WILDLIFE 2021
8TH ANNUAL PRIVATE LANDS SUMMIT Article by Lorie A. Woodward In Texas, the demand for access to nature and outdoor recreation outstrips the state’s supply of public land and creates an opportunity for creative, enterprising landowners. “Population growth, urbanization and access to the outdoors is a familiar, foundational problem,” said CEO David Yeates opening the 8th Private Lands Summit held on Thursday, July 15 in San Antonio. “Today, we are going to highlight issues, opportunities and help define what success looks like for some landowners who have successfully opened their gates.” The issue explored during the “Open Gates” summit boils down to supply and demand. Supply? Texas is 95 percent privately owned. Of the 171 million acres that comprise its land mass, 141 million are privately owned working lands while just 1.4 million acres are public access, government-owned land. Demand? Texas is gaining population faster than any other state in the nation. From 2000–2019, the state’s population grew from 20.9 million to 29 million; a growth rate of 15.3 percent. By 2050, demographers predict the state’s population could grow to 55 million and 60 million by 2055. The daylong seminar featured speakers who tackled the issue from a wide range of perspectives and covered a wide range of subjects. Hunting and Private Lands in Texas Justin Dreibelbis, Private Lands and Public Hunting Program Director Hunting is one activity that can be enjoyed across the generations. Texas, unlike some states, has enjoyed a slow upward trend in hunting license sales, but the
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number of hunters as a percentage of the population is decreasing. TPWD is an active participant in R3 (Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation) targeted to hunters. “If we all agree hunting and recruiting the next generation of hunters is crucial to our heritage and the state’s ongoing conservation effort, the question becomes where do we put them? How do we help landowners open the gates?” Recruit, Retain and Reactive (R3) Hunters in Texas Panel Discussion moderated by Dreibelbis featuring Josh Crumpton, Spoke Hollow Outfitters Bryan Jones, Texas Youth Hunting Program John Mott, Any Kid Can Hunt Ranch The panelists shared their experiences with mentored hunting, both youth and adult. While youth hunts generally require a larger support staff and focus on providing young people a “first-time connection” experience, the adult mentored hunts emphasize the post-harvest and food aspects of hunting. Adults, once they gain the confidence and skills, can immediately take to the field and become conservation advocates. In their collective experience, the novice hunters need access to affordable, fairly priced hunts so they can continue to build their skills after their initial experiences. Texas Outdoor Recreation Economy John Sheppherd, Executive Director Texas Foundation for Conservation Texas has become an urban state and the Texas Legislature’s composition reflects that reality.
