Texas has a long history of private land ownership where 95 percent of the state is privately owned. The role of landowners as stewards of our state’s private lands and the public benefits derived from them is paramount. Most often successful land stewardship begins when natural resource professionals convey good land stewardship practices and techniques to private landowners.
As part of the Private Land Stewardship program and through collaboration with the Noble Foundation and East Foundation, NRI offers Private Land Stewardship Academies as a professional development opportunity to enhance natural resource professionals’ expertise in applying private land stewardship. These week-long, field-based academies are taught by leading experts in the field and review strategies for addressing private land challenges as well as current and future emerging issues in natural resources and private land conservation. The program offers valuable “hands-on” experiences to natural resource practitioners.
We have developed and hosted in partnership with the Center for Private Land Stewardship five Private Land Stewardship Academies. We hosted one academy for 13 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service county agents, and one for 25 Texas NRCS conservationists. We also assisted Noble Foundation with three academies for 125 NRCS conservationists from 30 states.
In addition to in-person training as we adapt to the virtual learning landscape, NRI is building a community of practice around land stewardship for the outdoor enthusiasts and private landowners alike with mini-experiences and interactive publications developed from materials created during face-to-face training and presentations. These private land stewardship publications are meant for everyone from the classroom to the field. They meet the learner where and how they want to explore the information.
Since the launch of these interactive publications, we've seen our communities band together to recreate education so that it can be available in new ways. These virtual publications came about as a charge to take existing materials from previous presentations, from flash drives, or publications collecting dust on shelves, and shake them up so that anyone on the other side of a screen anywhere in the world could access them.
You can find and share these anytime. Click, open, explore, shuffle through the content and save up the information. You can quiz your knowledge gained at the end; a great component for classrooms and youth learning environments especially.
Vegetation and Landscape
Natural Resources Management
Wildlife
Threatened and Endangered Species
We'll continue to make these experience decks available to stewards of the land, wildlife and discovery to bridge the gap from urban and classroom audiences to rural communities and private land in Texas and beyond.
Conserving private lands conserves water
Former President and Texas native Lyndon B. Johnson once said: “Saving the water and the soil must start where the first raindrop falls.”
In Texas, where about 95 percent of the land is privately owned, and 83 percent of that land is rural farms, ranches and forests, it is essential that all Texans understand the interconnection of land and water to ensure the healthy stewardship of both, according to natural resource professionals.
Landowner loop: D.I.Y. game feeder corral trap for wild pigs
Conservation biology and land management are research cornerstones at NRI, and we're fortunate to be able to build sound-science resources for private and public entities across the U.S. But it's no surprise when working lands comprise more than 82% of Texas's land area that our largest end-users are private landowners, working heuristically to solve natural resource challenges.
Resources for new landowners: Vegetation
After reviewing the complexities of soil management, gaining knowledge about vegetation is the next crucial step in a new landowner’s management education. Let's dive into the different plant ID resources at your disposal and take an intentional look at the uses of vegetation for wildlife and practical ways to manage your property to encourage the right kind of plant growth.
Spotlight on Quail Predators: Raptors
Raptors, a.k.a. “birds of prey,” include eagles, hawks, falcons, owls and many other species. The term raptor is derived from the Latin word rapio, meaning to seize or take by force; this is quite apt as raptors will often swoop down and seize prey with their large talons. But which species are the main predators of quail?
Resources for New Landowners: Soil Management
Private Land Stewardship is a core component of our mission at the NRI, and our goal is to provide landowners with the resources they need to better care for their land. For new or future landowners, the best time to gather knowledge and information is before making management decisions that will have lasting effects on the land. Thinking of well-managed land conjures up images of lush, green fields and healthy wildlife populations, but it is important to stop and consider where it all begins—with the cultivation of healthy soils.
Long Acres Ranch: Fabricating a Rainfall Simulator to Teach the Future
At Long Acres Ranch, we have teaching opportunities that link youth with lessons revolving around the ranch’s natural resources. Recently, we partnered with the Seven Lakes High School FFA, located in Katy I.S.D. in Ft. Bend County, to fabricate a structure called a Rainfall Simulator.
Benefits of Multispecies Management on Private Lands
Not surprisingly, about 94% of Texas is privately owned—84% of that land is considered working lands (farm, range and timberland) making private landowners the stewards with the largest influence over natural resources compared to public lands. As we watch Texas experience the largest inter-generational change in landownership ever experienced, how landowners continue the legacy of land management is up to them, making education the first priority.
Long Acres Ranch: Demonstrating Native Grassland Restoration
At Long Acres Ranch in Richmond, TX, we are looking forward to the response of native grasses and forbs planted in a demonstration field in the spring of 2018. We would love to jump to the future and see the results of our 30-acre planting that is full of potential for a variety of life. Even so, we know we will have to wait. As the saying goes, native grasses seem to sleep the first year as they develop their root systems, they creep in the second year with a little more obvious growth, and if we are lucky with rainfall, they leap with growth in the third year.
Prescribed Fire and Wild Fire Apps to Aid Landowners
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has developed a variety of resources, including a phone application to assist those with an interest in prescribed burning.
Private Land Stewardship and Plants
The plant community on a property determines what habitat types are available for wildlife and how it can be grazed, so familiarity with those plants is essential for any land steward. Here we provide tips and tools that will help you learn to recognize your resident plant species and incorporate that knowledge into an effective management plan.
Private Land Stewardship Starts with Soils
Soils are the foundation of healthy habitat and can make or break any land management plan. Regional differences in soil structure and composition play a major role in determining which management strategies will succeed or fail, and familiarity with your soil is the first step toward meeting your land stewardship goals. Here we provide contacts and resources to help you take that step.
Institute hosts tax appraiser, assessor training
A recent tax appraiser and tax assessor training for land management for wildlife and livestock was a success, according to Brian Hays, Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI) program manager.
“The 34 participants attending found the training useful and unanimously agreed the information presented would help them in their job,” Hays said.
Soil and Water Stewardship Week highlights importance of land conservation
To highlight the importance of voluntary land stewardship in Texas, the Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI) and the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI) are partnering with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB), Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Texas Agricultural Land Trust, Texas Wildlife Association, and Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. The statewide campaign, “No Land No Water ™,” is the theme of this year’s Soil and Water Stewardship Week, April 30 through May 7.
