Funding SOURCES Through partnerships and the leveraging of resources, Texas can continue to use conservation easements as a tool to promote land protection and stewardship of the state’s vital resources while maximizing the economic return of state funds. The following section highlights one state and two federal funding programs which can be used in combination to fund the purchase of conservation easements. In addition to the programs described in this report, other sources of funding for the protection and conservation of private lands include local bonds, dedicated sales tax increases, and city/county funding programs.
TEXAS FARM & RANCH LANDS CONSERVATION PROGRAM State investment in conservation easement programs leverages funding from federal, local, private, and non-profit sources. In 2005, the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program (TFRLCP) was established by the Texas state legislature with the mission to conserve natural resources by protecting working lands from fragmentation and development. Texas HB1925 (companion bill SB1597) transferred the TFRLCP from the Texas General Land Office to TPWD in January 2016. TFRLCP is a state-funded easement program with the purpose of providing incentive funds to qualified nonprofits and governmental agencies to acquire conservation easements.
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Since its inception, the program has received close to $9M to conserve and protect over 33,000 acres across the state, supporting a wide variety of working lands (Figure 7). Garnering support from external sources, the state maximized its 2016 investment in land conservation, leveraging an overall $7.50 for every $1 of program funds to acquire seven conservation easements. TFRLCP’s investment of approximately $1.9M protected land valued at approximately $16M, achieving an 8:1 return on investment.11 These purchased properties protect a significant amount of water capture, representing an annual savings in water replacement cost for the state.
BARTUSH RANCH Size: 1,620 acres Habitat: Contains globally rare prairies, Eastern Cross Timbers Post Oak and Blackjack Oak forests; and Chinquapin Oak slope forests. Property ajoins the Red River.
PIETILA RANCH Size: 7,229 acres Habitat: High desert grasslands, springs, and headwaters for McKittrick Creek.
County with conserved land under the TFRLCP
Figure 7. Counties with projects awarded under the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program, 2018.
JAVELINA RANCH Size: 280 acres Habitat: Property includes some of the remaining original Tamaulipan Thornscrub in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Images left to right: Caprock, Briscoe County, TX; Sierra Diablo WMA, Culberson and Hudspeth counties, TX; Guadalupe Mountains, Culberson County, TX
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