Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop set June 13th in Bay City

A Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop will be held on June 13th at the Bay City Service Center (2105 Ave. M, Bay City). This event is hosted by the Matagorda County SWCD#316, open to the public. Although the education is funded, there is a $30 registration fee for refreshments and steak lunch.

Autumn Brings Increased Deer Activity on Roadways

The familiar cadence of football season, pumpkins draped across neighborhoods, crunchy and bright autumn foliage, and a chill in the air... it must be hunting season.

AgriLife Today: Hibbitts adds herpetology expertise to Texas A&M Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology

New role, innovative classes introduce students to reptile and amphibian conservation, ecology

Extension Publication released on Feral Pigs and Disease Concerns

The Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI) released a new publication titled “Disease Concerns Associated with Feral Pigs” that covers the science behind the most common and emerging diseases associated with this animal and the way diseases are transmitted.

Sawdust Magazine: Q&A with Dr. Roel Lopez

Dr. Roel Lopez sits down with Stephen F. Austin University's Sawdust Magazine to share about how his time at SFA shaped both his research and his advocacy for a "learn by doing" style of teaching.

Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop set August 30th in Industry

Focus on watershed health and best management practices for grazing livestock, backyard poultry, and feral hogs.

Lone Star Healthy Streams workshop set August 13th in Wallisville

Focus on watershed health, soil health, and best management practices for pastures, livestock and feral hogs.

Case Study Quantifies Value of Restored Native Vegetation in Eagle Ford Shale Play

College Station, TX—Texan by Nature (TxN), in partnership with EOG Resources Inc. (EOG),  EcoMetrics, LLC, and Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI), released report “Valuing Native Vegetation Restoration on Oil & Gas Rights of Way,” which details the results of a new case study designed to quantify the environmental and economic return of native rangeland restoration in the Eagle Ford Shale play.

The ESA and the Role of Private Lands with Tiffany McFarland

One of the most important aspects of our work is sharing conservation knowledge and experiences with private landowners, citizen scientists, and policymakers. This exchange with the public is crucial for any kind of conservation success, and we are honored to share our findings through our researchers, experts, and communicators. For the last 15 years, one of NRI’s research associates, Tiffany McFarland, has been involved with the research and management of endangered species. This spring, she had the opportunity to visit with land stewards about the role of private lands and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Ranching & Wildlife Expo, where she shared background information about the ESA and why private land managers are so important to ensuring the longevity of rare species.

African Swine Fever Negatively Impacts Global Pork Production

Diseases affecting wild and domestic swine (Sus scrofa) play a significant role in the success of the global pork industry. Supply chains have faced substantial challenges in recent years due to African swine fever (ASF), a highly contagious viral disease that affects both domestic and wild pigs. This virus is transmitted by direct contact with infected animals or indirect contact with contaminated objects. Symptoms in swine are characterized by high fevers, hemorrhages, and high mortality rates, reaching up to 100% in some cases. Fortunately, humans cannot contract ASF and no cases have been confirmed in the United States through the rigorous monitoring and surveillance protocols enacted by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS). However, the disease has still taken a substantial toll on global pork production and trade.

Nevada’s first big-game moose hunt will be tiny as unusual southern expansion defies climate change

RENO, Nev. (AP) — In what will be a tiny big-game hunt for some of the largest animals in North America, Nevada is planning its first-ever moose hunting season this fall. Wildlife managers say explosive growth in Nevada moose numbers over the past five years, increasing to a population of more than 100, justifies the handful of harvests planned.

FFA Career Development Event at Long Acres Ranch

Agriculture itself changes very little. However, as we learn more, along with tools and technology advancement, our approach to agriculture changes. The next generation will build upon the current generation as it has always been done since the beginning of time to advance these agricultural changes.

AgriLife Today: Spring highways see increase in cold-blooded commuters

Texas A&M AgriLife experts share reasons for turtle sightings along roadways, ways to help

The Wildlife Society: Q&A: How to Conserve Wildlife Without Conflict

Imagine a world of conservation without conflict, where landowners, state and federal agencies, and environmental organizations all got along, working toward the common goal of helping imperiled species thrive.

It’s easy to see such a notion as a pipe-dream in a world fraught with endless lawsuits and protests. But one organization believes such a step is possible—in fact, they have made great achievements in the conservation world operating on such a principle in just over five years.

Sierra: Ocelots Find an Unlikely Haven in South Texas

A thick humidity lingers during most seasons in South Texas. Spiny hackberry, blackbrush, and other thorny plants create dense walls of vegetation. The Texas sun shines often, dousing the hundreds of thousands of acres of ranchland in near-white light. But upon closer look, one might catch a flash of a golden fur coat, spotted with black blotches and bands or big, luminous eyes peeking between a thicket of shrubland. These wild cats are ocelots—and they’re among the only two small populations remaining in the entire nation.

Texas Hill Country Conservation Network: Unleashing the Power of Connections and Community

The recently released Land, Water, Sky, and Natural Infrastructure Plan expands our perspective of Hill Country infrastructure beyond the concrete and steel that physically supports our cities and society. This plan provides us with a framework for conversations in our communities to value natural infrastructure in the same way we value built infrastructure – as critical and tangible systems necessary for our way of life and worthy of major investments.

The Wildlife Professional: Live-streaming brings remote learning into the field

The global COVID-19 pandemic changed the course of education, including how professors taught wildlife management classes. It's difficult for students to collar a deer or capture frogs when they're in lockdown in their parents' basement, after all.

But TWS member Shelby McCay, project coordinator at the Texas A&M University's Natural Resources Institute, had the perfect prescription for the challenges online learning caused for her students.

A Natural Infrastructure Plan for the Hill Country

The Texas Hill Country Conservation Network is proud to release the Hill Country Land, Water, Sky, and Natural Infrastructure Plan. This plan includes a shared vision for the Hill Country, collaboratively developed infographics, and objectives & strategies for achieving the Plan’s vision. 

q&a+water: Roel Lopez

In this issue’s Q&A, Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Todd Votteler, interviews Dr. Roel Lopez, Director of the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and Department Head for the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management at Texas A&M University. 

NRI adds to landowner resources on carbon markets

Researchers with the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, a unit of Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the Department of Rangeland, Wildlife and Fisheries Management in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and others recently published Rangeland Carbon Markets, a detailed report aimed at helping Texans understand the rapidly evolving domain of voluntary carbon markets.

Natural resource partners release the latest report on rangeland-related carbon markets

Announcing Rangeland Carbon Markets, a primer on the history, function and processes of carbon markets relevant to Texas rangelands.

Separating Fact from Fiction: The Threat of Canada's "Super Pigs"

Recent reports from popular articles  and Canadian news outlets have made sensational claims about wild swine (Sus scrofa), suggesting that a new breed of “super pigs” is expanding their range to the United States. Accounts generally allege that this new breed, weighing ~600 lbs, now exists through natural selection within existing wild pig populations or hybridization between feral swine and Eurasian boar. Are these accounts accurate, or is the media exaggerating a small number of reports? Without concrete scientific date, we can only examine the legitimacy of a new, larger breed of ‘super pig’ by stepping through some questions and scenarios:

Celebrating the FFA Career Development Event at Long Acres Ranch this Spring

This spring, Texas FFA students had the opportunity to prove their knowledge and skills at the Seven Lakes Career Development Event Invitational held at Long Acres Ranch.  

Resource: Soil Carbon 101

Check out this new handout to help landowners and managers determine if soil carbon storage markets are right for you. Thank you to our partners at the Noble Research Institute, Texas Grazing Lands Coalition, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, the Texas Agricultural Land Trust and AgriLife Extension for your support in developing this resource. 

Energy Today: Buffalo for the Broken Heart