The Longleaf Partnership Council (LPC) is pleased to announce a new communications fact sheet, Blowing in the Wind: Advantages of Longleaf Pine in Wind Storms. This informational product demonstrates the benefits of longleaf pine during windstorms such as hurricanes and tornadoes.
Listen in on Texas Ag Land Trust's latest podcast as TALT CEO Chad Ellis and NRI's Dr. Lopez delve into key land trend findings and what they mean for Texas’ working lands.
A new set of visual representations by the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, NRI, shows the breadth and diversity of the state’s working lands for agricultural production as well as the statewide support provided by Texas A&M AgriLife.
For someone who retired from his roles with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas A&M AgriLife Research seven years ago, Dale Rollins, Ph.D., has yet to slow down.
While the three-day event will be online this year due to COVID-19, the live demonstrations will continue, offering ranchers who need basic beef production information the ability to see how things are done up close.
Each year, the Texas Wildlife Association welcomes the opportunity to showcase to its members, partners and guests a variety of natural resource and conservation presentations by agency, landowner, non-profit and university partners. This year’s line-up represents a diversity of topics focusing on wildlife, natural resource management, production agriculture, landowner liability and lease law, wild game cooking and conservation education.
As nesting season begins in earnest, we're encouraged by reports from our TQI cooperators, the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch, and Texas landowners that they're hearing and seeing more birds this year. Fingers crossed that this summer is a productive one for our quail!
In coordination with the Sustaining Military Readiness (SMR) Planning Committee, we've made the difficult decision to postpone the 2020 SMR Conference planned for August 10-13 in San Antonio, Texas.
In 2019, we celebrated more than 1.7 million acres of accomplishments on public and private lands. Flip open the latest Range-Wide Accomplishments Report to read what else 2019 had in store for longleaf conservation.
High Plains Journal — Brought over on ships by Spanish explorers as traveling food sources, feral hogs have slowly built up their numbers over the years. Feral hog populations have reportedly been established in 35 states, but sighted in 48. Read more to learn about the complexities of feral hog population management and damage control where the potential for dedicated resources and funding is steadily growing.
NRI's Amanda Gobeli was featured in the Texas Wildlife Association's magazine Texas Wildlife covering an important summer topic—How Quail Beat the Heat.
Each spring, NRI releases an Annual Report highlighting our core values, our programs and accolades defining the year. Year 2019 was an exceptional year—because of the work of the people behind NRI, we more than doubled our readership across the board, putting the right research in the hands of stewards around the world.
The quail are calling, and we've got our fingers crossed for a great breeding season this year. The Texas Quail Index is starting with Spring Call Counts, and now you can participate (or just learn what it's all about) by taking our online vignette. We also highlight an upcoming webinar for landowners with small-acreage properties and wildlife management goals.
In the last few months, the NRI Engagement Team has released several new private land stewardship decks featuring mapping techniques and wildlife management tips.
The Borderlands Research Institute recently featured the Texas Land Trends report in their newsletter Borderlands Bulletin.
A lot can change in a month. As we adjust to new ways of working, socializing, and just plain living, we want to encourage you to persevere. We know our Students of Quail are a resourceful bunch, and we're all in this together! If you're looking for ways to stay busy and learn something new, we have an opportunity for you: help us refine the new TQI Online Course!
Hop online on March 18, 2020 from noon until 1 p.m. to hear about the TPWD Conservation License Plate Program funded research by Texas A&M University researchers Danielle K. Walkup, Toby J. Hibbitts, and Wade A. Ryberg: Movement, Home Range, and Habitat Use of the Spot-tailed Earless Lizards
We are pleased to announce from the Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program that the 2020 REPI Report to Congress is now available on the Program’s website, www.REPI.mil.
Melissa Meierhofer is a Ph.D. candidate in Wildlife and Fisheries Science at Texas A&M and a research associate at A&M’s Natural Resources Institute. The recipient of a Fulbright Grant for the 2019-2020 academic year, she is currently living and studying in Finland. Her research focuses on a fungus-causing disease in bats called “white-nose syndrome,” which is spreading rapidly in North America. In Finland, she is working with other researchers to create mathematical models of the spread of the disease to assist the U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service as they try to save bat species. OGAPS caught up with Meierhofer for an update on her research and life in Finland.
The D.C. Environmental Film Festival will hold the first public screening of the documentary “The Sentinels” on Friday, March 13th at the U.S. Department of the Interior, located at 1849 C Street NW, Washington D.C.
Feral hogs have been seen clashing with people near suburban hubs across the greater Houston area on social media and in the news this year. The wild pigs have been seen chasing teenagers in Atascocita, on ranches and farms in Liberty County and chastising home owners in The Woodlands.
A new Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute report shows some interesting land-use changes over the past 20 years for 16 counties in Far West Texas.
The Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, or NRI, led a collaboration to develop a new report showing how changes in land use have influenced multiple counties in West Texas over the past two decades.
NRI's Private Land Stewardship and Engagement Associate Director Dr. Jim Cathey co-authored Chapter 15: "Wild Pigs in South-Central North America" providing scientific research and a review of management practices within a geographical context, in the comprehensive volume Invasive Wild Pigs in North America: Ecology, Impacts, and Management addressing all aspects of wild pig biology, ecology, damage, and management.
COLLEGE STATION — Plans for the next Ranch Management University, to be held April 6-10 at Texas A&M University in College Station, are being finalized and registration is now open.
February—Disking, shredding, prescribed (Rx) burning—'tis the season for habitat disturbance. Disturbance can open up the landscape and allow for lower successional plant species (like food-producing forbs) to take hold. Doing it now leaves enough time for recovery before nesting season is underway.
If prescribed burning is something you're curious about but the thought of setting fire to your property makes you nervous, never fear—we have some resources to help you get started in this issue.
For more than two decades, land-trends reports have informed private and public landowners and decision-makers. The new Texas Land Trends report "Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 1997-2017," produced by the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, has been published to add to those reports.
TEXAS RURAL LAND VALUES - A new report shows an increase in rural land values in Texas. According to a new Texas Lands Trend Report --- from 1997 to 2017, the Lone Star state’s population increased from 19 Million residents to 29 Million.
An exciting new documentary that explores the benefits of the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership will premiere on Friday, March 13th at the 2020 D.C. Environmental Film Festival in Washington, D.C. Now in its 27th year, the Festival is considered the world’s premiere showcase of environmentally-themed films.
The Big Bend Sentinel — Over a twenty-year period, Texas lost 2.2 million acres of working lands, with 1.2 million of those being converted to non-agricultural use in the last five years alone, according to a new study of Texas land trends from 1997 to 2017 by Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute.
Rural land values in Texas are increasing, driven in part by the state’s population growth, according to a new “Texas Land Trends” report by the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute.
From 1997 to 2017, Texas’ population increased 48% from 19 million residents to 29 million. That’s roughly 470,000 new residents annually, according to the report.
COLLEGE STATION, TX — The Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI), in collaboration with the Texas Military Preparedness Commission (TMPC) within the Office of the Governor, Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), and with input from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), launched the Texas Early Notification Tool (TENT).
We are proud to present the long-awaited Texas Land Trends: Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 1997 - 2017 published in December 2019. Texas Land Trends reports have informed private and public landowners and decision-makers for over two decades. With this report, we are able to examine new patterns and identify trends following the release of the Census of Agriculture datasets by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS). These datasets provide key information for complex Texas natural resource challenges through the power of a “good map.” The Texas Land Trends: Status Update and Trends report is the fifth iteration and specifically describes the status and recent changes in land values, ownership size and land use of privately-owned Texas working lands.
