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Sign-up for June Hog, Varmint, and Fishin' Fun Weekend! OlJim Earns Spot in State Senior Games! OlJim and MsJudy Complete Move to Tyler Texas! Spotlight on New Hunting Club Member Cody English! Son JimmyG and Girlfriend Ashley Complete College Degrees! More Ranch Photos and Such! Ranch Area Rainfall! Trinity Basin Ranchin' - At Its Finest! Reed Ranch Involved in Trinity Basin Conservation Initiative! And, If You Must
You're not a kid anymore - when: - your back goes out more than you do. - digestion is a consideration when reading a menu. - you're alarmed by how young your doctor is. - you can't climb a tree...even with a ladder. - you don't like to drive after dark - and, no one ever tells you to slow down.
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Send email to oljim@reedfamilyranch.com to reserve your spot!
Looking forward to having everybody out! These weekends are a hoot! OlJim Earns Spot in Texas State Senior Games 5K Finals!
This qualified him for a 5K spot in the finals of the Texas State Games that's scheduled for September'07 in Temple, Texas. Wish him luck - he's likely gonna need it!
Spotlight on New Hunting Club Member Cody English!
Here's what Cody has written by way of introduction: I work as a Manager for MSB, a software and data company that services the insurance industry. My wife, Kandi, has been a nurse for 10 years and works for a Cardiology practice. We have four kids: Taylor, 14, Cody, 11, Joshua, 8 and Jadelyn, 5. We live in Big Sandy and both work in Tyler. I was raised hunting and fishing with my Dad. My favorite type of hunting sport is shotgunning for wings, and shooting skeet. The whole family is involved in raising our hunting dogs, (we have six at the moment but sometimes as many as 12), riding atvs, and shooting. Every weekend of the year we are somewhere playing baseball, working the dogs, riding or shooting. We look forward to associating with other like-minded people who believe in responsible hunting and land management.
Welcome Cody, Kandi, Taylor, Cody, Joshua, and Jadelyn! It's great to have you!
Rural Ranchers Help Trinity River and Themselves! STREETMAN -- Dr. Jim Cathey dipped a bottle into the Trinity River and held it up to the sun. The water was as murky as chocolate milk. A few minutes later and a few miles away, he dipped another container into water from the Trinity that flowed through a manufactured wetland. “It's like bottled water that you'd find in a convenience store,” Cathey said. Though the water wasn't ready to drink, its clarity helped Cathey prove a point to a visiting team of ecologists and researchers from Texas Cooperative Extension. Wetlands naturally filter sediment and chemicals from the water, he said.
Cathey, an Extension wildlife specialist, and the team visited the Richland-Chambers wetlands this spring on a tour of the Trinity. They set out on the three-day journey to examine rural landowners' efforts to improve the river. Cathey is also leading educational efforts for a state project to rehabilitate the river. “You don't hear as much about the Trinity as you do about other rivers in the state,” he said. “But it flows from the Dallas area all the way to Houston , and a lot of people rely on it.” At Richland-Chambers, about 80 miles southeast of Dallas , two agencies have teamed up to rebuild more than 200 acres of wetlands to be used as a natural filter. The agencies -- Tarrant Regional Water District and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department -- intend to eventually restore wetlands on 2,000 acres in the Richland Creek Wildlife Management area. There, water from the Trinity is pumped into the restored wetlands. The water will eventually be piped into the Richland-Chambers Reservoir. HELP FROM THE STATE The river suffers from decades of poor land management along its banks, Cathey said. Ranchers and farmers cleared the land for cattle grazing and cotton long ago, he said. With few trees and other vegetation to slow storm water drainage, runoff flows too quickly over the land and into the creek, eroding the banks along the way. Conditions are similar all along the Trinity. The river has also been degraded by sewage and treated effluent from the Dallas - Fort Worth area. But communities and hundreds of other property owners along the river are counting on the state's effort to improve the Trinity's ecosystem and water quality. The sweeping plan, called the Trinity River Basin Environmental Restoration Initiative, was announced by Gov. Rick Perry in September 2005. Two agencies of the Texas A&M University System are leading the river's restoration initiative. The Texas Water Resources Institute will coordinate urban projects. And the Institute for Renewable Natural Resources will manage rural efforts. Both agencies are units of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension. Cathey, who is leading the project's educational efforts, will write manuals and consult with landowners about restoring and managing habitats. The state is also counting on help from the property owners, Cathey said. They are able to do things that the state cannot, such as reintroduce native plants and wildlife on private land along the river. They can also restore wetlands, which would help clean the river, he said. “To say the Trinity is important is an understatement,” Cathey said. The river is a primary water source for 8.9 million residents, according to the water resources institute. With its headwaters northwest of the Dallas - Fort Worth area, the river extends 512 miles to Galveston Bay . Nearly 2,000 miles of its tributaries drain 11.5 million acres. While improvement projects are already under way in Dallas and Fort Worth , the governor's plan would help accelerate efforts in both urban and rural areas, Perry said in his announcement. RURAL RANCHERS Jim Reed's family wasn't always fond of the Trinity. It smelled bad. And it often flooded their ranch, said Reed, whose 1,800 acres sit on 6 miles of the river near Kerens, about 70 miles southeast of Dallas . “There were a lot of bad feelings about the Trinity River bottom,” Reed said. But Reed, a third-generation rancher, said he and other property owners along the river have had a change of heart in recent years. Economics provided their fresh perspective. The river, they now realize, can help them save their land for their children and generations beyond. They're banking on the state's project to improve the river's water quality and restore its ecosystem, he said. “It took us a while to look above all the negative to see that the river has tremendous value,” said Reed, 63, the senior member of his family. The family has begun to plant trees and other native fauna to restore the river's habitats for wildlife. Doing so has allowed the family to supplement a declining cattle ranch. Visitors to the Reed Family Ranch now pay to hunt white-tailed deer, ducks and hogs. Others camp and fish. “Right now, birding is becoming the popular thing,” Reed said. Reed and other landowners along the river, such as Robert McFarlane of Palestine , have pledged support. McFarlane and Reed are founding members of the Trinity River Basin Conservation Foundation, begun in 2005 to foster efforts to improve the river's quality. The coalition of community leaders and landowners aims to improve the quality of life, economic sustainability and ecological integrity of the Trinity River , McFarlane said. “We think it's great,” said McFarlane, a cardiologist who owns Big Woods Hunting Resort in Tennessee Colony. “It's been unfolding for a long time and it's going in the right direction.” OlJim and MsJudy Complete Move to Tyler Texas!
In a previous ranch newsletter, it was explained that a Reed Ranch generation transfer is now taking place. Things continue to go well with this land transfer - in which the larger portion of the ranch will end up being owned by oldest son James Reed, with daughter Traci and son JimmyG becoming landowners too. This freedom has allowed Jim and Judy to move to Tyler, which they've chosen as one of the best retirement locations in the State of Texas! Regular visits by Jim and Judy to the ranch will continue, especially during deer season and when weekend hunts are conducted - in addition to when the ranch has its best weather! Son JimmyG and Girlfriend Ashley Complete College Degrees!
Graduations exercises were held at both the University of Texas at Tyler and Tyler Junior College on May 12, 2007. Both Jimmy and Ashley were proud participants - with Jimmy receiving his Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Technology (with honors Cum Laude) and Ashley receiving her Associate of Science Degree in Graphic Arts and Photography (with honors Magna Cum Laude). Way to go Jimmy and Ashley! We're proud of you!
More Ranch Photos and Such!
We love outdoors photography and enjoy taking photos of all the happenin's at the ranch. Check out ALL of our photo albums by clicking HERE! Ranch Area Rainfall!
April recorded a total of 1.0"of rainfall - which is 2.4" less than the monthly average for a April at the ranch. This gives us 21.1" for the year, which is about 7.8" ahead of the game for the year (as of the end of April'07). Here's some totals for 2007 and some historical averages:
Here are the totals for the most recent 8 years of ranch area rainfall. Our annual average is about 39.5 inches. 1999 - 26.7" Trinity Basin Ranchin' - At Its Finest!
We're proud to have a family managed ranch within Texas' great Trinity Basin that operates under a holistic goal. The Reed Family Ranch's holistic goal focuses on:
And, If You Must, How To Unsubscribe To This Newsletter We hope you won't have to leave us but - if you must REED FAMILY RANCH 2007 |
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There's a tendency for these weekend hunts to fill up, so let us know soon if you're interested in coming out. Our February, March, April, and May hunts have already been conducted and we're taking sign-ups for our June hunt now!
diversity and shared vision