By Austin Stolte

Many properties in Texas do not have natural water sources (i.e., rivers, springs etc..), therefore, providing a reliable, year-round source of supplemental water on your property should be a top priority in any wildlife management plan. All species of wildlife, from the big hairy critters to the tiniest of insects, will readily utilize supplemental water sources. Many places in the Texas Hill Country, especially the western half, would have very little to no wildlife if not for the landowners/managers that provide supplemental water. The property size , wildlife management goals, and budget will be the major deciding factors in how many sources of supplemental water are necessary. For example, a single water source on a 100-acre ranch may be sufficient while a 2,000-acre ranch may need ten or more sources.  

 Common tools used to provide supplemental water include troughs, dirt ponds, and rainwater catchment systems (guzzlers). Each tool has its advantages and disadvantages to consider, but most importantly you need to choose a method that is reliable and can provide a year-round water source regardless of rainfall. For example, a dirt pond that is designed to catch rainwater run-off can be a great option; however, you need to consider its water holding capabilities during pro-longed drought and have back up options in case the pond goes dry. Additionally, you will need to consider whether livestock will be present as they can greatly increase water demand and consumption. Livestock troughs can also be modified to be “wildlife friendly” by adding ramps into and out of the trough to benefit small animals and birds.

If you need help developing supplemental water systems on your ranch, reach out to your local TPWD biologist. It is absolutely fascinating to sit back and watch how many different species of wildlife will utilize your supplemental water sources. Game cameras are great for monitoring what comes to your water sources. You might be surprised what shows up for a cool drink!

By Derrick Wolter

In Texas, native plants and wildlife evolved with bison being the dominant grazing animal until about 1850. Since that time, cattle have filled a similar role on rangelands. However, a notable difference exists between the two animals. Cattle do not migrate long distances --- or at least their owners do not encourage it!     

Periodic grazing is important for native plant communities and the wildlife that depend on them. The primary role of grazing in a wildlife management program is to reduce the quantity of old-growth grass monocultures, allowing sunlight to reach the lower growing forbs which are important wildlife foods. A temporary reduction in grass cover is as nature intended, but continuous (over) use of native plants is a negative for livestock, plants, wildlife, and land. 

The overgrazing of rangelands results in the elimination of many preferred native plants that livestock desire and wildlife require. Overused rangeland is low on or devoid of highly palatable warm season grasses and forbs. This creates many problems, such as decreased forage production, reduced plant diversity, lower water infiltration, increased erosion, lack of screening cover for nesting birds and resting fawns, and brush encroachment. This results in less food for livestock and wildlife and contributes to rangelands that are less resilient and prone to continued degradation.  

If interested in optimizing livestock and wildlife on a property, it’s important the land manager knows details pertaining to land and livestock. Some of the key variables are annual forage requirement per animal, average annual forage production by soil type, and grazeable acres on the property. Livestock often avoid steep slopes and extremely rocky areas, and areas covered in dense tree and brush cover lack forage; these areas must be removed from your calculations. There are apps available that can help with the heavy lifting. 

It’s important to heed a couple basic principles when integrating livestock and wildlife management. First, always take half and leave half when it comes to grass. Allow livestock to use half of the forage produced annually and leave the rest for wildlife habitat and as “seed corn” for the following year. Secondly, encourage livestock to move (between pastures) like bison. Implement rotational grazing to provide plants with much needed periods of rest. Consider developing three or more pastures and move livestock every 40-80 days. This gives plants an opportunity to recover, build root reserves, and grow more forage and habitat.       

There is a cost associated with leaving grass in a pasture, but there is also a cost with removing it all. Erosion control and brush management are expensive outcomes of prolonged overuse of rangelands. Rotational grazing allows for the retention of grass and other fine fuels, which can be used during a prescribed fire to kill regrowth Ashe juniper and knock back other brush. 

The wise use of rangelands benefits native plants, livestock, wildlife, land, and landowners. Contact your local biologist for more information on rotational grazing or any of the other topics mentioned in this article.  

By Owen Fitzsimmons

Over 120 years ago, inquisitive European naturalists began tying colored threads to bird legs to see where they migrated, sparking a revolutionary new way to track birds.  You may be familiar with banding, or “ringing”, as they say in Europe, but you may not realize that banding can be used for far more than just finding out where a bird goes.

Doves are regulated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and cooperatively managed with the US states in each migratory Flyway (Texas is in the Central Flyway). Cooperative management is critical for birds that cross state and international borders, but monitoring one of the most numerous birds on the continent is extremely difficult using traditional observational methods.  Instead, a national banding program is used to estimate population size, annual survival, and other vital rates which inform harvest management and allows agencies to set the appropriate hunting regulations each year.

Nearly every state in the US participates in the national dove banding program.  Biologists from TPWD band approximately 2,000 mourning and 3,000 white-winged doves every summer just prior to the dove season opener.  The number of banded birds reported by hunters provides a harvest rate, or the proportion of the population harvested by hunters.  That harvest rate, along with an estimate of total harvest from the Harvest Information Program (HIP), provides a measure of abundance.  In addition, by analyzing the number of band recoveries over time we can determine annual survival for adult and juvenile doves.  Finally, a Parts Collection Survey asks hunters to send in the wings from harvested doves.  By analyzing certain feather characteristics on the wings, scientists can determine the age of a bird, giving them a better understanding of that year’s recruitment, or reproductive success.

Doves are the most popular game birds in the country, and Texas leads the nation in the number of hunters and harvest.  This fall, when you are standing in a dove field, remember to check the legs of any birds you bag.  Band reports from hunters provide the critical information needed to ensure long-term sustainability and hunting opportunity for Texas’ most beloved game bird. 

You can report banded birds at www.reportband.gov.

By Taylor Daily

Cost incentive or cost-share programs are financial assistance resources that help landowners implement conservation practices (e.g., brush management, prescribed fire, range planting, etc.) on their properties. There are several cost incentive programs available across Texas that may assist in achieving your land management goals. Some common Cost Incentive Programs include:

• Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP): This program is federally funded through the NRCS and is a useful source for many conservation practices. Click here for more information.
• Pastures for Upland Birds (PUB): This program is state funded through TPWD and is good for landowners interested in converting pastureland into native rangeland for the benefit of native wildlife. Click here for more information.
• Grassland Restoration Incentive Program (GRIP): This program is funded through the Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture and is a good option for landowners interested in restoring and/or managing their native grasslands. Click here for more information.
• Landowner Incentive Program (LIP): This program is state funded through TPWD, and projects are prioritized based on a specific funding series; The most recent being the Watershed Funding Series. Click here for more information.

Conservation on private lands is becoming increasingly important to ensure the sustainability for the wild species of Texas and the land they inhabit. The above list is not all-encompassing; therefore, it is a good idea to contact your local wildlife professional to learn about other available cost incentive programs. Here are some useful links to explore cost incentive programs available in your area (https://texasforestinfo.tamu.edu/fundingconnector/) (https://www.landcan.org/).

By Evan McCoy

Oak wilt is a fungal disease that results in a high mortality of oak trees and has greatly impacted the Texas Hill Country. It can spread through connected root systems or by spore carrying beetles. The two most common treatments are digging deep trenches to disrupt root transmission or to treat individual trees with fungicide injections. These methods can be expensive and are not 100% effective.

We first discovered oak wilt in an isolated area on the Kerr WMA back in 2009. The site was monitored and mapped annually for ten years and grew from 2 acres to 16 acres. In 2019, we decided to use the site as an opportunity to investigate a new method of treatment. Since the fungus travels only through living roots in oak spp., theoretically, eliminating the root zone surrounding the disease should contain it. Rather than remove the entire tree, an herbicide application was chosen to create a dead zone of roots and trees, sacrificing healthy trees to save others from infection. Based on current knowledge, we applied a 150-foot-wide band of herbicide treatment around the infected trees.  After 4 years, we have not detected oak wilt symptomatic trees outside of the treatment area, although we are still in the monitoring phase of this project.  In the future, we hope to report that a “chemical trench” is a successful treatment option for oak wilt, but this treatment has limiting factors that should be considered before recommendation or application.

Click here for more information on oak wilt identification and management:

By Kory Perlichek

Do not be fooled by this beautiful wildflower with its pure, white petals. Below its large, cup-shaped flower are blue-green, spine-tipped leaves and stem. Each leaf has a prickly underside and a smooth top. Hence the name. This wildflower is mostly found in Texas and other adjacent southwestern states.

     This wildflower grows well in sandy and gravelly soils throughout the pastures and hillsides of Texas. Blooming period is April to June. This annual has a deep taproot and can reach 3½ feet tall. Its fruit pods are spine-covered and are filled with many small black seeds. Bumping into the matured, dried seed pods will make you think you walked by a rattlesnake because the loose seeds rattle within the pods.

     Prickly poppy is dangerous to grazing animals and white-tailed deer. Its yellow sap contains alkaloid compounds that are toxic to mammals. However, other wildlife species, such as quail, wild turkey, dove, and songbirds, readily eat the poppy seeds. Birds are not affected by the toxins in the seeds and the seed oil is a good source of energy. An abundance of pollen is produced by these wildflowers which are visited by many pollinators including native and domestic bees.

     Native Americans also found many medicinal uses for the yellow sap in the plants and was used to treat skin disorders, headaches, toothaches, digestive problems, colds, coughs, and other ailments.