The Reed Ranch has been in the Reed family for a little over 50 years. Jim and his family took over management of the ranch in 1997. The ranch was passed on to him by his father.

The first thing we did was to plan for what we wanted to do with the ranch. To us, this meant setting some goals that were in line with our values. We found tha best goal modeling process to be Holistic Resource Management (HRM designed by Allan Savory). The whole family participated and it was the best thing we could have done at the time. From that time on, we've made day-to-day decisions based on these goals. The involvement of the HRM group has also been important to our family.

Mostly, these goals have to do with three things:

• Diversification of the use of the ranch
• Maintaining a productive and flexible lifestyle
• Being a good steward of the land and using informed decision-making principals which are in line with our goals

The use of the holistic management process is one of the major decisions we've made the progress we've made. We couldn't be doing what we're doing without this model to follow. When we're trying to make a decision about whether to do something or not, we test our decision against our goals using the seven testing guidelines that are found in the HRM model.

Right now, we have several streams of income that everyone is enjoying. At one time, the only major income stream was the ranch's cow/calf operation. Cattle will always be a major player in the overall goals of the ranch. We recognize that cattle can be used as a tool in the improvement of the soil and grasses if a systematic grazing system is utilized.

Now, the ranch is separated into many paddocks using electric fencing. The partitioning of the ranch into small operating units was one of the best things we could have done. The creation of a systematic grazing system was some of the best dollars we've spent. These small paddocks allow us to create forage units and wildlife units at the same time. We rotate the uses of the various units whenever we feel the need suits our goals.

There's now a hunting club operating on the Reed Ranch. The creation of ol jim's huntin' club has allowed us to enjoy many more uses of the ranch and increased the income flow, too. We're now enjoying the hunting and fellowship of deer hunting, duck hunting, hog hunting, fishing, and varmint hunting, camping, hanging out enjoying the outdoors with our friends, and watching the grass grow.

We use the internet to share hunting stories, our photo's, and ranch projects. A ranch calendar is also kept on the internet. This calendar is used by all the club members to know what's going on so they can plan their activities.

A major emphasis has been placed on the return of some of the pastureland to native prairie grasses. More than half of the 1,780 acre ranch is located in the Trinity River wetlands basin. Grasses that were at one time native to the area are being planted to return the soil to its productive conditions once again. The grasses selected will need to withstand the moisture and other bottomlands conditions. The grasses will also need to supply amply cover and habitat for wildlife, and produce ample forage for cattle. So far, the two grasses that are being utilized now in the bottomlands for these purposes are alamo switchgrass and eastern gamagrass.

Our forested wetlands project with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has given us the opportunity to meet some of our major goals for the ranch. This project is allowing us to repair over 400 acres of bottomland hardwood forests that have been severely degraded from years of high grading. We're seeing that the management of our timber and wetlands is now receiving about the same emphasis as the native grassland prairie.

There's still lots to learn about timber management and wetland habitats. With the help given by our wildlife biologists and foresters, we feel we're heading in the right direction. One of our early-on goals had to do with the stewardship of healthy forests and wildlife habitat.

At first, we didn't have a club about how to approach this. However, when the forested wetlands project came along, it gave us the opportunity to make informed, solid decisions based on our goals for the ranch. In addition, we continue to use HRM's seven testing guidelines in our decision making.

If anyone would like to have more information about the Reed Ranch, Jim can be contacted by email at oljim@reedfamilyranch.com. Jim can also be found on wildlife and hunting discussion boards at such sites at TexasBoars.com and Tx-Outdoors.com.