland, the word “prairie” may conjure up a nostalgic childhood vision of a simpler life amid vast fields of waving grasses and flowers and butterflies, a Laura Ingalls Wilder “Little House” daydream of pioneer life. You’ll be hard pressed to stumble across that vision in real life, unless you visit a prairie “remnant” intentionally and lovingly restored by a patchwork of conservation groups, private and public.
“We are losing Texas prairies at an unprecedented rate,” says Meg Inglis, executive director of the Native Plant Society of Texas. “Now is the time to do as much as we possibly can to save them.” The hue and cry echoes across the state, and is now being answered.
For decades, Inglis’ organization and others have been planting seeds of hope for the prairie, both literally and figuratively. In a state as large as Texas, with a wild variety of environments, it takes many hands to make a real impact on the landscape. Before Texans can truly care about these important pieces of habitat, they need to fully understand the fields they see all around them.
A pasture of cultivated hay where cows graze may look like prairie to the unknowing eye, but those monocultures — sometimes hosting only a single species of grass — are a far cry from the diverse paradise of true wetlands or grasslands teeming with a variety of living things. The differences are crucial to the cycle of Texas wildlife.
“If people don’t know what it is they’re looking at, it just looks like a field or a pasture full of grass,” says Amber Arseneaux, executive director of the Native Prairies Association of Texas. “They don’t necessarily see the value of those deep roots that are a sponge holding in our water and moisture in the soil, or that are providing the habitat for birds and other wildlife. We need those native plants. We have very beautiful special rare and endangered species that are only found in prairie habitats.”
PRAIRIES AND HUNTERS
As spring turkey hunters hunker down to outwit their wily prey, the fate of the prairie provides a great deal of food for thought. For these outdoor enthusiasts, the land holds more importance than a view of bees and blooms while you wait.
To thrive and grow, young wildlife needs food and protection from predators. Turkeys, for example, are very dependent on being able to see, so they need the line of sight provided by a prairie.
“That’s their biggest defense, their vision,” says Tim Siegmund, Private Lands program leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “They’re not going to be able to smell a predator like a deer or hog or something like that could.”
The prairie also supplies a diversity of plants which produce a variety of insects, crucial to supporting the turkey chicks and poults.
“The prairie’s diversity provides a highly nutritious, calorie-dense smorgasboard that young turkeys need,” Siegmund says. “When we try to reestablish turkey populations, one of the biggest problems we have is not getting the adult birds to live, it’s getting reproduction. That’s because either there’s a lack of quality nesting cover or — more likely — as the rainfall shuts off, there’s not enough insect abundance to support those poults in their growth. If they become sluggish, they’re more likely to be picked off by predators. Prairie systems support the seeds, the vegetation and the insects that they need to really grow quickly, grow well and become adults.”
When they eat well, we eat well. Even beyond backstrap and dove poppers, the pollinators who bring the prairie to life — hummingbirds, butterflies, bumblebees and so many more — are responsible for much of the food on our table.
PHOTO BY TIM SIEGMUND
PHOTO BY MAEGAN LANHAM, TPWD
PHOTO BY TIM SIEGMUND
PHOTO BY TIM SIEGMUND
BEAUTY AND BITES
“Pollinators are responsible for one out of every three bites in our diets,” reported Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF) as they announced the launch of a course-changing initiative last October, Pollinators & Prairies, a new program that will bring together a wide range of conservation partners to make a difference.
“We saw this as one of Texas’ highest priorities,” says TPWF Executive Director Anne Brown. Brown points out that prairies not only provide essential habitats for species such as bison, pronghorn antelope, elk, bobwhite and scaled quail and other upland birds, but also species dear to Texas’ passionate birdwatchers and naturalists: meadowlarks, prairie chickens, sparrows, shrikes and hawks.
“Just the existence of prairies improves our mental and physical health, providing unique opportunities to enjoy solitude and reflection,” Brown says. “Their expansive, open horizons make them a great place to enjoy activities like trail running, biking or horseback riding in areas with public access.”
All the “prairie players” know each other, meet up at conferences, and share goals and dreams, but it takes more than independent effort to impact a state as large as Texas. Enter TPWF, with time-tested organizational skills and new funding and public awareness opportunities.
“Because we are so experienced in pulling partners together and translating that to conservation outcome, we saw this as a real role for us,” Brown says. “We want to highlight the work of our partners but also make sure that the funding gets to the right folks.”
Through research, outreach, and on-the-ground conservation action, the conservation partners aim to increase healthy prairie habitat and pollinator populations, encourage Texans to plant native grasses and wildflowers, and fund critical research to guide management strategies for native bees and other vital pollinators. Key players
PHOTO
PHOTO BY TIM SIEGMUND
PHOTO BY TIM SIEGMUND
Association of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Wildlife Association, Wildlife Habitat Federation and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. H-E-B helped launch the program as presenting sponsor, and Phillips 66 stepped up as a supporting sponsor.
A GLIMPSE OF FUTURE GLORY
One of the most publicly visible aspects of the Pollinators & Prairies program was new native seed packet offerings at H-E-B stores last fall when the program launched, with an ongoing commitment by H-E-B to offer more Texas native plant offerings throughout the year. A new app will be unveiled later in 2025 to help customers select the right seeds for their area, offering advice on watering and planting dates and other areas of concern for new gardeners. Texans no longer need to be intimidated or inconvenienced — planting natives is naturally easy.
New research — imagine sniffing dogs working on the prairie to help conserve the American bumblebee, among other fascinating projects — combined with work on private and public lands to restore prairie is already having an impact. The Pollinators & Prairies program partners have begun to restore thousands of acres of prairie in the state and provide experiential training to landowners and others interested in prairie restoration.
While Arseneaux’s organization seeks out promising properties to restore and share with the public to educate all ages, Siegmund works with private landowners who’d like to take their property back to a more verdant and bountiful landscape. While he can’t promise them that the prairie will ever go completely back to its original glory or that quail will magically appear, Siegmund says he can help people appreciate the sense of place and what grows naturally on their land.
“We can still have pockets where we can stitch together the remnants with these restorations to support the animals that do depend on them — that could be quail, that could be turkeys, that could be songbirds, could be pollinators,” Siegmund says. “When they’re two miles from the next patch of native grass of any size, I don’t tell them they’re going to have quail next year. I say, ‘What I want you to notice is the increasing amount of life using your property.’”
For the first few years, due to increased wildflowers and other seed-producing species, there could be more doves than ever before, perhaps more bees and butterflies, and that could lead to more songbirds like purple martins, meadowlarks, shrikes and various grassland sparrows.
“Year three, there’s been enough attention to these little details that landowners are starting to pick up on some of the plants species that are growing there and seeing what they look like in different seasons,” Siegmund says. “They’re starting to pick up when the Indian grass is blooming, when the little blue stem is blooming, the difference between the spring and the fall wildflowers, the difference between clay and sandy soils, those types of things. If they mow this patch in January and that patch in March, they get a completely different plant response — they start seeing those seasons of life in their own property.”
Siegmund practices what he preaches. On his half-acre lot in the middle of College Station, he has produced an 800-square-foot mini-prairie with 40 species of native plants. He started it to expose his kids to the same native wildlife species (butterflies, bees, lizards and toads) he enjoyed in his childhood, but soon found neighbors — especially other kids — have become fascinated with the display as it changes through the seasons, taking pictures of the blooms, marveling at the butterflies and handling the creatures they attract, especially the toads.
It’s never been easier for Texans to help restore the state’s prairies and boost our pollinator population. Check out TPWF’s new dedicated website (pollinatorsandprairies.org) to sign up for updates and consider other actions you can take.
“Support state and federal legislation and funding efforts that encourage and grow cost-share restoration programs support for landowners across the state,” Brown suggests. “Support prairie restoration efforts and partners in your area through volunteering with restoration projects or native plant propagation efforts.”
There’s no more satisfying way to participate than getting your hands into the soil.
“All of us can help at home by planting pollinator gardens or pocket prairies in our own back yards,” Brown says. “Planting pollinator habitat will help pollinators thrive.”
Each seed holds the promise of nature for simple grasses and flowers and the pollinators who bring their purpose to life. Hope blooms each spring. Tim Siegmund sees it and feels its impact on the future.
“I think the efforts to restore and conserve these prairie remnants allow people to connect with the landscape in a way they haven’t before,” he says. “If we get enough people conducting restoration on a big enough scale, then there’s some hope for the connectivity of those habitat specialists like quail or horned lizards, or other species, to continue to bring joy and appreciation to future generations of Texans.”
The Coming of the Wire
ARTICLE BY HON. KEN WISE
Is there anything in Texas more pervasive than barbed wire? It keeps our livestock in and trespassers out. It can snag man and beast with equal dispatch. It also has the annoying habit of ruining the clothes of anyone brave enough to try and cross it without a carefully crafted strategy. But it hasn’t always been this way. Ranchers raised millions of cattle without the benefit of “the devil’s rope.” But when it came, it came quickly and now dominates ranching all over the world. This is its story.
For centuries, Texas was a vast open range. Livestock wandered wherever they chose, grazing any available land. The early Spanish missions raised cattle, but fences were rare. Where fences did exist, they were built of stone or wood. Native tribes in Texas hunted buffalo over vast distances as the great herds migrated freely in search of fresh grass.
However, as more and more people moved to Texas, the open range was doomed to extinction. The opportunity to own land was too attractive to ignore. Land meant at least self-sufficiency, if not prosperity, which is the quintessential American dream. A fence was a necessity to protect livestock and crops.
When Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act in 1862, he opened the Great Plains to western expansion. Citizens were entitled to claim 160 acres of public land apiece. However, they would need to fence their property line and keep the animals out of their cultivated fields. Building a fence out of wood on the treeless plains was impractical, if not impossible. Growing a hedgerow or some sort of thorny barrier wouldn’t work either. Soon, they discovered that wire might be the ticket. Snow wouldn’t pile against it, and
PHOTO BY JANICE CARRIGER
Cochran, Jimmy W. [House Through Barbed Wire, Young County], photograph, Date Unknown; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/ metapth1277362/: accessed January 3, 2025), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Midwestern State University.
the strong winds wouldn’t knock it down. But it still needed a feature to discourage animals from walking through it.
Early makers thought that simulating a thorn bush might be the way to go, but making it proved difficult. In 1867, Ohioan Lucien B. Smith applied for a patent on an “improvement in wire fences.” His patent application claimed to provide for the attachment of “barbs or spurs” to a wire fence in such a way that they wouldn’t move lengthwise down the wire. Smith claimed that fixing the barbs was an “indispensable feature” for barbed wire fences. Smith’s method proved relatively unsuccessful since it was very labor-intensive to attach the barbs.
In 1874, however, practical barbed wire finally arrived in the creation of Joseph Glidden from Illinois. Actually, Glidden, Issac Ellwood, and Jacob Haish all attended the 1873 DeKalb County Fair and witnessed the demonstration of a wire fence strung with boards into which nails were driven such that they protruded and served as the needed
deterrent. Glidden and Ellwood formed one company and Haish another to work on a practical production method for the thorny fence. Glidden personally received the patent for his version of barbed wire and also a mechanical means to produce it. Glidden made his first barbed wire in his kitchen, using a coffee grinder to twist the wire. Glidden had to litigate these patents until they expired in 1892. In the meantime, however, he became very wealthy.
Glidden’s company produced over three million pounds of barbed wire a year...That manufacturer got curious about what a company in DeKalb, IL, was doing with the enourmous amounts of wire it ordered.
Glidden’s company produced over three million pounds of barbed wire a year. It ordered the wire from the firm of Washburn & Moen in Worcester, Massachusetts. That manufacturer got curious about what a company in DeKalb, IL , was doing with the enormous amounts of wire it ordered. Upon seeing Glidden’s operation, Washburn & Moen offered Glidden $60,000 for the company. Glidden accepted the offer but also secured a 25-cent royalty on every hundred pounds of wire manufactured. That royalty would earn Glidden over $1,000,000 before his patent expired.
As you might expect, the story of barbed wire in Texas is unique. Before selling his company, Glidden had sold some of his barbed wire in Texas. Glidden’s salesman, Henry Sanborn, sold the first spool in Gainesville in 1875. Sanborn and a sales partner named J.P. Warner established a sales office in Houston. They began to make inroads in the Texas market. Many Texas cattlemen were resistant to the wire, however, imagining cattle injuring themselves on the barbs and inviting deadly screwworm infections. Nevertheless, Sanborn did well and would go on, in partnership with Glidden, to establish the Frying Pan Ranch in the Panhandle.
After buying Glidden’s company, Washburn & Moen hired John W. Gates from Illinois to sell its barbed wire in Texas. Gates had some business education but, by all accounts, was a born salesman. He arrived in San Antonio in 1876 to bring barbed wire to the rest of Texas. Gates decided to put on a show. Texas cattle, specifically longhorns, were known to be unruly, to say the least. Gates and his sales partner Pete McManus built a barbed wire corral on Alamo Plaza. They drove a small herd of these wild Texas longhorns into the
Bradly, Bill. [Barbed Wire Display at Deaf Smith County Museum], photograph, Date Unknown; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/ metapth12216/m1/1/?q=barbed%20wire: accessed January 3, 2025), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https:// texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Deaf Smith County Library.
pen. Some say onlookers offered wagers on whether the thin wire could hold a Texas steer, which Gates was all too happy to accept. To the amazement of the crowd, the wire held the cattle! After a couple of close encounters with the barbs, the wild longhorns just walked around bewildered. Gates immediately invited the astonished cowboys and cattlemen into the Menger Hotel to place their orders. Thanks largely to that demonstration, Gates took orders for more barbed wire than Washburn & Moen could produce. Gates was so successful that he insisted Washburn & Moen make him a partner in the company, which was refused. Gates then left the firm and moved to St. Louis, where he started the Southern Wire Company. He manufactured his own “moonshine wire,” meaning non-patented barbed wire. His Southern Wire Company soon became the largest manufacturer of non-licensed barbed wire. Despite efforts by Washburn & Moen to shut him down, Gates prospered. In true Texas fashion, Gates built up several wire and steel companies. He patented a steel manufacturing process that
he sold to United States Steel. He invested in railroads to ship his products, which earned him another fortune. Another outlet for his risk-taking involved high-stakes gambling. In 1900, at a race in England, Gates bet $70,000 on a horse named Royal Flush, which won him over $600,000 (over $22,000,000 today) and earned him the nickname “Bet-aMillion.” But his best bet was an investment with an oil driller named Patillo Higgins to help continue a well he was drilling at a place called Spindletop.
The barbed wire caught on. Soon, ranchers all over Texas were fencing their pastures. The fencing of the range created a new societal problem: the clash between the law of exclusive use and the necessity of the open range. Prior to the arrival of barbed wire, cattlemen used the range freely. Many prosperous ranchers owned no land, just cattle. His cattle roamed freely to water and ate where they found grass. Property lines weren’t considered a barrier to anything.
As barbed wire fences began enclosing ranches, they excluded free-ranging cattle. Ranch fencing sometimes kept
Joseph Glidden submitted this drawing to the U.S. Patent Office. His was one of nine patents granted from 1868 to 1874 for improvements to wire fencing.
A barbed wire fence and cattle on the George Ranch, Fort Bend County, after a snowfall], photograph, 1940; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/ metapth8996/: accessed January 3, 2025), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting George Ranch Historical Park.
neighbors from having access to public roads. Some solved the problem by cutting the fences, leading to predictable disputes. The wire became a political issue because the law had yet to catch up with the cultural shift toward fenced pastures. In the words of famous Texas Ranger Big Foot Wallace, “Bob’ wire is starting to play hell with Texas.” Fence cutters became a new breed of criminal. Miles of fence were cut, and the cutters often left ominous warnings against rebuilding. It came to a head with an 1884 special legislative session during which the legislature made fence-cutting a felony and erecting a fence around public lands a misdemeanor.
But the benefits outweighed the costs for the new “devil’s rope.” With barbed wire, ranchers could improve their livestock bloodlines because they could control which cattle were in which pasture. Raiding Indians on the frontier had a more difficult time in the presence of a barbed wire fence. Fenced cattle could be fed in the winter and kept from getting lost in storms.
After Gates’ demonstration in San Antonio, ranchers all over Texas started to use barbed wire. One of the early recordings of its use in South Texas was in Hidalgo County in 1882, when barbed wire was used to fence some cattle near the courthouse. Entrepreneur and cattle queen Anna Mebus Martin became the first person to sell barbed wire in the Hill Country through her store in Mason. By the end of the 1880s, many big panhandle ranches, including the JA, the XIT, and others, had fenced their pastures. While difficult to handle and often painful to cross, barbed wire fences are here to stay. The market for barbed wire in the United States was over $30 million in 2023. Countless miles of it have cut Texas into the patchwork of property we know today. Few inventions have so swiftly and permanently changed Texas culture. The notion of open range is relegated to history thanks to a few folks from Illinois who saw the future in the coming of the wire.
And the Award Goes To…
The Texas Big Game Awards honor native Lone Star wildlife — and the hunters and landowners who conserve them
ARTICLE BY KATIE HILL
The August air was hot and still under the pavilion at the Natural Bridge Caverns, but no one in the crowd seemed to mind much. Most of them were San Antonio-area hunters, accustomed to spending stretches of time in the dense heat for the wildlife they love.
A temporary wall displayed rows of shoulder mounts of bucks, mostly whitetails, behind the speaker’s podium. Hunter names, antler scores, and regions of harvest marked each one. As participants milled around, hunters occasionally meandered over to get their picture taken with
their deer. Some of the hunters were elderly; others had yet to reach their teenage years.
So began the second regional installment of the 33rd annual Texas Big Game Awards. Each year, the Texas Wildlife Association partners with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to recognize passionate native big game hunters across the Lone Star State. First comes the statewide banquet, which runs in conjunction with the TWA Convention in San Antonio in July. The three regional banquets come later in the summer, each one meant to draw
David Rowsey, right, was presented with his Texas Big Game Award for an exceptional Hill Country whitetail harvest.
members of the nearby community together for an evening of recognition, celebration, and conservation.
TWA CEO Justin Dreibelbis addressed the crowd with opening remarks, as did TWA Adult Learn to Hunt program participant and wild game butcher Kriss Abigail. The crowd’s favorite part of the night seemed to be when first-time Texas deer hunters received a certificate for their harvest. Attendees clapped for them with extra enthusiasm, and the first-time hunters got this look on their face. They realized they had been accepted into a tight-knit group that feels the same connection to Texas wildlife, landscapes, and the food chain that they now do.
“It’s a great way to get people involved in the hunting community,” TWA director of hunting heritage Matt Hughes says. “It’s something they can put on their walls. They’re just certificates, but people really cherish them. It builds some celebration of hunting.”
THE ORIGINS OF TBGA
The TBGA program began in 1991 with instant success. Even in its infancy, the program recognized 667 trophy entrants from 138 different counties across the state. Hunters were awarded for 94 mule deer, 25 pronghorn, and 548 whitetails at the time.
The program’s website maintains an archive of past entrant data with information as recent as the 2023 season, during which TWA recognized 948 entries. This time, the lineup included one bighorn sheep and 21 javelina, in addition to 33 mule deer and 24 pronghorn. The rest — 850
certificates — were awarded to whitetail hunters. These awards include those recognized for youth division hunts and first-time big game harvests.
Similar to how Boone & Crockett scores deer, bucks are judged as either typical or nontypical. The biggest nontypical whitetail of 2023, harvested by Reili Brewer in Bowie County, boasted a net score of 239 5/8 inches. Brandon Kinney of Dimmit County tagged the largest typical whitetail during archery season, net-scoring 189 inches.
But the size of antlers is hardly the most important part of the night, although it does create a fun topic of discussion. Moreso, the hunters themselves are meant to be in the spotlight. One reward recipient stood out among the crowd — 11-year-old Lilly Mosly.
STARTING YOUNG
Mosly’s buck hung from the far-right side of the wall, a tall 8-pointer with off-kilter brow tines and towering G2s. Any hunter would be excited to take this deer; the fact that it was Mosly’s first harvest, one she tagged at the age of 10, made it all the more special.
Mosly, her mom Andy, and her dad Vico got involved with the Texas Youth Hunting Program as a way to introduce Lilly to the practice in a safe, supported manner. The Mosly family lives in the San Antonio area, and both parents have hunted since they were kids. Now, they both serve as youth hunting mentors through TYHP, as well.
Lilly’s first hunt took place at the Dos Arroyos Ranch, where both her parents were able to join her. She was the only girl there, and she left the property with both a buck and a doe. At first, she wasn’t sure if her shot placement from 90 yards had been effective on the buck. But he only made it roughly 40 yards after jumping when her bullet made contact. In fact, she hit vitals.
David Rowsey with his low fence archery buck that scored 171 3/8”, harvested near Sonora.
Lilly Mosly received her TBGA certificate from TWA CEO Justin Dreibelbis, left, and TPWD White-tailed Deer Program Leader Blaise Korzekwa.
“I was excited,” Lilly says. “I felt special.”
“We really enjoyed the Dos Arroyos hunt as a family, which got my husband and I into the TYHP lifestyle,” Andy says. “We went and became certified hunt masters in the spring of 2024. He just went on his first hunt as a guide, and he had a blast. We’ve been talking to TYHP about trying to find some other ranches in our area that we can volunteer at together.”
Lilly has since participated in her second TYHP hunt in the fall of 2024, harvesting a whitetail doe on a different ranch.
“The first night, we all went hunting, and I was the only one who got a doe that night,” Lilly says. “I couldn’t help butcher it because I slammed my finger in a car door trying to get candy to stuff in my pockets for blind snacks. It attracts the deer.”
“Yeah, because deer like candy,” Andy chimes in, laughing. “She slammed her finger in the door right before we left for the blind.”
“I wanted to leave because my finger hurt and I needed ice, but the guide told me to wait.”
“She said ‘If it still hurts in 15 minutes and we don’t see any deer, we’ll go back inside.’ And then, how many deer did we see Lilly?’”
“Ten thousand deer!”
“Yep, ten thousand deer. And Lilly forgot all about her hurt finger.”
Sure, maybe 10,000 deer is a bit of a stretch. But Lilly’s excitement about a lifetime of hunting stems from such awesome first experiences, Andy says. And while she was a little nervous about accepting her certificate in front of the crowd at the Caverns — mostly about remembering how to accept a certificate with her left hand and shake with
The smile says it all! Lilly shows off her TBGA certificate with Chris Mitchell, TWA’s Texas Youth Hunting Program director, at the TBGA event at Natural Bridge Caverns in August 2024.
Lilly with her white-tailed buck that earned her a TBGA certificate.
her right hand — she was also proud to be celebrated for her accomplishment.
“It’s fun to be part of this group. It’s exciting,” Lilly says. “I’m happy for the other kids who get to go too.”
“For a kid who shoots their first deer, it’s an acknowledgement that they did something good for the hunting community,” Hughes says. “To get them up there, to celebrate those first harvests, is a really important aspect of this program. It encourages them to do a good thing, and maybe they’ll want to come back and do it again.”
A HABITAT COMEBACK STORY
Hunters weren’t the only focus of the TBGA celebration. Plenty of landowners and ranchers also crowded under the pavilion to partake in the festivities, where they were also recognized for their work in private land habitat conservation for native big game.
“On private land, we have far more flexibility to manage habitat for animals,” Hughes explains. “We are able to produce higher-quality big-game species in Texas, because we can control our resources a lot better. A private landowner has lots of tools at their disposal.”
Coastal fishing guide David Rowsey sat next to landowner Gerry Ingham and her daughter while he awaited his recognition. Rowsey and a group of friends lease roughly three quarters of Ingham’s 12,000 acres, home of the famous Sonora Caverns. They’ve been working on improving the quality of deer on the property for years, and it finally paid off when Rowsey harvested a 170-inch non-typical buck.
But it didn’t come easy. Rowsey’s buck was cause for celebration for a unique reason; it was the first mature, healthy buck taken off Ingham’s property since a multi-year anthrax outbreak killed off a majority of the deer.
Anthrax exists naturally in the environment, but can surge and sicken wildlife under certain climatic conditions. Ingham’s ranch is in the “Anthrax triangle” of Texas, an area in the southwestern part of the state across Uvalde, Kinney, Val Verde, Crockett and Sutton counties.
The bacterial disease is a fickle beast, Rowsey explains. A landowner might go 50 years without seeing an outbreak, then have it two years back to back. The ranch hadn’t been hunted significantly in years, so the property was pretty overrun with a large, low-quality deer population. But when anthrax hit, it killed off some 80 percent of those deer — a harsh, gruesome approach to population management that the hunters and landowners were forced to react to.
“Part of the landowner’s goal was to control the herd and get the numbers down. The hunters pay the feed bill, and it’s a win-win for everyone,” Rowsey explains. “But before we could get the numbers down, the anthrax came in and made the decisions for us. We had to work with the 20 percent of deer we had left.”
Rowsey and the other hunters didn’t harvest a single doe for three years. The does were nursing at the time of the outbreak, he explains, which meant they were eating everything they could get ahold of — especially whatever was on the ground, where the anthrax was present. Meanwhile, the bucks did more browsing at eye-level, which meant fewer of them were exposed.
In the wake of the outbreak, the deer that survived had much better access to quality food sources. They were likely
In spite of an anthrax outbreak a few years prior at his lease, David Rowsey was able to arrow an exceptional 2023-24 entry in the TBGA program.
to have stronger genetics and better immunity, too. So, as Rowsey puts it, they were able to fast-track the quality of the herd and achieve Miss Ingham’s original goal after all — a silver lining for an otherwise horrific experience.
“The buck I shot is just unheard of for the Hill Country,” Rowsey points out. “It’s pretty rare to kill a 170 inch buck out there. And that was a truly native animal, no imported genetics.”
Ultimately, Rowsey credits the landowner-hunter relationship with the Inghams for his success, both in harvesting the incredible buck and in improving herd health over the years.
“Instead of driving two hours to my old hunting lease in South Texas, I drive five hours to the Hill Country to be in this place,” he says, laughing. “It’s working out great. Miss Ingham is very old-school and down to earth. There’s always a handshake, you’re always welcome to her house for a cup of coffee.”
DINNER AND A SHOW
The evening closed out with a trip into the caverns for a viewing of TWA’s first-ever Conservation Film Series featuring Brandon Adams’ Texas Slammed. Attendees welcomed the opportunity to descend into the cool, damp depths some 80 feet underground. The film highlighted Adams’ quest to harvest seven Texas species — whitetail deer, mule deer, pronghorn, axis deer, aoudad, javelina and elk — in a single year.
After the film ended, attendees made their way back up to the entrance of the caverns. Hunters pulled their shoulder mounts down from the temporary wall and walked them back out through the hot night to their respective trucks.
Many of them carried their mounts tucked under one arm while clutching their certificate in the other hand, something else to hang on the wall next to their native Texas trophies.
Forty Years of Making a Difference
ARTICLE BY LORIE A. WOODWARD PHOTOS COURTESY TWA ARCHIVES
Forty years ago, TWA was born to give Texas landowners, land managers and hunters a loud, clear voice in the halls of government. Since that time, TWA has fulfilled that role while also preserving the state’s hunting heritage and educating Texans about the importance of conservation and land stewardship.
Beginning with just 50 people fueled by passion, TWA has grown to more than 7,400 members across the state and become one of the most respected conservation organizations in the country. Here are a few milestones marking its journey to the forefront.
Then-president McLean Bowman mailed welcome letters to members of the newly-formed Texas Wildlife Association in September 1985.
1985
OFFICIAL FORMATION
The Articles of Incorporation to create the Texas Wildlife Association were filed with the Texas Secretary of State’s office on November 13, 1985.
1986
FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION HELD
The first annual meeting of TWA, which set the tone, created the framework and morphed into the association’s beloved annual convention, was held at the YO Hilton in Kerrville in April 1986.
1989
LANDOWNER LIABILITY PROTECTION STRENGTHENED
Landowners began enjoying limited protection from liability in 1985. In 1989, TWA helped push through stronger protections. Through the years, the protections have continued to be strengthened, most recently in 2019—and TWA has been part of the ongoing effort.
David Langford, right, and Larry Weishuhn get serious during WildLife Convention 1990.
1991
TEXAS WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION ORGANIZED
TWAF, a 501 (c )(3) charitable foundation, was organized to fund conservation education and research programs directly related to its mission of “ensuring a legacy of conservation and the heritage of hunting through education.” Today, it holds and manages assets valued at more than $10 million.
1991
TEXAS BIG GAME AWARDS LAUNCHED
To celebrate the contributions of hunting to conservation, TWA working with TPWD, created the Texas Big Game Awards program to recognize those individuals who harvest quality big game animals in Texas, the land managers who produce these animals, the importance of our hunting heritage and the achievement of young and first-time hunters.
1995
WILDLIFE TAX VALUATION PASSED
Proposition 11, a constitutional amendment that identified wildlife and habitat management as agricultural production practice thereby qualifying as an agricultural and timberland tax valuation, passed with 62 percent of Texas voters supporting the measure during the November election. In 2020, the last year where data from the Comptroller’s Office is available, 6.26 million acres were actively managed as wildlife habitat.
1996
TEXAS YOUTH HUNTING PROGRAM LAUNCHED
In 1996, TWA partnered with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to design a hunting program that creates opportunities for Texas youth to engage in safe and ethical hunting practices on private land, with a focus on first-time hunters. Since that time, TYPH has hosted 4,198 hunts (as of February 2024) on 769 different ranches. In 2024, TYHP eclipsed the 30,000 mark for youth hunter participation in the program.
2001
CONSERVATION LEGACY LAUNCHED
Conservation Legacy, TWA’s multi-faceted conservation education program, started operating in 2001. Its overarching purpose is “educating generations of Texans on how they can be better stewards of the land and native wildlife to better sustain our connection to the natural world for future
generations to enjoy.” Since 2007, when the program started meticulously tracking metrics, the program has delivered 7.5 million impacts.
2007
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND STEWARDSHIP AND WATER RECOGNIZED
For five years, TWA leaders worked to educate state legislators about the important relationship between land stewardship and water quality and quantity. Their efforts paid off with the passage of SB 3, which codified in state policy that land stewardship benefits all water resources in Texas; the Texas Constitution recognizes and fosters that beneficial relationship.
2019
CL 2.0 INITIATIVE LAUNCHED
In 2019, Steve Lewis, former TWA president and former TWAF chairman and trustee, proposed a complete review and potential refreshing of the Conservation Legacy program, an effort dubbed CL 2.0. The proposal led to an intensive yearlong strategic planning process that resulted in a detailed five-year expansion plan as well as multi-year grant funding from the Elma Dill Russell Spencer Foundation to support the efforts; the first grant that was received in December 2021 to begin implementing the plan in 2022.
2022
ADULT LEARN TO HUNT PROGRAM LAUNCHED
As an outgrowth of its popular Field to Table dinners, TWA began informally hosting adult educational hunts in 2018, but created and launched its formal program in 2022. During the 2024-25 season, the program ran 30 hunts, introducing 150 novice hunters to the tradition.
2022
TWA HEADQUARTERS OPENED
On June 24, 2022, TWA held the grand opening ceremony for its new permanent headquarters, the David K. Langford Center in New Braunfels. Thanks to a successful capital campaign launched in 2020 and the unsurpassed generosity of its supporters, TWA completely paid off its headquarters building in 2023.
The TWA headquarters building, officially named the David K. Langford Center, was completed in 2022 on the north side of New Braunfels.
NRI Publishes Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 1997-2022
ARTICLE BY BRITTANY WEGNER
The new Texas Land Trends program report Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 1997–2022 celebrates over two decades of applied research and extension outreach at the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI). Since its inception, the program has been an important resource in understanding the complex landscapes of Texas’ working lands—farms, ranches, and forests increasingly threatened by rapid population growth.
“In this cycle, we examine new patterns and identify trends following the release of the Census of Agriculture datasets by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service,” said Roel Lopez, Ph.D., director of the NRI. This most recent report both specifically describes the status and recent changes in land values, ownership patterns and land use of privately-owned Texas working lands and shows on a larger scale how Texas has changed over the last 25 years.” Lopez said some highlights of the report relate to the areas of population growth, changing land values, ownership size and working lands.
POPULATION GROWTH
Texas contains eight of the top 15 most rapidly growing cities in the nation. From 1997 to 2022, the Texas population increased 55% from 19 million to 30 million residents or nearly 1,100 new residents per day. Eighty-eight percent of the population increase occurred within the state’s top 25 highest growth counties.
LAND VALUES
As with previous Texas Land Trends reports, the largest increases in land values were observed in proximity to major metropolitan areas. The average state-wide market value of Texas working lands rose 55% since 2017, from $1,951/acre to $3,021/acre, and more than 500% over the last 25 years.
OWNERSHIP PATTERNS
Texas lost over 17,000 operations in the last five-year period, though still has almost 2,500 more operations than in 1997, totaling over 230,000. Average ownership size increased from 509 to 541 acres between 2017 and 2022. Small farms and ranches of less than 100 acres in size represent 60% of all ownerships but only account for 3% of the land devoted to working lands in 2022. Larger operations over 2,000 acres in size saw the sharpest five-year decline in the last 25 years with more than 1,000 operations lost between 2017 and 2022.
WORKING LANDS
From 1997 to 2022, Texas saw approximately 3.7 million acres of working lands converted to non-agricultural uses. There was a conversion of nearly 1.8 million acres in the last five-year period alone. Accounting for most working lands in the state, grazing lands have steadily decreased since 1997, losing about 6.7 million acres to other land uses over the 25-year period. In contrast, wildlife management acres have significantly increased in recent years, growing from about 94,000 acres in 1997 to approximately 7.1 million acres in 2022.
“The report shows as Texas continues to grow in population and economy, the demand for rural land, especially in
areas surrounding major urban centers and transportation corridors, will continue to increase and have long-term impacts on working lands,” Lopez said. “Lands across the state are following much of the same trends in ownership fragmentation and conversion in the last five-year period as have been observed since 1997.”
He also noted population growth and increasing land values are creating incentives for landowners to subdivide and sell their land. He said it’s important for us to acknowledge that the benefits from working lands go beyond the economic benefits they provide from general agricultural production in the form of crops, livestock, timber and more.
“Open spaces in Texas also provide valuable ecosystem services that we rely on for everyday necessities, such as air and water quality, carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat,” he said. “Fragmentation and conversion of working lands diminishes the natural processes of healthy ecosystems, creates an increased financial burden to mitigate impacts and elevates pressures on remaining open spaces to provide these services for growing urban areas.”
Lopez said the future conservation of working lands is directly linked to private landowners who strategically steward these properties. “Informed conservation and urban planning efforts should include and engage with these landowners as well as explore methods to incentivize the continued stewardship of working lands in Texas over the next 25 years and beyond,” Lopez said.
Slowing the Water
BY STEVE NELLE
“You can’t hurry the water down the creek without hurting the creek, the neighbors and yourself.”
ALDO LEOPOLD, 1939
Acardinal principle of good soil and water conservation is to slow down the water. When water runs fast, bad things happen; when water runs slow, good things happen. This is true in most cases and is the essence of Leopold’s warning.
During the drought of the 1930s, the poor hydrologic conditions were made even worse by poor management of the land. It was an extreme drought by any measure, but the poor farming, forestry and grazing practices exacerbated the severity of the drought. One of the important lessons of the land is that there are always rippling effects to everything we do, and those ripples extend far beyond property boundaries. Nothing in nature stands in isolation from the rest.
Riparian management was not well understood in those days, but Leopold knew that the natural flow of water down a creek is meant to be slowed by meanders, dense riparian vegetation, sunken logs and fallen trees. As the water is naturally slowed, the destructive forces of floods are reduced, and the waters spread out into the floodplain and have more time and surface area to soak into the valley as they recharge the alluvial aquifers.
A perfect example of this was described by Charley Christensen, manager of Cargile Ranches near San Angelo. The ranch had fenced off both sides of Rocky Creek and temporarily suspended grazing in the riparian area to allow for the development of thick natural riparian vegetation. After an unusually heavy night of rain which generated extreme runoff, turbulent whitewaters rushed into the ranch from upstream. Christensen hurried downstream several miles to where the creek left the ranch wondering what kind of damage he would see. Instead of damage, what he noted was “smooth, flat water”, not raging torrents. The creek with its thick vegetation had slowed the water and tamed the flood, giving the waters greater time to soak into the valley.
However, poor examples of riverside management are not hard to find. One modest size town in Texas still
actively sprays the brush along the river for several miles downstream of the city in order to speed up the flow of water. The town has experienced some major floods over the years and decided to clean the creek of all trees, shrubs and tall vegetation so that the waters will move faster. What used to be a beautiful, natural, shaded river with fish, wildlife and recreation now resembles an unsightly drainage ditch. On farms, ranches and parks all across Texas there are still many places where the riverside vegetation is mowed or grazed too close and too frequent resulting in faster water which causes problems, both onsite and downstream. Leopold’s warning from 1939 is still relevant today.
Leopold mentioned the danger of water running too fast down the creek, but the principle applies across the entire landscape. No matter whether in a forest, pasture, creek or river, water runs best when it runs slow. Keeping dense vegetation and plant residue on the land is how water is slowed.
Today, we see another serious impact to creeks and rivers that was unknown in Leopold’s day. We are now extracting groundwater faster than ever before and many aquifers across Texas are being depleted by over-pumping. Many of these aquifers are hydrologically connected to creeks and rivers via the geology. When water is removed from these aquifers in excess of recharge, it reduces the spring flow and base flow that sustains these streams. We are literally mining some of these aquifers for short term gain, thus causing long term harm to creeks and rivers and downstream landowners.
Slowing the water means slowing the energy and impact of falling rain, slowing the movement of water as it runs downhill and slowing the water as it flows down the creek. And, nowadays with our ever-increasing population, it also must include slowing down the extraction of groundwater.
When landowners understand their obligation to be good managers of the water cycle by slowing down the water, good things will happen for Texas lands, waters and wildlife, and for the people of Texas.
Photo Courtesy of the Aldo Leopold Foundation and University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives
The Art of Making Wild Turkey Tamales
Tips, Tricks and the Bench Scraper Method
ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY KRISTIN PARMA
Tamales have long been a beloved dish across Texas, typically filled with pork, chicken or beef. But for those looking to elevate their tamale game, using wild turkey as a filling offers a unique and thrilling twist. Whether you’ve hunted the turkey yourself or simply enjoy the adventure of incorporating wild game into your cooking, wild turkey is a step up from traditional tamale fillings. It’s lean, flavorful and offers a unique taste that is slightly richer than other meats. When paired with a carefully crafted masa and wrapped in a tender corn husk, wild turkey tamales become a dish that not only celebrates the meat but also the art of tamale making.
BLUE CORN WILD TURKEY TAMALES
YIELD: 12-15 TAMALES
1. Place turkey legs in the slow cooker, cover with water, and add the onion, garlic, chilies and citrus juice. Cook on low for 8 hours until the turkey is tender and falls off the bone.
2. Meanwhile, soak the corn husks in water overnight or while the meat is cooking.
3. After cooking, pull the turkey from the slow cooker and shred it. Take extra care to remove the bones as there are many, but it is worth it! Strain the broth and reserve 4-8 cups for later.
4. Blend the cooked chilies, garlic and onion with some of the reserved broth to create a smooth red chili sauce. Add the chili sauce to the shredded turkey, mixing it well. You can let it marinate overnight for extra flavor.
5. In a stand mixer, beat the lard with a pinch of salt until combined and whipped. Gradually add the masa harina and reserved broth until the dough reaches a spreadable consistency.
6. Using a bench scraper, spread masa on the soaked corn husks. Add 1-3 tablespoons of the chili-marinated turkey, depending on your preference. Roll the tamales and fold the bottom up, securing the ends with a strip of husk.
7. Steam the tamales in a tamale steamer for 40-60 minutes, keeping them open side up and ensuring the water does not evaporate in the steamer.
8. Unroll the tamales and drizzle with reserved chili sauce, hot sauce, sour cream mixed with lime juice (crema), cilantro and cotija cheese.
9. If you’re doubling or tripling this recipe to make extra, let the tamales cool, vacuum seal them and freeze for future enjoyment.
INGREDIENTS
Wild turkey legs (2, skinned)
White onion (1, sliced)
Garlic (1 head, peeled)
Orange juice (½ cup, or any citrus)
Corn husks (1 package)
Blue corn masa harina (2 cups)
Dried guajillo, ancho, and/or chile de arbol chilies (10-12)
Lard or shortening (1 cup)
Sea salt
Slow cooker
Tamale steamer
Stand mixer with paddle
Vacuum sealer (optional)
Enter the bench scraper—an unsung hero in the kitchen. The bench scraper is a tool often used for cutting dough, but it’s equally effective when it comes to scooping and spreading masa. Here’s how Beto taught me to use it:
1. Using the flat edge of the bench scraper, scoop up a generous portion of the masa. This method ensures that the masa is compact and not too loose, which helps with control.
2. Hold the scraper over your corn husk and gently slide or scrape the masa off onto the husk. The flat edge of the scraper makes it easy to spread the masa in an even layer. Spread the masa from the center outward, leaving 1-2 inches at both the top and bottom of the husk. The evenness and smoothness achieved with the scraper are practical and poetic, allowing the masa to stay where it’s
Having made tamales for years, I’ve learned a lot of tricks along the way. But perhaps the most impactful lesson came a few years ago, when I had the pleasure of making tamales in a room full of talented chefs. One of them was Beto Robledo, the clever and humble chef behind the popular Cuantos Tacos food truck in Austin. Beto, one of the nicest and most quietly confident individuals I’ve ever met, taught me a simple yet transformative technique that has stuck with me ever since—using a bench scraper to scoop and spread masa. Beto’s method for scooping and spreading masa changed the way I approach tamale making. If you’ve ever made tamales by hand, you know it can be a messy process, especially when you’re trying to get the masa spread evenly across the corn husk. Using your hands or a spoon often results in a gloppy, uneven mess that requires a lot of effort to fix.
supposed to and making the tamale assembly process more efficient.
3. The key is to apply just the right amount of pressure, creating an even, 1/8-inch layer of masa that isn’t too thick or thin. Too much masa and the tamales will be heavy; too little and they won’t hold together properly.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the world of turkey and explore creative ways to cook this versatile bird, I highly recommend The Turkey Book by Jesse Griffiths, chef and owner of the acclaimed Dai Due restaurant in Austin. This cookbook is a treasure trove of turkey-inspired recipes, from traditional to innovative, and it truly honors the bird as a central ingredient in both casual and elevated dishes. The Turkey Book can be purchased at www.thewildbooks.com
When you purchase land for recreational purposes, you’re giving yourself the chance to grow closer to your family and friends. Together, you can go horseback riding, hunting, fishing, off-roading or simply just get away. This opportunity isn’t just for farmers and ranchers, either. It’s for anyone who deserves this time and this space. And we’ll work hard to make sure you get it. As one of the only lenders in Texas who specializes in recreational land loans, we know how to put together a solution that works for you. Giddy-up.
