texas land conservancy SPRING/SUMMER 2016
THE
STEWARDSHIP ISSUE
A BENEFIT TO MEMBERS OF
- PROTECTING THE PINEYWOODS - HERITAGE, HISTORY & HENS - BURN, PRAIRIE, BURN!
texas land conservancy Spring/Summer 2016
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Protecting the Pineywoods
Working with our partners to manage our largest conservation easement in East Texas
Heritage, History & Hens
A landowner on the Llano River talks about her science-based stewardship practices
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The North American Porcupine
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Burn, Prairie, Burn!
Find out some fun facts about this spiny Texas native
Marysee Prairie, our precious piece of the remnant blackland prairie ecosystem, gets its annual prescribed burn
Spring/Summer 2016
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Travis Phillips, Austin
CONTENTS FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ................................................5
Stewardship Stories
Vice President Earl Matthew, Rockport
BANITA CREEK NATURE RESERVE.....................................................6
Treasurer Wayne Graham, Austin
BIG NEWS ON LITTLE BARTON CREEK ..........................................7
Secretary Pat Y. Spillman, Jr., Houston Past-President P. Michael Jung, Dallas Michael Grimes, Austin Jason Hill, Austin Scott Moorhead, Austin Robert J. O’Kennon, Fort Worth Adam Jochelson, Dallas Eileen McKee, Dallas Janell Morgan, Dallas Larry Autrey, Dallas Merritt Westcott, Houston
STAFF Executive Director Mark Steinbach, Ph.D. Stewardship Director Daniel Dietz Stewardship Director Leigh Steumke Development Director Rachael Garbowski Director of Partnerships & Outreach Ashley Lovell, Ph.D.
A Community’s Restoration Effort
Introducing Little Barton Preserve
FOR THE BIRDS ......................................................................................13
Considering Wildlife Foodstuffs for Every Season
EARTH DAY 2016 ..................................................................................14 Join Us in Dallas April 22-24!
OUR MISSION:
TEXAS LAND CONSERVANCY PROTECTS THE ICONIC LANDSCAPES OF TEXAS FOR PRESENT & FUTURE GENERATIONS.
This magazine is a benefit to TLC members. To become a member please visit our website: texaslandconservancy.org/support-tlc/donate
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From our Executive Director
STEWARDSHIP STORIES
WORKING WITH LANDOWNERS TO PROTECT THE LAND YOU LOVE It’s spring in Texas which means it’s basically summer; however we get to enjoy those brief few weeks of warm days with cool evenings, bluebonnets along the highway, and hopefully needed rains. It’s a time of year that invigorates us, inspires us to get out and work with the land - whether it is the backyard garden or the back forty of the ranch and it’s with this mindset that we have dedicated our spring issue to stewardship. To be a steward of the land is an idea that was passed on to me at an early age as I watched my grandmother tend to an enormous garden. Whether it was letting certain areas stay fallow for a season, turning compost back into the soil, or nurturing each plant to achieve its best productivity, there was always love of that piece of land. As I have grown in this profession, so too has my appreciation of land stewardship. There are responsibilities that come with owning land. These responsibilities converge around the notion that we must try to make things better not only now, but also for future generations. In many places, we have to rehabilitate landscapes because of poor management in the past. Seeing land as nothing but a commodity is part of the reason that the environment was so damaged during the dust bowl era. The mistakes of the dust bowl led us to gradually shift our agrarian, wildlife management, and water use practices toward techniques we still employ today. One of my favorite authors, Aldo Leopold, was dramatically influenced by his observation of land use and misuse during the 1930s. His words still ring true 70 years later. His 1939 article “The Farmer as a Conservationist”, speaks to this idea in detail and he opens with this concept:
“Conservation means harmony between men and land. When land does well for its owner, and the owner does well by his land; when both end up better by reason of their partnership, we have conservation. When one or the other grows poorer, we do not.” With that in mind, TLC continues to strive to be stewards of the land for those special places we protect. Whether it’s trash clean up on urban preserves, or invasive species removal in the pineywoods, or just lending a hand to one of our landowners, stewardship of the land is always paramount. We are pleased to call you our friend and partner. Thank you for championing our mission.
Mark Steinbach, Ph.D EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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TLC Partnerships
BANITA CREEK NATURE RESERVE A Community’s Restoration Effort
Banita Creek Nature Reserve, our public preserve in Nacogdoches County, gets some tender loving care from TLC and our partners in the East Texas community Story by Bonnie Fyffe
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anita Creek Nature Reserve was donated to TLC in 1986 by Charlotte Baker Montgomery. Ms. Montgomery was an avid conservationist and she loved the land and people of East Texas deeply. Today her property protects a stretch of riparian area along Banita Creek that attracts hikers, birders and other outdoor enthusiasts from around town and the region. With help from our partners, we have been working to restore this property piece by piece. The Banita Creek Nature Reserve (BCNR) Stewardship Committee has taken the lead in managing this property on the ground, setting up trail signs, removing invasive species and working with the city to keep the trails open. This spring, our partners will begin removing invasive species at the property. Our partners include Dr. Bill Forbes, from the SFASU Sustainability Club, and Dr. Kulhavy and his landscape ecology class. Students Madison Peters, Michael Maxwell and Ray Nathanson, along with Dr. Forbes, presented the BCNR Stewardship Committee with a proposal to restore BCNR to its previous native state.
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The objective is to remove non-native species Chinese tallow, Chinese privet, Japanese privet, and nandina as well as some removal of the invasive native species cherry laurel. A baseline study was done to assess the current vegetation before manual extraction and removal begins this spring. In addition to removal, pollinator species including swamp milkweed will be planted to attract monarch butterflies, honey bees and other species in areas opened by removal. Assessment of fire hazard and reduction of fuel load in areas near adjacent homes is planned for post-removal. Nacogdoches community members, Boy Scouts, and other volunteers will be engaged in the restoration process under the direction of Drs. Forbes and Kulhavy, and the BCNR Stewardship Committee.
Land Protection Spotlight
Big News on Little Barton Creek
Story by Daniel Dietz
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llow us to introduce you to the newest addition to the TLC conservation family, Little Barton Preserve. At 75 acres, it may not be the largest easement that we hold, but with seasonal springs and frontage along Little Barton Creek, its protection packs quite a conservation punch.
true jewel, though, is a spring ringed with bushy bluestem, buttonbush, and other water loving plants, which greatly add to the site’s biodiversity.
Texas cities are growing incredibly quickly. As more people move in, sprawl moves out into rural areas and watersheds. Growth in the Owners Anne Davison and Dripping Springs area is frenetic, Glenn Goode bought the property and development began to encircle outside of Dripping Springs in Anne and Glenn’s property. 1996 and moved onto it in 2003. The easy choice may have been They fell in love with the land to develop their land as well, and spent considerable time but Anne and Glenn decided to improving its condition. Through protect the land as it is and chose the introduction of more native to work with us by placing a plants, removing small juniper, conservation easement upon it. and laying cut brush onto the ground to hold soil and promote water infiltration, they are turning This will permanently limit the amount of buildings and impervious what had been a slightly cover and assure the land will degraded goat ranch into Hill remain natural forever. They Country treasure. asked us to name it “Little Barton” in our records, in honor of Little Large meadows dominated by little bluestem and other grasses Barton Creek, which runs through the site. already grace the property. The
NEW CONSERVATION EASEMENT INCENTIVES A conservation easement is a written agreement between a landowner and the “holder” of a conservation easement under which a landowner voluntarily restricts certain uses of the property to protect its natural, productive or cultural features. In December 2015, Congress created a permanent tax incentive for donated conservation easements that can help thousands of landowners conserve their land. What does the new tax incentive mean? • Raises the deduction a landowner can take for donating a conservation easement from 30% of his or her income to 50% • Allows qualifying farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100% of their income • Extends the carry-forward period for a landowner to take tax deductions for a voluntary conservation easement from 5 to15 years If you are a landowner in Texas, or you know someone who might be interested in donating a conservation easement, please contact Texas Land Conservancy.
512.330.6363 or info@texaslandconservancy.org
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PROTECTING THE PINEYWOODS Story by Ashley Lovell
Through collaboration with the Conservation Fund and a private investment group, Texas Land Conservancy protects over 19,000 acres of land in East Texas. Pineywoods Mitigation TYLER Bank is the largest mitigation bank in Texas and is one of the largest banks in the country. This beautiful property joins together the Davy Crockett National NECHES RIVER Forest (160,000 acres) on one side and the Angelina National Forest (153,000 acres) on the other to create a massive tract of land JACKSONVILLE encompassing a 45-mile stretch of the Neches River. The Neches is one of the six key rivers we have identified in our strategic Land for Water campaign that is in desperate need of protection. PALESTINE
NACOGDOCHES
Mitigation banks are tools that landowners and businesses can use to protect land and water ANGELINA under the Clean Water Act. A mitigation bank NATIONAL FOREST can be a stream, wetland or other aquatic resource area that offsets, or compensates for, expected adverse impacts to similar nearby ecosystems.
LUFKIN
CROCKETT NATIONAL FOREST PINEYWOODS MB (TLC)
BIG THICKET NATIONAL PRESERVE
PORT ARTHUR
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Pineywoods MB creates a wildlife corridor between these national forests which form the eastern edge of the Big Thicket region of East Texas. Of the 19,000+ acres contained in the mitigation bank, there are over 13,000 acres of wetlands and open water on the property. The Pineywoods ecosystem was once dominated SILSBEE by long-leaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests, but fire suppression and the creation of pine BEAUMONT plantations have caused considerable ecological damage to this ecosystem. Only three percent of the Pineywoods ecosystem is still considered intact today.
JASPER
This critical area is managed by the Wildwood Environmental Credit Company, LLC who monitor the ecology of the land, restore habitat, and handle the day-to-day stewardship of this massive property. The land managers at Pineywoods MB are working to expand the amount of healthy habitat in the ecosystem by removing invasive species, reducing the amount of acreage in pine plantations and attempting to reintroduce fire to the ecosystem. To steward nearly 20,000 acres, the managers at Pineywoods MB work with their neighbors at the nearby national forests and other private landowners in the region. They share a network of contractors who help control invasive species and share what they have learned about restoration in this ecosystem. Much of the land that is not within a wetland was planted Cliff Sunda, land manager at Pineywoods MB with pine plantations over the last century. Land managers are thinning out these plantations and under-planting them with native hardwood species like bluejack oak (Quercus incana) and post oak (Quercus stellata) as well as Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) and flowering dogwood (Cornus florida). They are also working to create more habitat for native species such as bats and black bears by developing large-cavity trees that provide shelter and breeding areas. To date, the managers at Pineywoods MB have planted over 1,000,000 native hardwood trees on the property. One of the biggest challenges for land managers at Pineywoods is Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera) which is a particularly invasive species that spreads through water systems. Chinese tallow was introduced into the United States in the 1700’s in South Carolina and was distributed in the Gulf Coast in the 1900’s by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in an attempt to establish a soap making industry. Tallow is a problem because it crowds out desirable species of native plants over time. At Pineywoods MB, land managers treat between two and three thousand acres of tallow by hand per year. Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera) “We are always concerned about changing climate every time we plant trees. Extreme weather patterns really increase the cost of reforestation. We are hoping that by getting as much work done now we will set the forest on the right trajectory, so that with a little maintenance, mother nature will help make itself more resilient to the next extreme event that comes along.”
Much of the tallow that has invaded the landscape was brought in by flooding associated with hurricanes over the past few years. Extreme weather events and a changing climate are a major concern for landowners and managers in this ecosystem.
Texas contains twelve distinct ecoregions, each have their own unique characteristics and challenges. Landowners and land managers in each of these regions understand the value of working on the land and learning its patterns over time. Thank you to the great land managers at Pineywoods MB, Cliff Sunda who help to protect, monitor, and restore this unique Land Manager, Pineywoods MB ecosystem in East Texas. Spring/Summer 2016
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Heritage, History & Hens Landowner Joyce Lucas on the benefits of Wildlife Management Areas, the joy of turkey tracking, and the value of science in land stewardship.
Story by Ashley Lovell
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irk-Sommerfeld Heritage Ranch has been in Joyce Lucas’ family since 1876. She protected her beautiful property with Texas Land Conservancy in 2010, conserving over 400 acres along the Llano River. That same year Joyce founded the Castell Wildlife Management Association in 2010 and has been working with Texas Parks and Wildlife and her neighbors to restore native species habitat in the area. We recently spoke with Joyce and asked her about some of her stewardship practices, how she keeps her land healthy and works to bring back native species to the region. Why did you found the Castell Wildlife Management Association (WMA)?
I found it to be a difficult challenge to manage wildlife on a small tract of land because a deer’s home range is about 640 acres. Unless you have 1,000 acres or more, the deer are going to move onto neighboring properties. Additionally, I had noticed the deer were smaller and there didn’t seem to be as many large bucks as in years past. Furthermore, I realized I didn’t know anything about managing for wildlife. The Castell WMA started with 13 charter members and has grown to 37 members today. What are the benefits for landowners participating in the WMA?
Why did you want to participate in the In 2014 a total of 50 turkeys from TPWD turkey study? several properties were banded and
We’ve always had turkey on the ranch and I love seeing and hearing them. I was interested in learning how to maintain a prolific and healthy turkey population. Knowing they roosted along the river and ate berries and insects was about the extent of my knowledge. I didn’t know much about their habitat or how to enhance what already existed. When the TPWD inquired about landowners’ interest in participating in a TPWD study, I didn’t hesitate to sign up to be a participant.
12 hens were outfitted with transmitters. What have you learned about turkey nesting and behavior from the study?
Turkeys make terrible nests and can travel quite a distance as well as having a summer and winter area. One of the hens from my ranch traveled west nine miles to Mason County. Their nests are practically nonexistent – flat and open. I learned that is the reason they lay in a dense area where the eggs are better camouflaged. One nest had 11 eggs in it! During the incubation period the hen will move the eggs periodically throughout the day. How can other landowners improve turkey habitat on their properties?
Turkeys need a year-round food supply whether they are in their summer or winter area, diverse cover, places to roost, and plenty of available surface water. This may mean building feeders, increasing available water and/or improving roosting areas. Landowners can research this information on the TPWD website as well as from their local TPWD biologist. How has participating in the TPWD project helped you manage your land?
Joyce Lucas, about to release a banded turkey In general from participating in the A WMA is a group of landowners who on her property, Birk-Sommerfeld Ranch study, I now know more about the want to work together to conserve turkeys’ diet, habitat, and range. It and enhance their land for the benefit continues to be an educational process It was literally freezing when we trapped of wildlife. By cooperating and for me, as I learn more about their the first time in February 2014. Ice was working together the landowners can forming on the trucks as everyone worked habits and ensure I do everything I significantly improve the quantity and to follow proper protocol, an interesting can to encourage them to stay in the area. quality of the deer population in the process for me. I was given the privilege of Over 95% of Texas is privately assigned area. Likewise, we can become releasing several birds and that was fun and owned, meaning landowners acquainted with and help one another. exciting. I learned how strong they are and are the key to long-term Today there are a number of landowners consequently, how tightly one has to hold conservation. We are lucky to like myself who no longer live on their one and the proper way to release it. A wing work with landowners like Joyce property. An organization like this who are passionate about their in the face can hurt! I also learned some gives us an opportunity to stay in hens have beards and that turkeys are aged land and protecting the habitat and wildlife in Texas. contact with one another. by their wing tips. Spring/Summer 2016
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Wildlife Corner
Many of the properties protected with TLC have resident populations of porcupines! However, these creatures are generally solitary and hard to spot, so you may not know they’re there. Here’s a few quick tid bits to peak your interest in these spiny Texas natives: Found mostly in northern and western Texas, many Central Texas residents have reported porcupine sightings, signifying a potential range expansion.
Porcupines will rattle their quills as a warning, but can’t launch the quills at offenders, instead they run backwards at them!
Porcupines have more than 30,000 quills that are constantly shed and replaced, just like human hair.
Porcupines are great swimmers. Their hollow quills help with buoyancy.
North American Porcupine Erethizon dorsatum
The tips of porcupine quills have backward-pointing hooks that help them hold on to their target. Porcupines are highly adaptable, they live in alpine tundra, rangeland and deserts, but they prefer mixed forests.
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Slow and steady climbers, these creatures often hide out in the tops of trees.
Porcupine illustration by our Artist in Residence, Maximilian Queripel
For the Birds...
Story by Leigh Stuemke
This past weekend I watched flocks of cedar waxwings move through the neighborhood picking berries off of the trees. As I watched the birds pluck these winter fruits my thoughts turned to other food sources that are available now and how that will soon change as spring gets a foothold this year. Throughout the year wildlife experience different periods of nutritional stress directly related to food availability. In Texas these nutritional stress periods occur near the end of summer and again at the end of winter when food resources are limited due to environmental conditions (e.g. high summer temperatures and little rain). These food resources are categorized into four basic plant types: browse, forbs and grasses (herbage), seeds, and mast. Of course a fifth food source is other animals; prey species for carnivores or insects for birds. Want to help make sure migratory birds and other wildlife can forage in your backyard year round? Consider these helpful tips: 1. Provide water year-round 2. Plant native species 3. Eliminate insecticides in your yard 4. Keep dead trees 5. Offer food in feeders 6. Reduce your lawn area
Daniel Dietz at Marysee Prairie, Phot by Paul Davis
Burn, Prairie, Burn! On February 6, 2016 we conducted a prescribed burn at Marysee Prairie, in Liberty County. Marysee is a public prairie that protects one of the last pieces of the blackland prairie ecosystem left in the world. Fires are a natural part of prairie ecosystems. Over the past 10,000 years fires have been rejuvenating prairies and brushlands across Texas. Mixed-grass prairies like Marysee were kept free of trees by occasional wildfires that swept across the landscape. Fire can kill encroaching woody species while doing no harm to native prairie grasses, whose roots extend deep beneath the ground’s surface.
A cedar waxwing eyeing some delicious berries
Prescribed burns are a key stewardship practice that can be used to promote healthy prairie ecosystems. By purposefully setting controlled fires on prairie ecosystems landowners can improve wildlife habitat, boost pasture productivity, and enhance native plant communities. Prescribed burns can also reduce the cost of other vegetation control methods such as pesticides. Spring/Summer 2016
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EARTH DAY 2016 Earth Day Texas 2016 Spring has sprung and it is time to get outside and enjoy the natural beauty of Texas. This year we are celebrating Earth Day in Dallas with two free and family-friendly events!
April 22-24 10am-6pm Fair Park
This event attracts thousands of people from around Dallas and the state to learn more about earth-friendly technology, lifestyles and organizations like Texas Land Conservancy. As in years past, we will be hosting a booth with our partners in the Dallas area - stop by and say hi! For more information visit: www.earthdaytx.org
Volunteer Work Day April 23 9am-12pm Oak Cliff Nature Preserve
Join us on Earth Day at TLC’s public nature preserve, OCNP! We will be clearing trails, picking up litter, removing invasive species and enjoying the sunshine. Sponsored by Popstar Handcrafted Popsicles and KIND Bars. Come celebrate Spring with us and give Mother Nature some TLC (Tender Loving Care)! To sign up please email ashley@texaslandconservancy.org
Foxglove in bloom along the trail at Oak Cliff Nature Preserve
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A young TLC supporter at Earth Day Texas
Protect the Land You Love.
We are all connected to the land. Whether you wake up ready to play in it, go out working on it, or simply dream of the weekends you get to spend in it, you know how significantly our lives are enriched by time spent outdoors. In addition to our conservation work with landowners, we connect people to nature through educational opportunities, volunteer work days, hikes, and other special events. Make a donation to Texas Land Conservancy today and join a community of conservationists who care deeply about protecting the land you love all over this great state.
texaslandconservancy.org/donate
info@texaslandconservancy.org Spring/Summer 2016
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P.O. Box 162481 Austin, TX 78716 512.301.6363 www.texaslandconservancy.org
Nonprofit Org US POSTAGE PAID Austin, Texas Permit No. 258
SPRING EVENTS CALENDAR TEXAS LAND CONSERVANCY Ennis Bluebonnet Festival April 16-17 Kachina Prairie Preserve, Ennis County Earth Day Texas Festival April 22-24 Fair Park, Dallas Volunteer Clean-Up Day & Guided Nature Walk April 23 Oak Cliff Nature Preserve, Dallas
Guided Hill Country Hike May 14 Birk-Sommerfeld Heritage Ranch, Llano County Volunteer Work Days May 21, 27 Kachina Prairie Preserve Ellis County Conservation Happy Hour June 7 Rattle Inn Austin