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BY STAFF WRITER
RAY SASSER
In a vast state with 97 percent private ownership, the future of Texas wildlife rests in the hands of the private citizen. That's not necessarily a bad thing for the wildlife, but it causes economic problems for sportsmen who are disenfranchised by the rising cost of hunting.
Texas land barons in the past century treated the land as an adversary to be dominated. Much of the domination came in the form of overgrazing by cattle, sheep, goats, and other livestock.
Today's enlightened landowners, including some who got their land the old-fashioned way - through inheritance - have a different perspective. Rather than decimating wildlife habitat to enhance wildlife grazing, modern landowners often take the opposite approach, enhancing wildlife habitat at the cost of livestock.
At an Austin reception this week, 11 ranch owners and managers were recognized as Texas Parks and Wildlife Lone Star Land Stewards.
"The future of Texas wildlife and natural habitat is in private hands," said TP&W Executive Director Andy Sansom. "Conversely, the majority of Texans are urban dwellers. It is they who make many of the decisions affecting wildlife habitats and rural lands."
"For this reason, it is essential for all Texans - urban and rural - to understand the impact of land stewardship and recognize the efforts of our state's conservation heroes."
This is the sixth annual edition of Lone Star Award Land Stewards, and the 2001 list includes a property from the Dallas area.
In the Blackland Prairie Region, Jim and Judy Reed of Navarro County were recognized as Lone Star Land Stewards. They own the Reed Wildlife Ranch. After inheriting the ranch five years ago, the Reeds began holistic resource management principles to achieve ecological responsibility.
Rather than a pure beef operation, the 1,780 acres of upland savanna and hardwood bottomland along the Trinity River now include forestry and some hunting and fishing. To restore bottomland hardwoods, the Reeds planted more than 15,000 oak and bald cypress trees and have improved wetland habitats for waterfowl and crawfish.
The ranch rotates cattle grazing and manages deer populations through hunting. "The Reeds decication to managing their land for wildlife as well as cattle gives them the reputation as both land stewards and teachers," said Matt Wagner, TP&W technical guidance biologist.
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