MAGAZINE OF THE TEXAS WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION
A Closer Look at
CWD in Texas Deer
JUNE 2022
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TEXAS WILDLIFE
PRESIDENT'S REMARKS SARAH BIEDENHARN
Texas Wildlife Association Mission Statement Serving Texas wildlife and its habitat, while protecting property rights, hunting heritage, and the conservation efforts of those who value and steward wildlife resources.
R
ecently, I participated in a wild game cooking class held at our TWA headquarters in New Braunfels. TWA’s own Chris Mitchell and Kristin Parma—who, in case you haven’t heard, are quite talented culinarians— taught our class how to make a traditional German dish called Pannas. The ingredients are very similar to those of tamales without the chili powder and the results were delicious. We started by separating the meat from the bone, which had been slow cooking for hours prior to our class. Chris explained what parts of the animal (we were using a white-tailed deer) would be best for the dish, which was one of my biggest take-aways from the class. We were using part of the rib cage, but it could also be done with a shank. As someone who has not always used these parts of the animal well, it was refreshing to learn a new way to utilize more of the resource. There was a lot more to this class than learning a new recipe. Hunt to table cooking is an integral part of passing down our hunting heritage. While many hunters understand the importance of using the resource well, the actual execution can be very intimidating unless they are taught by a family member or mentor. Empowering people with the knowledge they need to prepare and cook the venison they harvested themselves is a vital part of creating repeat hunters. In today’s world when terms like organic, locavore, and farm to table are trending in the culinary industry, it’s more important than ever to highlight the ways in which hunters can—and do—actively participate in these “movements.” TWA has already seen the results of this dynamic through the Adult Learn to Hunt program. Many of those participants found the program out of their desire to hunt their own food. With this in mind, I am thrilled to see TWA hosting these cooking classes regularly. After all, passing on our hunting heritage involves so much more than showing someone how to aim and pull the trigger. Thank you for being a TWA member and I look forward to seeing you at the JW Marriott in San Antonio for our 37th annual convention July 14-17!
Texas Wildlife Association
TEXAS WILDLIFE is published monthly by the Texas Wildlife Association, 6644 FM 1102, New Braunfels, TX 78132. E-mail address: twa@texas-wildlife.org. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Texas Wildlife Association, 6644 FM 1102, New Braunfels, TX 78132. The Texas Wildlife Association (TWA) was organized in 1985 for the purpose of serving as an advocate for the benefit of wildlife and for the rights of wildlife managers, landowners and hunters in educational, scientific, political, regulatory and legislative arenas. TEXAS WILDLIFE is the official TWA publication and has widespread circulation throughout Texas and the United States. All rights reserved. No parts of these magazines may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without express written permission from the publisher. Copyrighted 2022 Texas Wildlife Association. Views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Texas Wildlife Association. Similarities between the name Texas Wildlife Association and those of advertisers or state agencies are coincidental, and do not indicate mutual affiliation, unless clearly noted. TWA reserves the right to refuse advertising.
4 TEXAS WILDLIFE
JUNE 2022
6644 FM 1102 New Braunfels, TX 78132 www.texas-wildlife.org (210) 826-2904 FAX (210) 826-4933 (800) 839-9453 (TEX-WILD)
Texas Wildlife
MAGAZINE OF THE TEXAS WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION
JUNE
VOLUME 38
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8 A Closer Look at CWD in Texas Deer by ELLEN H. BRISENDINE
NUMBER 2
H
2022
30 Caesar Kleberg News
The Booms and Busts of Quail by LINDSEY HOWARD and FIDEL HERNÁNDEZ
14 Hunting Heritage
32 X Bar Ranch Nature Retreat
Cheers to Another Successful TYHP Hunting Season
Their Place, Guests’ Pace by LORIE A. WOODWARD
by BRIANA NICKLOW
36 Wildlife as an Agricultural Crop
18 Conservation Legacy
by STEVE NELLE
Spring Happenings with Conservation Legacy
40 High Fences and the Ranches They Bind
20 Member Profile
by RICKY LINEX
Steven and Jackie Harker by LORIE A. WOODWARD
54 Outdoor Traditions Gift From the Sea
24 Plant Profile
by SALLIE LEWIS
Yaupon
by BRAD KUBECKA
26 TAMU News
Cattle Trails to Highways by BRITTANY WEGNER and ALISON LUND Photo by Cissy Beasley
Magazine Staff
MAGAZINE OF THE TEXAS WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION
On the Cover Hunting is a big economic driver in Texas, particularly for the many rural towns. Texas hunters infuse billions of dollars into the state’s economy and spend thousands of days afield. Not only does hunting support the economies of many small towns, but the various fees paid by hunters support conservation in the state. That’s why TWA is actively involved in the discussions surrounding chronic wasting disease in deer—to ensure that hunters continue to go afield and continue to be a major part of the rural economy.
MAGAZINE CORPS Justin Dreibelbis, Executive Editor Burt Rutherford, Consulting Publications Coordinator/Editor Lorie A. Woodward, Special Projects Editor David Brimager, Advertising Director
JUNE 2022
A Closer Look at
CWD in Texas Deer
Photo by Justin Dreibelbis
Publication Printers Corp., Printing, Denver, CO
WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG
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TEXAS WILDLIFE
MEETINGS AND EVENTS
FOR INFORMATION ON HUNTING SEASONS, call the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at (800) 792-1112, consult the 2022-2023 Texas Parks and Wildlife Outdoor Annual, or visit the TPWD website at tpwd.state.tx.us.
JUNE
AUGUST
OCTOBER
JUNE 4 Texas Big Game Awards Sportsman’s Celebration, Stephenville. For more information,visit www.TexasBigGameAwards.org.
AUGUST 3 Alpine Member Mixer in conjunction with the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference. For more information, visit www.Texas-wildlife.org or contact Kristin Parma at (800) 839-9453 or kparma@texas-wildlife.org.
OCTOBER 6 Hunting Film Tour, Yeti, Dallas. The Hunting Film Tour features 10-12 conservation-oriented adventure stories. For more information, visit www.Texas-wildlife.org or contact Kristin Parma at (800) 839-9453 or kparma@texas-wildlife.org.
AUGUST 27 Members-only Firearm Cleaning Workshop, TWA headquarters, New Braunfels. For more information, visit www.Texaswildlife.org or contact Kristin Parma at (800) 839-9453 or kparma@texas-wildlife.org.
OCTOBER 20 Hunting Film Tour, Yeti, Houston. The Hunting Film Tour features 1012 conservation-oriented adventure stories. For more information, visit www.Texas-wildlife.org or contact Kristin Parma at (800) 839-9453 or kparma@texas-wildlife.org.
SEPTEMBER
DECEMBER
SEPTEMBER 8 Hunting Film Tour Kickoff, Yeti Flagship, Austin. The Hunting Film Tour features 10-12 conservationoriented adventure stories. For more information, visit www.Texas-wildlife.org or contact Kristin Parma at (800) 839-9453 or kparma@texas-wildlife.org.
DECEMBER 12 Houston Clay Shoot, Greater Houston Gun Club. For more information, visit www.Texas-wildlife.org or contact Kristin Parma at (800) 839-9453 or kparma@texas-wildlife.org.
JUNE 25 Texas Big Game Awards Sportsman’s Celebration, Fiddler’s on the Gruene, New Braunfels. For more information, visit www.TexasBigGameAwards.org.
JULY JULY 14-17 WildLife 2022, TWA’s 37th Annual Convention, JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. For more information, contact David Brimager at (800) 839-9453 or dbrimager@texas-wildlife.org. JULY 15 Statewide Texas Big Game Awards Banquet, during TWA’s Annual Convention, WildLife 2022, JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. For more information, contact David Brimager at (800) 839-9453 or dbrimager@texas-wildlife.org.
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JUNE 2022
SEPTEMBER 22 Hunting Film Tour, Yeti, San Antonio. The Hunting Film Tour features 10-12 conservation-oriented adventure stories. For more information, visit www.Texas-wildlife.org or contact Kristin Parma at (800) 839-9453 or kparma@texas-wildlife.org.
DECEMBER 17 Members-only Wild Game Cooking Class, TWA Headquarters, New Braunfels. For more information, visit www.Texas-wildlife.org or contact Kristin Parma at (800) 839-9453 or kparma@texas-wildlife.org.
Photo by Joseph Richards
A C L O S E R L O O K AT C W D I N T E XA S D E E R
Scientists believe chronic wasting disease is likely spread between animals through direct contact with things like saliva, blood, urine or feces or indirectly through environmental contamination of soil, food or water. The disease was first found in Texas a decade ago.
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JUNE 2022
A CLOSER LOOK AT CWD IN TEXAS DEER The TPW Commission enacted enhanced surveillance regulations in November 2021 to close some gaps in finding and eliminating chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer. Controversial? Yes. Needed? TWA says yes. Article by ELLEN H. BRISENDINE
T
en years ago, a free-ranging mule deer in the Hueco Mountains in Far West Texas was found to have chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal degenerative neurological condition. “The disease has since been detected in free-ranging mule deer, white-tailed deer, and elk in Dallam and Hartley counties,
located in the northwest Panhandle,” according to “CWD in Texas” on tpwd.texas.gov. “The first case of CWD in Texas white-tailed deer was found in a Medina County deer breeding facility in 2015 as a result of routine disease monitoring.” CWD is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy disease in cervids. It is similar to scrapie in sheep and to bovine WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG
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A C L O S E R L O O K AT C W D I N T E XA S D E E R
Photo by Cissy Beasley
spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) in cattle. CWD prions are highly contagious and are most commonly detected in the neural and lymphatic tissue of CWD-susceptible species. Animal protein producers in the U.S. aggressively watch for diseases and follow strict testing protocols, regulated by state and national animal health agencies, to identify and remove infected livestock before diseased meat can enter the food chain. Today, CWD in white-tailed deer and other cervid species has been documented in deer populations in 30 states and three Canadian provinces. Recently, CWD-positive white-tailed deer have been found in formerly CWD-free Alabama, Louisiana, and North Carolina. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) work together to keep CWD from spreading in Texas. The tools the agencies use are tests, tests and more tests to find and remove CWD-positive deer, which accomplishes surveillance. Management and containment of the disease are accomplished through rules that restrict movement of live deer and carcasses from higher-risk areas of the state. Events in 2021 showed the regulations put in place in 2016 by the Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) Commission were not enough to control the spread of CWD.
White-tailed deer are the capstone species in the world of Texas hunting which is why chronic wasting disease is a concern for everyone in wildlife circles. How to best deal with the disease and stop its spread is controversial, however. Regardless of how a person is involved in the world of white-tailed deer, they are passionate about the species.
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Amendments to those original regulations were not enough. The agency scientists submitted additional regulations for public comment in 2021, and the TPW commissioners passed those regulations to enhance TPWD’s surveillance of whitetailed deer at the November 2021 commission meeting. The Honorable Ana Gallo, Laredo, has served on the TPW Commission since 2015. As published in the transcripts of that November 2021 commission meeting, she said, “I’m one of two commissioners that was here in 2016 when we really deliberated and listened to every stakeholder that we could and took the information that we had and tried to make the best decision that we could; but unfortunately, those decisions we made and those decisions that we amended, didn’t contain the disease. And so that’s why we’re here today with these new rules in front of us.” THE CONTROVERSY The CWD regulations are controversial because they are strict, sometimes difficult, and are an added operating expense for landowners who operate captive white-tailed deer breeding facilities. Very simply, white-tailed deer managed in captive deer breeding facilities must be tested before being released or transported for release. Hunters who harvest deer in a designated CWD Containment or Surveillance Zone are required to submit samples for testing at various TPWD stations. The complete regulations can be found at tpwd.texas.gov. One side says the regulations are not enough. Some in this camp say the deer breeding facilities manage deer like livestock to improve certain genetic traits, and those businesses that transport deer to be released at hunting sites should be prohibited. All native species should be allowed to roam free in their habitats. The middle says the surveillance required by the regulations is working because new cases of CWD are being found and dealt with. Diligence in eradicating this disease must not be relaxed. The other side says the regulations are too much, too expensive, not needed, and that they have the right to conduct business as they see fit on their private property. WHY ENHANCE SURVEILLANCE? Three deer breeding facilities, which were enrolled in the federal and state animal health agencies’ CWD Herd Certification Program, were found to have CWD-positive deer in the spring of 2021. Two of these facilities were in Uvalde County, the third was on the border of Hunt and Kaufman counties. The owners of these facilities had been diligent in their management, and still, “Tests indicated CWD had likely been present for at least two years prior to being found in 2021,” according to the TPWD report, “Chronic Wasting Disease in Texas Deer Breeding Facilities: 2021 Discoveries and Response,” released Oct. 27, 2021. Deer from these three facilities had been transported to 178 other facilities within the previous five years, according to the report. Deer at two of those 178 facilities tested positive for
A C L O S E R L O O K AT C W D I N T E XA S D E E R
The future of hunting rests with the young. But hunting is being challenged on many fronts, both from within and from outside of hunting circles. Chronic wasting disease is a controversial challenge that Texas hunters and the agencies and groups that serve and protect hunting must address.
Photo by Joseph Richards
WHAT IS TEXAS WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION’S POSITION? In August 2021, Texas Wildlife Association (TWA) published a position statement on the detection of CWD earlier that year. The association stated it was “deeply concerned about the recent detection of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in six (6) permitted deer breeding facilities. CWD represents an existential threat to rural economies, hunting-related businesses (including deer breeders), and an important natural resource. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) are currently working on permanent rules to monitor and manage this disease. “TWA is concerned about CWD and how its spread might impact landowners, hunters, business owners, and outdoor enthusiasts. TWA supports TPWD and the TAHC in adopting strong science-based rules to stop the spread of CWD. “The greatest risk of spreading CWD comes from moving or releasing live animals, thus TWA supports the requirement that ante-mortem testing (live test) of all breeder deer before their release must become a permanent rule. TWA also supports the position that a permanent ID (tag) clearly visible from a distance should be required for all released deer.” Justin Dreibelbis, TWA CEO, expanded on this position statement. “We take CWD seriously because it is bigger than a few deer dying. Our state has such a thriving rural economy, and we know that hunting is a big part of it,” he said. “Towns like Llano, Mason, Freer, and others are bustling during the opening days of hunting season. People come in from all over the state and country to participate in an activity that celebrates the natural resources of those areas. It scares me to death to think about a disease taking away those opportunities and what would ultimately happen to our rural communities and to our state economy.” Marko Barrett, San Antonio, TWA past president and chair of TWA’s Big Game Committee, said, “White-tailed deer are the keystone species for landowners in Texas.” While every species
Photo courtesy of the Texas Youth Hunting Program
CWD and by August 2021, a total of seven CWD-positive sites had been documented for 2021, reports TPWD. Since September 2019, 220 deer had been transferred from that initial CWD-positive Uvalde County facility to “36 other deer breeding facilities and release sites in Texas,” according to the report. The report continues, explaining the potential for what can be described as an ever-widening distribution of white-tailed deer that may have been exposed to CWD from these sites. Since TPWD’s mission is to “manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations,” this agency is responsible for white-tailed deer and other native cervid species. Because CWD continues to elude eradication, TPW commissioners approved regulations proposed by agency staff to enhance disease surveillance requirements at deer breeding facilities to aggressively search for and remove CWD-positive deer.
It’s a sight anyone who is passionate about white-tailed deer loves to see—a healthy buck surveying his surroundings. To keep deer healthy and stem the spread of chronic wasting disease, TPWD annually tests deer for the disease’s presence. The number of samples have increased each year to a recent total of more than 14,000 for the 2021-22 hunting season.
WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG
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Photo by Russell A. Graves
A C L O S E R L O O K AT C W D I N T E XA S D E E R
How much of a threat is chronic wasting disease? It’s hard to speculate, but one of the main reasons TWA cares about the disease is the negative effect it could have on landowners, rural communities and our state economy. Hunting is important to all three.
is important, white-tailed deer garner the most attention and interest, he added. Dreibelbis added, “People care deeply about white-tailed deer in the state of Texas, there is no doubt about it. You can count me in that group, too. It’s a big part of our hunting culture. They represent a lot of important things for a Texan, and so people get very passionate” about any issue relating to the species. “We’re extremely concerned about CWD in white-tailed deer in our state,” he said, referring to the TWA leaders and members. “We know that the riskiest thing we do when it comes to managing deer in Texas, from a disease standpoint, is putting live animals in trailers and moving them up and down the highway. We believe each time a deer is loaded into a trailer, we need to be as safe as possible. We constantly advocate for that safety. “Have we disagreed with the deer breeding industry on some of those TPWD rule requirements? Absolutely,” he said, “but not because we’re anti deer breeding. We are simply concerned with how big an issue this disease may become and are trying to make sure that we are being as careful as we can,” he explained. “The landowners, hunters and deer herd of Texas deserve that safety net.” TWA members serving on the Big Game Committee, and others, studied the science of the disease and the surveillance and testing regulations proposed by TPWD. TWA President Sarah Biedenharn, San Antonio, appreciates those committee members for their diligence and hard study of the issue. “This is a subject that is hard to grasp. Several TWA members have spent the time figuring these issues out and have been great resources for our members.”
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Dreibelbis agreed, saying, “Our advisory committees are made up of diverse members who have varying backgrounds, and are experts in various fields. They sort through proposed regulations and develop a draft position on how TWA supports or requests changes to proposed regulations. That, then, is moved up to our Executive Committee, where they review it and ultimately vote on our direction. “That’s a thing I’m proud of when TWA comes out with a strong position statement. It’s not just thrown together. The association’s positions are carefully deliberated and developed,” he explained. TWA has always been a strong advocate for private property rights. “That’s what we’re based on, that’s what all our decisions are based on. However, white-tailed deer in the state of Texas (being a native species) are owned by the citizens of Texas. They’re managed by TPWD in the public trust,” Dreibelbis said. Controversy arises when landowners who are permitted to hold white-tailed deer in a captive breeding facility trade and transport those animals, potentially and innocently spreading CWD to a widening population of free-ranging white-tailed deer. Dreibelbis said, “We feel TPWD has done a good job in a very tough situation here, of managing this process. One of the things I like is that they’re continually following up to make sure that the regulations that are in place are working. And when they’re not, they’re jumping back on it to tighten things up. “A lot of CWD testing occurs in captive herds, but something that gets overlooked is how much CWD monitoring is done outside of the pen. There’s a significant number of hunterharvested deer that are tested each year,” he said. HOW MANY DEER ARE TESTED? Mitch Lockwood, Big Game Program director for the Wildlife Division of TPWD, said when the first set of CWD regulations went into effect in 2015, 10,000 samples were collected from hunter-harvest deer as well as road kills. The number of samples have increased each year to a recent total of more than 14,000 for the 2021-22 hunting season. He complimented the Managed Land Deer Program (MLDP) participants for their help in monitoring CWD. “Our MLDP cooperators really stepped up in a big way, voluntarily, and have provided a lot of samples. In fact, they’ve provided 30% of those hunter-harvest samples.” MLDP supports landowners who want to “foster and support sound management and stewardship of native wildlife and wildlife habitats on private lands in Texas. Deer harvest is an important aspect of habitat management and conservation. Landowners enrolled in either the MLDP Harvest Option or Conservation Option are able to take advantage of extended season lengths and liberalized harvest opportunities,” according to tpwd.texas.gov. The MLDP harvest represents about 21% of the statewide white-tailed deer harvest, Lockwood said. “Basically, they’re sampling at a disproportionately high rate. It’s awesome the way they’ve stepped up in helping with this effort.”
Owners of deer breeding facilities also conduct CWD surveillance. Based on testimony from members of the deer breeding community at the March 2022 TPW Commission meeting, Lockwood said they have submitted about 20,000 test samples since summer 2021. He added that while very few CWD-positive deer were found through those test samples, “43% of all deer breeders didn’t release deer last fall; therefore, they haven’t done that live testing that was anticipated. That’s almost half of the permit holders for which we still don’t have that heightened surveillance. We thought the surveillance would cover the whole deer breeding community by the beginning of the fall. We really didn’t contemplate that 43% of them would not be releasing deer that year, and therefore wouldn’t be doing that testing.” Lockwood said the rigorous testing program has not uncovered CWD-positive white-tailed deer in any new areas of Texas. Some positives were found in the northwest Panhandle, in the Trans-Pecos, but “noting unexpected,” he said. Three more CWD-positive deer were found in Medina County, “in free-range or low-fence sites.” Lockwood points out that no new cases have been found at Del Rio, where three CWD-positive deer were discovered in earlier years. “We have looked really hard in that very specific focal area,” he said. Samples came from hunter-harvested deer and from close to 200 deer trapped within a two-mile radius of where those three deer were found. WHY SUCH CLOSE ATTENTION TO A FAIRLY RARE DISEASE? Chronic wasting disease is incurable and fatal. Research indicates it is caused by a misfolded prion protein. According to the Microbiology Society, “A prion is a type of protein that can cause disease in animals and humans by triggering normally healthy proteins in the brain to fold abnormally. “The prion mode of action is very different to bacteria and viruses as they (prions) are simply proteins, devoid of any genetic material,” reported the Society. The name of the disease is descriptive. Infected deer become listless, suffer appetite loss, drooling and weight loss—they waste away. A lot is known about the disease. A great deal is not known. But Barrett points out one known fact: “Once the animal gets it, the disease is always fatal. It seems to always be in the environment once it’s there. There is always a threat of it being present when it has been found in an area. With that in mind, I think all anybody’s been able to do is try to limit the spread” of the disease. Biedenharn agreed, “I didn’t realize just how hard it is to get rid of the disease. Prions live in the ground or on whatever they touch for a very long time. They are not something you can clean off with water and a little soap. It is disconcerting to learn that prions that cause CWD are very, very hard to get rid of in the environment.” Barrett added, “TPWD’s task is to protect the wildlife for all the people of the state. They’ve had to make tough choices
Photo by Russell A. Graves
A C L O S E R L O O K AT C W D I N T E XA S D E E R
Chronic wasting disease was first found in Texas in a free-ranging mule deer in West Texas. It has since spread to white-tailed deer and elk.
to stay on their mission. They’ve been very good at having landowner partners working with them on this issue, but it has been difficult to have to inconvenience their partners to do the right thing for wildlife.” He encouraged every community involved with white-tailed deer to take a neighborly approach to this issue. “Landowners are going to have to work together on their choices for wildlife management. Neighbors deserve to know what’s moving into their neighborhood. High fences are an impediment to the movement of the disease, but they’re not a perfect barrier,” since CWD may be transmitted in various ways. Scientists believe CWD proteins (prions) likely spread between animals through body fluids like feces, saliva, blood, or urine, either through direct contact or indirectly through environmental contamination of soil, food or water, according to the Centers for Disease Control. “So when people move deer, they need to think about not just themselves, but about their neighbors. Realize that when you move deer, you run the risk of moving this disease around,” Barrett said. Dreibelbis said, “White-tailed deer and hunting are important to all of us for various reasons. We owe it to ourselves, to our state, to our Texas deer herd, to take CWD seriously. “That means paying attention to the regulations, that means voluntarily testing animals to build up that base of CWD testing that can help TPWD build confidence in the data. We all have a part to play here and the decisions we make related to CWD have the potential to reach far beyond our fencelines.”
WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG
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Cheers to Another Successful TYHP Hunting Season Article by BRIANA NICKLOW Photos provided by TYHP
T
he Texas Youth Hunting Program’s 25th season has officially come to a close. TYHP hunters, landowners, and volunteers came out ready to make the silver anniversary season the best yet. Across the state, Huntmasters put on 224 total hunts and events hosting 1,027 youth hunters. It has been a fun season of looking back to the beginning—the people who saw a need and created TYHP, the first volunteers and advisors, the first landowners who opened their gates, and of course the first youth hunters who experienced everyone’s hard work to make TYHP a success. At the same time, it’s exciting to look ahead and see new growth, changes and partnerships
Youth hunter sets up to take a shot on the Apache Ranch.
A youth hunter with his harvest on the Keller Ranch youth hunt.
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A youth showing off his “shot” on the photo safari.
CHEERS TO ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL TYHP HUNTING SEASON
A game warden leads hunters and parents through a skills trail at the Lufkin Super Hunt.
that will help give youth hunters even more experiences in the outdoors. A handful of TYHP firsts occurred among the many happenings this year. TYHP increased its archery hunt offerings to include a hunt at Lake Georgetown and a partnership hunt with the Ashby Bowhunting Foundation. Youth hunters also participated in a “photo safari” and an outdoor survival skills weekend in partnership with Promised Land Outdoors. All of this is possible because of the wonderful landowners, Huntmasters and volunteers, parents, and youth hunters. TYHP saw a large influx of interest in the program from parents as we came out of the pandemic. While this is really great news, we must ensure landowner and volunteer participation keeps up. As a TYHP landowner, you play a large role in decisions surrounding the hunt on your property. TYHP provides a background checked, trained, and certified volunteer Huntmaster, liability insurance, any equipment necessary to run a hunt, and hunt coordination with hunters and their parents or guardians leading up to the hunt. While there is not a property size
requirement, at least four youth hunters need to be able to safely and independently hunt at one time. Hunts can be for any legal and ethical game. Next year, TYHP will have its first small game only hunt. The Texas Youth Hunting Program is successful also in part thanks to our volunteers. As a volunteer, you can guide, cook, run the shooting range, provide educational content, and photograph the hunt. Anyone who wants to take it up a notch can attend a Huntmaster training. While all volunteers are encouraged to become Huntmasters, this is required for anyone wanting to run a hunt. By becoming a Huntmaster, you will learn to run a safe, administratively correct, mentored, and fun youth hunt. Huntmaster trainings are currently live and ongoing. Upcoming courses include: • 1 Day Training: July 30 – Sherman, TX • 1 Day Training: September 10 – Nacogdoches, TX • 2 Day Training: September 23-24 – Comfort, TX
Not quite yet ready for the full Huntmaster course? Sign up for a free, virtual volunteer orientation session. This 30-minute training gives you the platform you need to be an efficient volunteer with TYHP. These are held on the second Thursday of every month at 6:00 p.m. For details, go to tyhp.org/become-a-volunteer. To everyone who has played a part in making the Texas Youth Hunting Program successful this year and the last 25 years, thank you! While it is said often, it remains true—TYHP cannot have the success it does without support from volunteers, landowners, parents, and sponsors. Interested in learning more about hosting a hunt or volunteering with TYHP? Email us at tyhp@texas-wildlife. org and a staff member will follow up with you soon. You can register for a Huntmaster training at the Texas Wildlife Association website, Texas-wildlife.org.
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9TH ANNUAL PRIVATE LANDS SUMMIT
Texas Wildlife Association is pleased to host its annual Private Lands Summit on July 14 at the fabulous J.W. Marriott in San Antonio, Texas. The theme of this year’s event will focus on rapidly evolving pressures and associated markets that are tied to an environmental and social movement like never before. Some of the brightest minds that work within the spaces that are relevant to this year’s PLS theme are slated to share their intellect on various prongs of ecosystem services. Impactors, stakeholders, private landowners, venture capitalists, regulatory specialists, and scientists, will cover much ground in exploring these emerging opportunities, while also pointing out some of the landmines that serve as impediments in accommodating these imminent pressures.
Today's Wild West of Ecosystem Services 14 JULY 2022 | 9 A.M.- 4 P.M. $150 Register today www.wildlife2022.com
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Spring Happenings with Conservation Legacy FEBRUARY 10
SMALL ACREAGE, BIG OPPORTUNITY WORKING GROUP TWA and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension hosted a working group with like-minded partners to make our Small Acreage, Big Opportunity program more relevant and impactful to its target audience.
APRIL
CRITTER CONNECTIONS ISSUE
JANUARY 23
MIGRATION IN TEXAS
KIDS GONE WILD, FORT WORTH TWA teamed up with the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo and local partners to host Kids Gone Wild—a one-day event with educational exhibits, wildlife and outdoor themed activities for kids of all ages to enjoy.
FEBRUARY 8-11
BEHIND THE GATES, EL SAUZ RANCH
FEBRUARY
CRITTER CONNECTIONS ISSUE DUCKS IN TEXAS
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JUNE 2022
TWA participated in the East Foundation’s Behind the Gates program. A week-long event where more than 1,200 students from Idea Public Schools rotate through stations about wildlife, conservation, water, land management, ranching and more.
MARCH 2
HOG PLUCK, BRENHAM TWA and Brenham ISD continue to enjoy a long and strong educational relationship in the classroom and community. Students were led through the hog cardiac system, pulmonary anatomy and physiology.
SPRING HAPPENINGS WITH CONSERVATION LEGACY
MAY
VIDEOCONFERENCES WITH ZOOMAGINATION Conservation Legacy teamed up with Zoomagination this month to offer three youth videoconference programs with live animals. Students across Texas enjoyed learning about opossums, falcons and alligators.
APRIL 24-26
QUAILMASTERS SESSION 1, ABILENE The most intensive course on quail ecology and management returned in 2022 with its inaugural session in Abilene the end of April. Subsequent sessions are set for June, August and October.
APRIL 30–MAY 1
APRIL 28
REPTILE LIFESTYLE VIDEOCONFERENCE Students across Texas learned all about reptiles with this fun and interactive live animal presentation.
MAY
LAND, WATER & WILDLIFE EXPEDITIONS - MENTOR TRAINING, KYLE
CONSTRUCTION OF OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER, TWA HEADQUARTERS, NEW BRAUNFELS
Hosted a mentor training where participants learned how to introduce the Land, Water & Wildlife Expeditions program to landowners, how to plan and execute an expedition experience, recruit participants, volunteers and natural resource experts, and more.
Construction is complete on the outdoor amphitheater at TWA Headquarters that will welcome visitors of all ages together for education, entertainment, recreation, and interaction. Official ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for June 24.
MAY 21
SMALL ACREAGE, BIG OPPORTUNITY SESSION 1, BANDERA COUNTY The intensive one-day workshop connected landowners with local professionals and taught them how to evaluate their property’s habitat and what options are available for wildlife management.
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T WA M E M B E R P R O F I L E
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Steven and Jackie Harker Some Things Just Go Together
Article by LORIE A. WOODWARD Photos courtesy of STEVEN AND JACKIE HARKER
S
Steven Harker grew up fishing and became a hunter in college. Jackie, however, didn’t start hunting until after the two were married. She was uncertain at first, but has become an avid hunter, including this fine oryx.
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ome things just go together like peanut butter, jelly and sliced bread or Steven and Jackie Harker, land and TWA. “I’m not even sure how we found TWA, but I’m sure glad we did,” said Jackie, who along with husband Steven, joined the organization in 2003. “We’ve never been as involved in anything as we are in TWA, because it speaks to us on so many levels.” The couple actively embraces all three legs of TWA’s metaphorical stool: Conservation Legacy, Hunting Heritage and advocacy. “As native Texans, we know how big and diverse the state is,” Steven said. “We have embraced all three legs because we need them all to help keep Texas a great place to live.” Both Harkers have served as directors since 2014, are trained as Huntmasters and volunteered on youth hunts introducing inner city youth to the outdoors, assisted with field days, and participated in numerous Boots on the Ground sessions at the Texas Legislature. They regularly donate auction items and purchase hunts during Convention as well as contribute to TWAF. They’re both long-time members of the Membership Committee, where they also served as Region 6 co-chairs and as part of Team Houston’s launch committee. In addition, Jackie is part of the Conservation Legacy Committee as well as the Women of the Land Working Group. Steven has served on the Legislative Committee for several years. They are, indeed, very committed and active TWA members. “Early on, we both became Life Members because we realized that we were in it [TWA] to stay,” Steven said.
T WA M E M B E R P ROF I L E
LIFE With the exception of one short stint in banking, Jackie spent her entire career in the energy business. Her time in banking proved to be pivotal because she and Steven, whose entire career was devoted to banking and financial services, worked on the same floor. Over time, the former colleagues became a couple. In October 1992, they stood in front of family and friends amid the blossoms at the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, exchanging vows. Thirty years later, they move back and forth through a conversation—and life—with the confidence, ease and laughter of people who consider themselves better together. “It doesn’t seem like 30 years,” Jackie said. “Time has flown,” Steven agreed. “He had to knock off some of my rough edges,” teased Jackie, laughing. “Time gets by when you have your hands full.” At which, Steven good naturedly rolled his eyes, shook his head and grinned. People who grow together generally have their feet planted on some common ground. In the case of the Harkers, they share a love of the outdoors that can be traced to their childhoods. While Jackie was reared in Nederland, between Beaumont and Port Arthur, her mother’s family owned land in Polk County. On weekends, holidays and during the summer, the McNulty family would pack up and head into the pines to spend time with relatives. The cousins helped with cattle, rode horses and explored the woods. “I’d leave the house like a normal child and come back covered in dirt with my socks off because I had filled them with rocks,” Jackie said. “As a kid, there wasn’t a time when those woods weren’t part of my life.” Steven was born in Houston and lived there until he was 10 years old. Then, his parents moved their family to Simonton. Family lore holds they “followed the road grader out” to the property that they eventually bought. From then on, Steven toted a pellet gun and fished the Brazos River. As a teenager, he and friends earned spending money by selling fresh caught catfish to a local meat market. It wasn’t until college, though, that hunting became a sister passion to angling. “In college, I met people who had access to land and shared it with me,” said Steven, who enjoys wingshooting, waterfowl and whitetail hunting. “Hunting became a passion that I pursued.” Jackie didn’t become a hunter until after they married, but first she became an avid sport shooter. She encountered shotgunning as part of a Becoming an Outdoorswoman weekend hosted by TPWD. “It was before cell phones, so I had to wait until I got home to tell Steven he had to buy me a shotgun,” Jackie said. Her enthusiasm was contagious and she introduced him to sporting clays. Today, they participate in couple’s shoots as well as competing as individuals and on other teams. They also volunteer and help host an assortment of fundraising shoots. While Steven supported her interest in shooting, he didn’t pressure her to try hunting. Jackie, who admits to initially having
Jackie Harker has not only fully embraced TWA as a volunteer, but has become an avid hunter and shooter. She and her friends had a grand time at the 2021 TWA Houston Shoot.
qualms about hunting, eventually agreed to join a group of women on a hog hunt. They didn’t see a hog the entire weekend. The women persisted and invited Jackie to a South Texas doe hunt. Jackie agreed to go but didn’t agree to hunt. “I didn’t tell anyone that I was going because I didn’t really know how I felt about hunting and how I was going to react,” she said. “I didn’t want to have to defend my choices, regardless of what they were.” As the weekend played out, Jackie not only hunted, but harvested and processed three does. And she ended up on a San Antonio news broadcast acting as an impromptu spokesperson for responsible hunting. The hunt took place in the era of cell phones. “When I called Steven and told him that I took three does…” Jackie said. “I thought we had a bad connection—and that I’d misheard her,” Steven said, laughing and finishing the story. “These days, we literally have no beef in our freezer. We just eat venison and other game.” While the Harkers hunt together, they also hunt individually with groups of friends. As Jackie was mastering the skills of hunting, she went on a number of women-only hunts sponsored by the National Rifle Association. Because of these and other opportunities, she’s now hunted in more states than Steven. One of her cherished memories involves a comment made by the hostess on a farm in South Dakota, where Jackie and
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T WA M E M B E R P ROF I L E
Steven and Jackie Harker aren’t exactly sure how they found TWA, but they did and they’ve been involved in almost everything TWA does on behalf of wildlife and private landowners ever since.
girlfriends were hunting pheasants. The women whooped and hollered in support every time someone felled a bird. The hostess, whose house was in proximity to the grain fields allowing her to hear the commotion, said, “I love it when the women come to hunt. It’s just so much fun! And it’s so uplifting how you all support each other.” This story also illustrates something that the Harkers have found to be true. Men and women tend to approach hunting differently. “One way is not necessarily better than the other, but the dynamic is definitely different,” Steven said. “While it’s great to hunt in a mixed camp, there are also a lot of benefits to hunting in a women or men only camp. There’s just no pressure and everybody seems more comfortable.” Jackie concurred, “We really enjoy hunting together, but we also recognize that sometimes your spouse or significant other isn’t the best person to teach you something new.” LAND Although their careers tied them to downtown Houston, the Harkers shared a desire to stake a claim in the country. “I lived longer in the city than anywhere else, but it wasn’t my dream,” Jackie said.
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“As a kid, I never said, ‘Oh man, I can’t wait to grow up and move to the city.’” For two years, they searched for a piece of property that met a list of specific criteria. First, the land needed to be within 100 miles of their home, so they could enjoy it before they retired. It needed to be no more than 100 acres, so that it would be manageable. While the land didn’t have to be vastly improved, the couple was searching for something that wouldn’t immediately require a lot of infrastructure repairs or upgrades.
Using the Texas Listing Service (formerly trrn.com) as a search tool, they’d identify three or four potential properties in the same general area and set aside a weekend to go explore them. Nothing was a match, until the Harkers took a trip to southwestern Fayette County to examine some land near the community of Cistern. “When we set foot on the property for the first time, we just knew it was the one,” Steven said. “We weren’t looking for a cattle ranch or a hunting property, we were looking for a place where we could improve the habitat and just enjoy the wildlife that was there.” The 68-acre property, used for cattle, already had a stock tank, an agriculture valuation, good fences and road frontage on three sides. The landscape was a mix of pasture and post oak, mesquite and cedar thickets. It was 110 miles from their front door. As they returned to Houston, the Harkers passed the Cistern Store. During childhood summers, Steven and his cousins often rode along with his uncle, who worked as a landman for Phillips Petroleum. Every time a trip took them through Fayette County, they would stop at the country store to pick up rat cheese, crackers, and soda water for an afternoon snack. “The fact that the little store was still operating just seemed to be another sign that it was meant to be,” Steven said.
The Harkers’ place in Fayette County has been transformed into a wildlife haven. From songbirds to deer, and these wood duck drakes as well, it’s a place to call home.
T WA M E M B E R P ROF I L E
Before purchasing their land in 2003, the Harkers had “read a lot about land management, but never taken care of anything larger than a yard.” The first order of business was gathering more information by becoming part of the Texas landowner community. They joined Texas Farm Bureau for insurance and its rural network. As livestock owners, they joined Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, where Steven now serves on the Property Rights and Tax Committee. TWA likely popped onto their radar screen about this same time. Jackie attended several Women of the Land events soon after they became landowners. As they amassed information, they began applying it. “We want to create well-balanced wildlife habitat, not a manicured city park,” Jackie said. On two different occasions, they’ve hired a contractor to mechanically thin mesquites and cedars. Steven follows up with ongoing IPT. They’ve joined the local burn association and they’re both earning their Burn Boss certification. The Harkers hope to add prescribed fire to their land management tool box to further open the land and reinvigorate native grasses. They’ve constructed another stock tank to reduce the pressure on the land surrounding the original stock tank. The original tank is in the woods and the cattle tend to loaf in the shade, degrading the bank. Eventually, the Harkers plan to transition from ag valuation to wildlife valuation. Currently, they’re in the planning and paperwork stage. “Everything we’re doing benefits the deer, the songbirds, and all of the rest,” Steven said. “On a property our size, we can’t run enough cattle to be economically or ecologically beneficial, so it just makes sense to transition and put the money that we’re spending on livestock upkeep into land management.” LEGACY After 18 years of commuting from Houston on the weekends, the Harkers
moved to Cistern full-time on March 2, 2021. “Texas Independence Day was our own independence day,” Jackie said. Almost two decades of hands-on land management has taught them many lessons. Their observations hold some universal truths for landowners, regardless of their experience or the size of their holdings. “Land management never ends,” Jackie said. Steven agreed. “In land management, there’s never a period. There may be an occasional semi-colon, but it’s more likely just a comma in the never-ending process of manipulating, massaging and managing toward your goals.” For anyone considering purchasing land for the first time, they offer a bit of first-hand advice. “If you’re buying anything bigger than a city lot, be aware that it involves work,” Steven said. “Land isn’t something that you can leave and just hope for the best.”
He continued, “Be honest with yourself about how much time, money and energy you’re willing to put into your land.” The bigger the property the bigger the demands. “The great thing is, though, whatever you put into your land, it gives it back in productivity,” Steven said. “And satisfaction,” Jackie added. “When you leave it better than you found it, you leave it better for all Texans,” Steven concluded. In the final assessment, making Texas better is why TWA exists and why the Harkers wholeheartedly recommend that all Texans join and take part. “TWA’s only boundaries are the state lines,” Steven said. “It’s for everyone in Texas. You don’t have to own 10,000 acres or any land at all, you just have to be interested in the future of wildlife, invested in the power of conservation or engaged at the statehouse with the shared goal of making Texas better.”
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TEXAS WILDLIFE
PLANT PROFILE
Yaupon Ilex vomitoria
Article and photos by BRAD KUBECKA, Ph.D.
The female plant produces red fruits called drupes.
Yaupon on overgrazed pasture characterized by extreme hedged appearance.
Y
aupon (Ilex vomitoria), also known as yaupon holly, is no stranger to Texans living east of I-35. The evergreen plant with dark green, waxy, serrate leaves is most commonly seen as a shrub less than 15 feet tall but can become tree-like and exceed 35 feet. Yaupon is extremely adaptable and grows anywhere from closed canopy pine stands in eastern Texas to the harsh saline conditions of the Gulf Coast prairies with a preference for sandier soils. Yaupon blooms from March to May where the plant forms small white flowers. Yaupon’s red fruits, which resemble berries but contain four nutlets that encase the seeds, are botanically referred to as drupes. The nutlets can be thought of as miniature pits like in a peach. Plants growing in full sun produce more fruit than those growing in shade. Fruit production mostly occurs during October and November but occasionally throughout the year. The fruits are eaten by a wide variety of birds and contribute substantially
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The male reproductive structures consist of four to five stamens and four white corollas.
Grey bark of yaupon.
PLANT PROFILE
be necessary to managing fuels before integration of fire as a management tool. Yaupon notoriously resprouts following mechanical treatments and even fire. Follow-up treatments of fire, herbicide (e.g., Garlon®), and post-burn mechanical treatments are all effective at reducing yaupon, when applied properly. Despite the scientific name I. vomitoria suggesting emetic properties from moderate consumption, the nomenclature was derived from early botanists’ misunderstanding of Native American purgatory rituals which included excessive imbibing
of the “black drink” which led to vomiting. Yaupon foliage is actually safe to consume in modest quantities and is the only plant native to the United States that is a source of caffeine. A quick search of YouTube yields multiple instructive videos of how to prepare the leaves and brew the yaupon beverage. The fruits, however, are considered toxic. Likely due to the unappealing scientific name, the commercial market has not seen a strong push for yaupon tea but the plant has become widely adopted as a landscape shrub.
Yaupon can become problematic when left unmanaged.
to the diets of Cedar Waxwings, Hermit Thrushes, and Mockingbirds. Many mammals including raccoons, ringtails, skunks, and other small mammals will also consume the drupes, stems, and foliage. Yaupon is a staple, second-choice browse for white-tailed deer and is also commonly browsed by cattle when grass is scarce. While native, yaupon has invasive tendencies and can form impenetrable thickets if left unmanaged. In moderation, these thickets can provide useful cover for wildlife but excessive growth that manifests into monocultures reduces both plant and animal diversity. Yaupon monocultures can create other threats to management including prescribed fire risks. For example, volatile oils contained within yaupon leaves coupled with the interception of needle cast within the midstory of commercial pine plantations can create hazardous ladder fuels favoring crown fires and tree scorching. Ironically, the frequent application of prescribed fire can manage yaupon while also increasing the forage quality of the browse that yaupon provides. Research indicates crude protein increases from an average of approximately 8% in unburned areas to about 13% within burned areas. Midstory and overstory management using mechanical treatments such as thinning or mulching may
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Natural Resources Institute
texas a&m university
TAMU N E W S
Cattle Trails to Highways Article by BRITTANY WEGNER AND ALISON LUND Illustrations courtesy of TAMU NATURAL RESOURCES INSTITUTE As the lanes become fewer and more friendly, our Texas Land Trends (https://nri.tamu.edu/txlandtrends.org) research tells us the cattle grazing and pasturelands we look out across from our perch behind the wheel make up about 104 million acres of all working lands in the state, making cattle among the top contributors to the agriculture sector and economy. So, what do large urban centers and some grazing cattle have to do with a road trip?
Just as with the cattle drives, today’s highways follow the same general route, with reliable resupply points along the way.
T
he call of the open road, passing lanes with 80 mph speed limits, bluebonnets and yellow Mexican hats clustered along the medians, making our way back to open spaces—summer is nigh in Texas and road trip season is upon us. While speed limits are more like suggestions to most native Texans, no matter your destination there’s a familiarity in those vast stretches of highway, seemingly rolling on for miles and having always been there, allowing Texas to grow up around them. Fewer characteristics of Texas become more apparent than the time it takes to leave the city and the stark contrast from bustling traffic and overpasses to those open rural roadways wending away from denser populations. With every hour and new county line, green population signs and local dives reveal smaller communities and emphasize that the greater part of our population resides in the large urban centers mainly located in the Texas Triangle and border towns such as El Paso and Brownsville.
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HISTORY OF CATTLE TRAILS Let’s roll it back over 150 years ago to when Texas officially joined the U.S. After Spanish cattle were introduced to Tejas in the 18th century and eventually prospered as free-ranging herds, numerous cattle trails popped up over the state as opportunistic cattlemen drove the thriving, roaming cattle populations to profitable market outlets farther north and east. These drives become a cornerstone in creating the “golden age of the cowboy” following the Civil War, with an estimated 10 million Texas Longhorns moved to market, in total. The cattle trails they traversed emerged with consideration for reliable supply points and avoidance of such hazards as attacks from Native Americans and rustlers, treacherous river crossings and unforgivable landscapes, in addition to landowner conflicts along the way. You might have guessed how those supply posts have evolved over time as we think back to those densely populated areas we passed through a few hours ago. ROADS OF TODAY Our Texas Land Trends team is constantly exploring the history of Texas to make projections and analyze trends in growth and expansion. Depicting their latest discovery, they’ve developed a new roadmap for your next trip, outlining the major Texas cattle trails so that you may follow along as you compare the landscape we know today to these historic remnants of what defined our state in centuries past. While we won’t be enduring the long days and harsh conditions cowboys and vaqueros experienced during cattle drives, we can certainly appreciate the vast lands they covered as we drive up I-35 and value the economic success that cattle ranching has afforded our state. Texas’ inherent identity and heritage is built on a unique economy and the foundation and way of life can be found along
TA M U N A T U R A L R E S O U R C E S I N S T I T U T E N E W S
every familiar road you may take, evolving with time, wearing the long cattle drives unnecessary. The trail’s role in Texas history grit and a straw hat well. is celebrated in Larry McMurtry’s 1985 novel “Lonesome Dove.” Potter-Blocker Trail - In the spring of 1883, Alfred T. Bacon, manager of the New England Livestock Company, purchased a HISTORIC CATTLE TRAILS OF TEXAS herd of 3,000 Mexican cattle for delivery at Cheyenne, Wyo. He As you study the map, take a look at the history of each received the herd at Peña Station near Hebbronville, and hired trail below. Jack Potter to trail them north. Following the Western Trail, he received word to leave the Western and try a cutoff that might save some 20 days’ trailing time. Abner P. Blocker used part of the same trail after 1885 to move cattle from the south into the sprawling XIT Ranch, hence the later designation of PotterBlocker Trail. Shawnee Trail - Used before and just after the Civil War, the Shawnee Trail gathered cattle from east and west of its main stem, which passed through Austin, Waco, and Dallas. The drovers took over a trail long used by Native Americans in hunting and raiding and by southbound settlers from the Midwest; the latter called it the Texas Road. Western Trail - The Western Trail, also known as the Great Western Trail, Dodge City Trail, and the Fort Griffin Trail, was blazed in 1874 by cattle-drover John T. Lytle, who herded 3,500 Longhorn cattle along the leading edge of the frontier from South Texas to Nebraska. Lytle’s route supplanted the farmer-laden Chisholm Trail to the east. By 1879, the Western Trail was the principal thoroughfare for Texas cattle bound for northern markets.
Butterfield Overland Trail (Mail Company) - A consortium of four “Pony Express” companies—Adams, American, National, and Wells, Fargo—signed a six-year contract with the U.S. government on Sept. 15, 1857. The Butterfield (or Oxbow) Route went from St. Louis, Mo., through El Paso, then west to Los Angeles. Most of the Butterfield Overland Mail line would be disrupted and destroyed by Confederate troops during the Civil War. Chisholm Trail - Originating south of San Antonio, the trail ran north across Oklahoma and ended in Kansas. Between 1867 and 1871 about 1.5 million head of cattle were driven north along the trail. The trail’s importance declined after 1871, as railheads were established. El Camino Real aka “Royal Road” – During the Spanish colonial period in North America, a collection of indigenous trails and trade routes became known as El Camino Real de los Tejas, the primary overland route for the Spanish colonization. Soldiers used the trail during the Mexican Independence and the Texas Revolution conflicts. The use of the trail diminished after Texas became a state in 1848. Goodnight-Loving Trail - The trail ran southwest to connect MODERN-DAY TEXAS HIGHWAYS with the Pecos River and thence up the river valley through New AND URBAN CENTERS Mexico and north to the railhead at Denver, Colo. The trail was After studying the historic cattle trails of Texas, let’s take established in 1866 by cattlemen Charles Goodnight and Oliver a better look at how the old trails compare with today’s urban Loving, who followed a route of the Butterfield Overland Mail. The centers and highways. Compare the two maps to see how Texas arrival of the railroads to western Texas in the early 1880s made has evolved over the last few centuries.
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TEXAS WILDLIFE
CAESAR KLEBERG WILDLIFE RESEARCH INSTITUTE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-KINGSVILLE
The Booms and Busts of Quail Can Rainfall be the Trigger for Bobwhite Nesting?
Photo by Tim Fulbright
Article by LINDSEY HOWARD AND FIDEL HERNÁNDEZ
Bobwhite populations are strongly influenced by rainfall. Is it possible that visual cues or rainfall itself be influencing their breeding?
S
pring arrived in Texas and with it, the familiar “bob-white” whistle heard throughout the Northern Bobwhite Quail’s range as adults call for mates. As the quail breeding season got underway, many managers and landowners began speculating how well quail populations would do this year, which started off very dry. Bobwhite populations exhibit boom and bust dynamics that are characterized by drastic changes in population size from year to year. It is widely accepted that these fluctuations are related to rainfall, with years of high rainfall yielding larger quail populations than years of drought. What is not known, however, is the exact cause of this relationship. Some have speculated it’s the higher abundance of insects, or better nesting cover, or cooler temperatures. Despite decades of research on this relationship, however, no one knows what specifically links rainfall to bobwhite population fluctuations. Past research has focused on a variety of possible explanations, including heat stress and water deprivation, but a satisfactory conclusion has not yet been reached. Most hypotheses that are supported in captive or laboratory studies are disproven later during field studies. In addition, much of this research has focused on the materialized effects of rainfall; that is, the habitat features that change because of rain. For instance, during the summer months, after sufficient spring rainfall, insects are abundant. This provides a good food source for both adults and chicks, promoting reproduction and survival. Therefore, one might reason that the connection between rainfall and bobwhite populations is the increase in food. This line of reasoning, however, does not account for the time lag between when adults breed and chicks hatch. To ensure that chicks hatch when insects are most abundant, adults must have some prior indication of upcoming favorable conditions, to ensure they have time to breed, nest, and hatch chicks by the time those conditions arrive.
Sponsored by JOHN AND LAURIE SAUNDERS
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Photo by Lindsey Howard
CAESAR KLEBERG WILDLIFE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Brown, crisp vegetation, as occurs during drought, may provide a negative cue to bobwhites thereby inhibiting their reproduction.
Birds use a variety of information to anticipate favorable conditions and correctly time breeding. This information falls into two broad categories: predictive information and supplemental information. Predictive information, such as day length, are long-term cues that can be relied upon from year to year. Such information triggers development of the reproductive organs and prepares the birds for breeding. In unpredictable environments, however, long-term cues are not enough for adults to reliably tell when favorable conditions are near. In these cases, birds rely heavily on supplemental information. This is a type of environmental information, such as food availability or temperature, is specific to a local area and signals when actual breeding should begin. Thus, once daylength results in the physical preparedness of the quail reproductive system, quail will hold themselves in a state of readiness, waiting until supplemental information triggers them to breed. We wonder if rainfall itself—and not the materialized effects of it—is providing an environmental cue triggering quail breeding. Rainfall is an important supplemental cue for birds in desert and semi-desert regions. In places such as Australia, southwestern Africa, and the southwestern United States, breeding activities for various bird species have been documented to start during or shortly after rainstorms. As rainfall is the earliest indication that conditions will be changing, a rainfall event itself may act as a breeding cue. In addition, factors closely tied to rainfall events, such as the rapid change in landscape appearance from dry, crisp, brown vegetation to lush, green vegetation may also be providing visual cues. We will investigate this question in a two-year study conducted at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. We will investigate whether vegetation
color (during summer 2022) and rainfall (during summer 2023) act as reproductive cues for bobwhites. Our first experiment will begin this summer, where we will house 20 bobwhite hens in aviary cages assigned to one of four different vegetation-color treatments: a brown treatment with dry vegetation; a green treatment with lush vegetation; a switch treatment in which vegetation color will change from brown to green mid-way during summer; and a control treatment with no vegetation. To evaluate how bobwhites respond to color, we will monitor reproductive hormone levels and egg-laying rate throughout the experiment and compare these metrics among treatments. If vegetation color is a stimulus, then reproductive hormone levels should spike immediately following the switch from brown to green vegetation, as well as be higher in the green versus brown treatment. We will follow a similar protocol to test the influence of rainfall during summer 2023. Our study will provide greater insight into what links rainfall with the boom and bust of quail populations. This information will help wildlife managers know how effective that management can be at mitigating the effects of unpredictable rainfall, as well as what can be done to prevent population lows. In addition, this study will increase our knowledge of avian reproduction in semi-desert environments, which is important for predicting consequences that climate change may have on desert birds.
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Open space that allows people to get away from other people has value to both sides of the bargain. A room with a view that many people don’t see every day is a value that ranchers can share.
X BAR RANCH NATURE RETREAT Their Place, Guests’ Pace
Article by LORIE A. WOODWARD Photos courtesy of X BAR RANCH NATURE RETREAT Editor’s Note—This is the third in a series of articles exploring alternative income and educational opportunities for TWA members.
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n the fall of 1996, the Meador family added hospitality to the traditional income-generating mix of livestock and hunting on the X Bar Ranch near Eldorado. “It was dry. Times were tough. As a family, we all realized we needed to diversify if we could, so we were looking around for something else to do,” said Stan Meador, who runs the family’s recreation division, which also includes season leases for whitetails and turkey hunts in the spring. After living and working in Europe, Stan saw Texas and the ranch, which was founded in 1915, in a new light. In 1989-90 and then again in 1994, he called Holland, one of the world’s most densely populated countries, home. While its population was about the same as Texas’ at that time, the land mass is 13 times smaller than the Lone Star State. “As a West Texan, I’d always taken elbow room for granted,” Stan said. “After seeing my European friends’ lives and their reaction to our ranch, I understood that open space that allows people to get away from other people has value.”
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This realization coincided with the first wave of Texas’ nowongoing population boom, which led the family to a second realization. In a fast-growing state where at least 94% of the land is privately held, demand for open space and outdoor recreation could eventually outstrip Texas’ supply of state and federal parks. “There seemed to be an opportunity for families who were willing to open their gates,” said Stan, whose off-the-ranch professional experience is in marketing and management. “Hospitality seemed a logical choice for us, so we just jumped in and did it.” In hindsight, Stan recognizes the family and the operation would have benefited from thinking through an organizational structure before they began. As it played out, the family operated informally for almost a decade. Stan oversaw recreation while his brother Chris grew into a role of managing the ranch’s agricultural pursuits. “Everything was just hodge podge,” Stan said. “It drove me crazy because I like to operate in compartments and know where money is coming from and where it’s going.” Plus, as the oldest of the fifth generation in the ranching family, Stan wanted to create a culture where his sister
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and cousins, who would eventually become co-owners alongside Chris and him, felt they had an equal seat at the table in determining the ranch’s future. All ideas for other ventures were welcome and the siblings’ and cousins’ participation encouraged. Working together years earlier, the family established X Bar Ranch Ltd., a limited family partnership that owns the ranch’s assets. Both the recreation and agriculture divisions are set up in separate LLCs and pay lease to the partnership. While this structure has greatly improved efficiency and transparency, it still requires give and take. Capital expenditures are something that the family continues to wrestle with and handle on a caseby-case basis. For instance, it would benefit the recreation division to expand the walkways and patios around the dwellings, but the expenditure doesn’t make a lot of sense for the limited partnership’s bottom line. From Stan’s perspective, investing in a capital improvement that won’t eventually yield a personal dividend does not always make financial sense either. Except for new lodging facilities, the evaluation and ultimate decision for each capital expenditure is based on the impact of that given capital expense to the business in the short- to medium-term and its enhancement of the tourism experience. “With a family property, it is not a build it up and flip it sort of proposition,” Stan said. “When it comes to capital improvements, I invest judiciously because there is only so much I will get back from it. At 51 years old, I’m not sure that I would’ve done anything differently, but I do wish that I had been more cognizant of this reality early on.” IN THE BEGINNING Start-up funds were tight, so instead of investing in large capital projects, the Meadors worked with what they had. Initially, the ranch had four houses they planned on using for the new enterprise. Profits were plowed back into improvements. Over time, the number of lodging options and amenities grew. Today, the X Bar boasts two guest houses, nine cabins, the Live Oak Lodge with a full kitchen, living area and meeting room, two RV campgrounds with a total of 12 sites, a swimming pool and hiking trails. From the outset, the aesthetic reflected the X Bar’s legacy as a working ranch. The vibe is “clean, comfortable and a bit rustic.” The X Bar never targeted people searching for a luxurious, fullservice get away. Luxurious accommodations, elaborate amenities and fullservice experiences means more hands are necessary. More personnel not only increases the overhead, but potentially increases the operational headaches. For instance, rural communities may not have the skilled workforce necessary to deliver white glove service that luxury consumers expect. To illustrate his point, Stan shared the experience of a luxury ranch retreat located just outside a nearby town. Facing staffing shortages, the owners built a large dormitory to house personnel that they were forced to recruit from outside the region.
One of the things that often astounds folks from the city is how bright and expansive the night sky is out in the country.
Even though the X Bar Nature Retreat allows guests to take their stay at their own pace, those guests expect a level of comfort as part of their stay.
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You could call it purposeful sitting as guests enjoy the broad expanses of Texas from the porch. Or it could be sitting with no purpose at all, other than enjoying the view. Either way, one of the things the X Bar Nature Retreat offers guests are plenty of views.
“In the hospitality business, you can do anything you want. Today there is no cookie-cutter way to do it that is right or wrong,” Stan said. “The key is communicating what you have, ensuring that the experience you’re offering is what your potential guests want, setting the right expectations for the guests you attract— and then delivering on your promises.” Like most families embarking on a new business, the Meadors didn’t have an unlimited marketing budget. First, they identified their selling points: 7,100 acres of native habitat featuring the changing elevation that characterizes the Edwards Plateau, dark night skies, and a location about halfway between Austin/ San Antonio and Big Bend National Park. Initially, Stan set his sights on developing two niche markets—mountain bikers who would appreciate the terrain and astronomers who would savor the skies. Big Bend was an established but farflung destination for both groups. The X Bar Ranch offered similar pursuits but was a three-hour drive instead of six,
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First impressions are important when hosting people on your ranch. From the front gate to the front door, those impressions set the stage for people to have an enjoyable stay.
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so people could indulge their passions more frequently. In the early years, the Meador family installed about 20 miles of bike trails and hosted mountain bike races to help get the word out. Stan also cultivated a relationship with amateur astronomers that resulted in the Eldorado Star Party. In October, the weeklong Star Party, which brings 100 to 150 astronomers to the X Bar, will celebrate its 20th anniversary. The X Bar hosted its last mountain bike race in 2009. “When we started out, the business was hands-on with a lot of guest contact,” Stan said. “As our lives changed, so did our operation.” HERE AND NOW In the ensuing years, Stan had gotten married, started a family and taken demanding, full-time jobs outside of the ranch. He didn’t have the time he once did to dedicate to guest services, and hiring additional staff wasn’t a viable option. Instead of shuttering the division, the family repositioned the guest ranch as the X Bar Ranch Nature Retreat and adopted the tagline, “Our Place, Your Pace.” “Now we open the ranch as a gathering place, not an entertainment destination,” Stan said. “Our promise to guests is that we’ll get you oriented, help you figure out what you can do—and then you can go do it. These days we don’t do any handholding or spoon feeding.” Clientele includes couples and families, both immediate and extended, as well as small groups. Most stays are two or three nights, but during COVID they stretched longer. About once a month, a group “rents the ranch” for occasions ranging from artist workshops and scrapbooking retreats to family reunions; the groups are responsible for their own programming, including meals. The X Bar provides linens, cooking equipment and ice. The guests supply their own food. After the guests leave, family and employees clean and prepare for the next guests. In the aftermath of a recent sold-out weekend, a team of six people spent a day resetting the property. “The questions you have to ask yourself about adding another enterprise are:
How I am going to layer this in with the other ranch operations and my other responsibilities? And if I can’t handle it myself, how will it be taken care of? Where is it coming out of the time budget?” he said. For now, the “Our Place, Your Pace” model is the best option for Stan and the rest of the Meador family. “It all gets back to how you define your own success,” Stan said. “I’m realistic. I can’t give this business more time or more resources, so I can’t expect it to generate big money or grow exponentially.” Currently, his goals are continuing to slowly grow the division without harming it or another of the ranch’s enterprises, managing the workload to avoid burning out the family, especially his parents who assist, and making enough money to pay his lease agreement with the family limited partnership, the contract staff such as housecleaners, and himself a bit. He also wants the recreation division to actively contribute to the ranch’s sustainability and longevity.
It is working. Each year, the business hosts more people. During COVID, people sought out the respite of nature, and so far the increased interest remains. Recently, Stan encountered a young couple who were leaving the ranch after a long weekend. Although their car sported Minnesota license plates, they had recently moved to Austin for their careers. When he asked about their stay, they replied, “Oh we’ll be back…and we’re bringing our friends.” People gathering with their family and friends to enjoy the X Bar and reconnect with nature makes all the effort worthwhile. “Frankly, I love hosting people,” Stan said. “Our family feels a sense of obligation to help people connect or reconnect with nature and the majesty of it all. If we can expose them to our natural resources and tell agriculture’s story in a way that captures their imagination, then we’ve given them something important—and we’ve gotten something special in return.”
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Wildlife management is a form of agriculture and the crop produced is a memorable experience.
WILDLIFE AS AN AGRICULTURAL CROP Article by STEVE NELLE Photos by RUSSELL A. GRAVES
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e all know how important agricultural crops are. Our lives and the entire world population depend on crops each day for food and clothing. But not all crops require tilling soil and planting seed. It is easy to recognize wheat, corn, cotton, soybeans, vegetables, fruits, and nuts as agricultural crops. And it is not hard to see that cattle, sheep, goats, poultry, and other livestock also are an agricultural crop. Likewise, we understand that timber is a type of crop even though it takes many years to be ready for harvest. These are what we might call traditional agricultural crops. The beauty of agricultural crops is that they are sustainable and renewable—the land will produce these crops perpetually and without loss of productivity if the cropping is done well.
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Good agricultural practice not only feeds man and beast but also perpetuates soil health and can even restore depleted soils. In the United States where we are blessed with productive soil, favorable climate and efficient agriculture, each farmer feeds an average of 166 people. IS WILDLIFE A CROP? Everyone knows that grain, cattle, and pecans are agricultural crops, but how does wildlife fit into the agricultural picture? Is wildlife also an agricultural crop, or is it something different and separate from agriculture? Aldo Leopold (1887 – 1948) is well known in the world of wildlife management but he also understood agriculture. In fact,
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he was hired as the first ever professor of wildlife management by the Dean of Agriculture to teach in the College of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin. Leopold believed that wildlife is a product of the land, like a farm crop in some ways, but produced in a different way. We have all heard of deer farming, fish farming and game bird farming but these are not what Leopold promoted as wildlife crops. In his classic book, “Game Management,” published in 1933, Leopold provided this simple explanation: “Game management is the art of making land produce sustained annual crops of wild game for recreational use.” Later, he wrote, “Effective wildlife conservation requires a deliberate and purposeful manipulation of the environment.” For Leopold and thousands of game managers who followed him, yes, wildlife can be considered a crop. The crop of wildlife is produced, at least in part, by manipulating the land to create or enhance the habitat for the desired species. Leopold insisted, “Game management is a form of agriculture.” At the same time, Leopold knew very well that wildlife sometimes exists in natural abundance where there is no intentional management. His new idea of management was designed to increase wildlife populations through thoughtful habitat management beyond what the land would otherwise produce and to help it produce acceptable crops in poor years. His proposed methods of management and manipulation varied by species and varied regionally. There are no cookbook recipes on how to make land produce wildlife. Wildlife management was and still is an art that requires knowledge, skill, creativity, and adaptation uniquely applied to each individual tract of land. Whether producing traditional agricultural crops or crops of wildlife, both require skill and dedication on the part of the farmer.
The bonds that are forged while enjoying wildlife-related activities keep families connected for generations.
PRODUCING A WILD CROP The tools and techniques for raising crops of wildlife can be similar to those employed for raising traditional crops. Tractors, plows, dozers, track hoes, fences, fire, water development, levees, water control structures, airplanes, and herbicides are some of the tools that can be used for both traditional agriculture and wildlife management. But the differences are just as important as the similarities. The primary differences between wildlife management and traditional agriculture are the recognition of what exactly is being produced and the intensity of management. In traditional agriculture, yield is of utmost importance, as it must be, along with the quality of the product. When wildlife is the desired crop, the experience gained is of primary importance, not what is taken home. First and foremost, those who produce wildlife are providing a memorable and special aesthetic experience for the consumer. A genuine crop of wildlife should be wild. Tameness in any degree is a detraction and can be so great a detraction that it spoils the experience. Leopold maintained the opinion, “The recreational value of game is inverse to the artificiality of its origin.”
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novelty but has no “wild value.” The same can be said for various exotic ungulates confined in a small pasture. For some, these are not a wild experience and are not much different than a trip to the zoo.
Crops of wildlife do not always have to be harvested. Birding and photographic opportunities on private lands are a growing segment of the wildlife business.
A - B CLEAVAGE One of the dilemmas that Leopold faced and which we still grapple with is finding the balance between an appropriate level of managerial intensity without spoiling or degrading the wildness of wildlife or the aesthetic value of the experience. Leopold spoke of the A – B cleavage in describing the divergent ways in which wildlife crops are produced. He said group A is content to produce wildlife with the same level of intensity the farmer uses to produce cotton, corn, poultry, or beef. Group B also desires wildlife productivity, but in a wild setting by tweaking the natural habitat rather than resorting to artificial means. These two groups are still active in our day and each has their proponents. Many will admit that something special is diminished for every new degree of artificiality we introduce into hunting, fishing, and other forms of outdoor recreation. Just because we have the technological ability to enhance and multiply what nature can do does not mean it is always a good idea. The degree of intensiveness and artificiality warranted in raising agricultural commodities does not always translate nicely into the world of wildlife management.
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Many of today’s hunters, birders, and nature enthusiasts prefer a more natural experience rather than artificial. Most are not impressed in seeing a group of semi-tame “house turkeys” or a grainfed covey of quail that stays around the headquarters. A huge buck born in a pen and fed from a trough is an interesting
ECONOMIC REALITIES The serious farmer or rancher does not raise crops or livestock just for fun. Although they enjoy their profession and lifestyle, they engage in the hard work of agriculture to make a profit. It’s not their only motive but it is important. This same economic motive is also important for many who raise crops of wildlife. Yes, it is enjoyable and fulfilling but it also must generate a return to justify the expenses. Raising good annual crops of wildlife requires active management and that comes with a price tag. Our system of lease hunting and feebased nature tourism on private lands generates revenue to carry out the necessary management. In many cases, it provides a significant net return to the landowner. Leopold did not believe that landowners are necessarily obligated to manage for wildlife without any kind of compensation. He said, “The private landowner must be given some kind of an incentive for undertaking it.” The incentive can be cash payments for lease hunting, fishing,
Something as simple as fishing for crawdads is a childhood experience that often leads to a lifetime of wildlife enjoyment.
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or birding, or it can be other incentives that make wildlife management worth the effort and cost. Some landowners are willing and able to funnel outside money into the land to manage for wildlife. This is good and commendable while it lasts, but the best long-term management is that which pays its own way; if not fully, then at least to a large degree. AGRICULTURAL HARDSHIPS Just like other forms of agriculture, the management of wildlife is also prone to hardships, setbacks, and natural disasters. Droughts, floods, wildfire, hailstorms, ice storms, disease, predators, and other calamities wreak havoc on crops, livestock and wildlife alike. The losses can be catastrophic both in natural and economic terms as well as emotionally. Watching a deer herd diminish due to anthrax or hemorrhagic disease is not only an extreme economic loss but is also traumatic to the owner and those who have hunted there. Likewise, the demise of an abundant quail population due to no fault of your own is demoralizing. Even though we know that quail populations naturally and inevitably boom and bust, that does not make it any easier to endure the loss of what you enjoy and what you have worked for. Both the wildlife manager and the farmer share a deep connection to the land and there is a personal sense of gain or loss when the crop thrives or fails. We must also be aware that wildlife can be serious agricultural pests causing significant harm to farming and ranching operations. Crop damage, predators, damage to fences, disease, and parasite transmission are some of the ways in which wildlife are not always welcome on the farm or ranch. Sometimes aggressive wildlife damage control is needed and justified. OTHER CROPS AND BENEFITS Besides traditional farm crops and crops of wildlife, there are other less tangible “crops” which the land provides and which can be enhanced or degraded by our management. Water is increasingly being recognized as a crop that comes from the land. As of now there is not yet a good way to monetize the land’s ability to provide, process, and purify water but that day may be coming. In the past, water was regarded as coming from aquifers, springs, creeks and rivers without understanding the essential role of healthy landscapes. We now use the term “water catchment” to convey the concept that well-managed land captures and stores water for a slower, cleaner and more sustained release into tributaries, creeks and rivers. A well-managed landscape also provides greater opportunity for rainfall to seep into underground aquifers. Drought mitigation and flood attenuation are other water-related services provided by healthy, well-managed landscapes. The storage of excess atmospheric carbon in the soil is now widely recognized as a benefit of good agriculture. Increased soil carbon (organic matter) is not a crop in the traditional sense but is nevertheless a service or benefit of well-managed land. Some
landowners are beginning to capitalize on the land’s ability to sequester increasing amounts of atmospheric carbon. IS WILDLIFE ESSENTIAL? There is no debate that sustainable agriculture is essential to feed the world and provide fiber and wood products. But what about the necessity of wildlife? Perhaps wildlife is not as essential to mankind as wheat, corn, or other staples. But for many of us, wildlife is just the next level down on the scale of necessity. Yes, we could survive in the physical sense without wildlife, but our lives would be much poorer. In the introduction to “A Sand County Almanac,” Leopold wrote these words which resonate with many of us: “There are those who can live without wild things and those who cannot; these essays are the delights and dilemmas of those who cannot.” The good news is that we do not have to choose between food crops and wildlife crops. Healthy, managed land can produce both. When land is properly managed, all the crops we need as well as wildlife and other ecological benefits will be produced and sustained. It is a proverbial win-win. We live in a state where robust agricultural production exists alongside rich and abundant wildlife. In Texas, private farms, ranches, and timberland are where most of the wildlife is found, not on refuges, preserves or sanctuaries. With a balance of economic, aesthetic and stewardship motives, Texas agricultural lands will continue to produce crops, wildlife, water, and other societal benefits for now and for the future.
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Photo by Steve Nelle High fences serve to keep deer where they are wanted, preventing loss of desirable bucks or ingress of unwanted deer.
HIGH FENCES AND THE RANCHES THEY BIND Article by RICKY LINEX
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riving along the highways of Texas, nothing gives the impression of intensive white-tailed deer management more than a high fence. Still to this day these purpose-built fences are often misunderstood as to their real function. Some despise the fences as locking in the deer that belong to all citizens of Texas. Others see the fences as a management tool to prevent ingress of deer from adjacent properties onto ranches where superior habitat has been transformed or maintained. As experience has shown, the truth lies somewhere in between the two differing views. If you are a low-fenced landowner, are you considering highfencing your perimeter? Are you wanting to take your whitetailed deer to a higher level of management? Here are realities for your consideration. GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS The need for barbed wire dates back to the Homestead Act of 1862 where adult U.S. citizens could claim 160 acres of land, later increased to 320 acres. Many homesteaders came from the eastern states and brought farming practices with them. In this timeframe of free-range cattle grazing, the cattle knew no homesteading boundaries and grazed where the forage could be found.
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Free-range cattle quickly became a nuisance for homesteaders. In the eastern states, young trees could be cut and stacked as colonial log fences. But trees were scarce in the Great Plains where much homesteading was taking place. The need for alternative fencing methods was needed to protect crops and exclude livestock. Barbed wire was invented in 1865. However, it was Joseph Glidden’s wire patented in 1874 that became the most effective and widely used barbed wire beginning in the late 19th century. Glidden developed a method of locking the barbs in place on two wires and the machinery to mass produce the wire. Now homesteaders had an economical and effective deterrent to prevent destruction of crops and forages. As time passed, landowners on both sides of a fence realized and accepted the fact that “good fences do indeed make for good neighbors.” Texas now has hundreds of thousands of miles of low and high fencing. INTRODUCTION OF HIGH FENCES IN TEXAS The very earliest documented use of high fences in Texas was to contain exotic wildlife species. From the website of the Stowers Ranch in Kerr County, “A visionary who loved to hunt, George Author Stowers operated this property as a game
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Photo by Ricky Linex High fences enable landowners to control movement of white-tailed deer.
I know of in Webb County when I went to Laredo were the H.B. Zachry ranch and a ranch upriver from Laredo called the Scibienski Ranch.” To define a high fence, often mistakenly called deer-proof fences, we look at fences that are built 8 feet high. Deer can and do jump 8-foot fences, especially when the animals are pushed, feel threatened, or when bucks just want to roam. About 15 years ago, Texas Brigades graduates participated in a deer drive within a high fence pasture on the Sonora Agricultural Research Station. This drive was to determine how many white-tail deer were within the high fence. Two of the adult observers stationed against a high fence at the end of the drive saw a deer clear the fence to escape. Dr. Doug Tolleson, associate professor and manager at the Sonora Station, confirmed that the high fences in this pasture are indeed 8 feet tall and added, “In my 60 years on this Earth, I have seen a couple of white-tails clear an 8-foot fence. I have only seen maybe five to six try to clear, so half of them did not succeed. And obviously the vast majority don’t even try. The deer that did clear were young, scared at the time, felt trapped or threatened by me, although I did not push them.” Photo by Ricky Linex
management area and hunting preserve as well as a cattle ranch. He erected a deer-proof perimeter fence more than 100 years ago and imported elk from Colorado.” Elliot Smith, great-grandson of George Stowers, shares this early high fence history: “This ranch was put together in 1904. What is left now is roughly half of the original ranch. The land that is currently the Kerr Wildlife Management Area used to be part of Stowers Ranch. “We have had high fences since the 1910s/1920s. The net wire fences were woven on the ranch. These high fences were built when we brought elk onto the ranch, a short experiment due to screw worms. We have kept them in place, more or less intact, since then.” Dr. James Kroll in “A Practical Guide to Producing and Harvesting White-tailed Deer” suggested the origins of high fences began in the Texas Hill Country in the 1950s. This makes sense in that this area at that time had high deer densities compared with the rest of Texas and already had net wire low fencing in place to contain sheep and goats. Enterprising land managers could install longer corner post assemblies and line posts and add another net wire section and one or two barbed wires on top of the existing fence. These modified high fences can serve just as well as purpose-built high fences if good material is used in all bracing. Al Brothers, renowned wildlife biologist and co-author of “Producing Quality Whitetails,” cites, “The first high fences I saw in South Texas was when I went there in 1963. I was based in Laredo but worked up into the edge of the Hill Country. The earliest fences that I know of, just from talk, were built to put exotics in. Whereas the majority of the fences, but not all, that I knew built in my career in South Texas were built to stock or restock native white-tailed deer. The only two high fences
Good water gaps are essential for high fenced operations.
HIGH FENCES AS A DEER MANAGEMENT TOOL As landowners began intensively managing for white-tailed deer by reducing stocking rates of livestock, reducing deer numbers to match the habitat, using brush sculpting and range seeding grasses and perennial forbs to improve fawning cover and food plants, they began to see improvement in the number and age ratios of bucks. However, as ranch habitat improves, the habitat of neighboring ranches might remain overgrazed by livestock and have out-ofbalance deer densities. Now the neighbor’s deer move onto your property because of the improved habitat and living conditions. This is the time when many landowners decide to high fence their perimeter, not to keep deer within the fence but to keep unwanted deer out. Another benefit of high fences is reducing losses of good bucks that can roam for many miles during
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Photo by Ricky Linex
HIGH FENCES AND THE RANCHES THEY BIND
A cattle guard 18 feet long and 24 feet wide prevents deer from crossing while allowing gates to remain open.
the rut, winding up on adjacent properties where they may be harvested. The high fence protects many of these bucks and the investment in time and money the ranch has in them from being harvested offsite. High fences can be of two types—net wire and electric. Electric fences are newer but trail behind the traditional net wire style in popularity due to net wire not being affected by power outages, lightning strikes damaging the energizers, or loss of grounding due to dry soils in arid regions. Electric fences serve well as interior cross fences and to protect food plots. The critical component in either style of fencing is to have corners and brace post assemblies installed at least 4 feet deep with holes filled with concrete for stabilization. Fences can have a useful life of 25 years or more if the corners hold the fencing tight. Properly designed water gaps at creek crossings are also necessary to prevent deer from escaping following flood events. The water gap should allow debris and even uprooted trees to pass under the fencing. If you are considering high fencing, work with a reputable fencing installer to protect this significant investment. High fences can cost $35,000 to $50,000 per mile over normal ground. That cost will increase if built on rocky ground or with irregular boundary requiring more corner assemblies. HIGH FENCES PROTECT CROPLAND/FOOD PLOTS High fences also provide protection for some cropland fields. Cotton and milo are readily eaten by deer so high fences can protect these crops. Food plots can provide additional high-quality nutrition for many species of wildlife and can be annually planted with cool season crops such as small grains, vetch and clovers or by planting lablab or cowpeas as a warm season crop. Protecting the newly emerged seedlings from livestock and wildlife grazing is critical to a successful food
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plot. A regular low fence can exclude cattle from food plots. If feral hogs are a problem, a net wire low fence can protect your plantings. HIGH FENCES AND CATASTROPHIC WILDFIRES During extreme wildfires, high fences constrain deer to escape smoke and flames. Deer have coexisted with fire for centuries and know how to skirt the flames if fire does not cross the property as a solid line of flames. Fires are often irregular in crossing, allowing deer to escape into the blackened areas. Using a road grader or dozer to cut fire guards down to mineral soil every year will slow the access of a wildfire onto the property. That’s true more so with a fire backing onto the property than with a head fire being pushed by the wind. If deer have been on free choice pelleted feed, they will readily increase consumption of the feed until green up of forage becomes available. HIGH FENCES AS GRAZING EXCLOSURES On rangeland where heavy, long-term overuse by livestock and native and exotic wildlife has reduced desirable woody browse and perennial forbs, high fencing small relic areas of remaining desirable plants can create a reliable source of seeds. Reducing grazing pressure outside the exclosure must happen in conjunction with constructing the exclosure to see successful results. Fencing approximately 5- to 20-acre exclosures can protect the most desirable plants found there, allowing game birds and small mammals to spread the seeds. As seeds are spread across the property, desirable plants may soon begin growing. These high fences can be constructed economically by recycling old net wire fencing that has been replaced. THE BOTTOM LINE High fencing a property involves great expense in both constructing and maintaining the fence. A higher level of management, keeping deer numbers within the carrying capacity of the land, is required now that the deer cannot leave the property. Conducting annual deer counts to set harvest rates is necessary. Intensive management requires regular harvest of both does and bucks to keep deer numbers within the desired carrying capacity. This might be extra work that a landowner decides is not why they bought the property. A new property owner might consider managing the existing low-fenced deer for a few years to see if this is really what they want to do. Deer and other species harvested within high fences, or as the Boone and Crockett Club defines “as escape-proof enclosures,” are ineligible for its record books. The Texas Wildlife Association Big Game Awards program has separate categories for low-fenced and high-fenced entries. Perhaps the old carpenter’s axiom, “Measure twice and cut once” applies to those considering to high fence or not. In any case, high fences are here to stay and serve well to those practicing intensive wildlife management.
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COME CELEBRATE TWA’S 37th ANNIVERSARY!
HOW TO REGISTER • MAIL-IN REGISTRATION FORM Fill out the Registration Form at www.wildlife2022.com and return with payment to TWA at 6644 FM 1102, New Braunfels, TX 78132 • FAX REGISTRATION FORM Complete your Registration Form and fax to (210) 826-4933 • PHONE REGISTRATION Register and pay by phone at (800) 839-9453 • ON-LINE REGISTRATION Register on-line at www.wildlife2022.com • FOR HOTEL RESERVATIONS
book.passkey.com/go/TWA2022 or by phone at 800-266-9432. Ask for “TWA 2022.” Group Rate is $232/night Standard Room plus state taxes, local taxes, and resort fees. Reservations must be received prior to June 22, 2022.
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SCHEDULE ANNUAL PRIVATE LANDS SUMMIT • INFORMATIVE SEMINARS • MEET & GREETS • ENTERTAINMENT • FUN FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY!
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
New for 2022: All events and meetings located on Level 2 in both JW Marriott Ballrooms
DAY 1 – THURSDAY, JULY 14, 2022 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM
Conservation Legacy Advisory Committee (Cibolo Canyon Ballroom 9)
TWA Private Lands Summit (Cibolo Canyon Ballroom 1-4)
10:00 AM – Convention Exhibitor Registration 6:00 PM and Move-In (Grand Oaks Ballroom & Foyer)
10:15 AM – 10:30 AM
Break
10:30 AM – TYHP Advisory Committee (Cibolo Canyon Ballroom 8) 11:30 AM Membership Committee (Cibolo Canyon Ballroom 10)
DAY 2 – FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2022 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Registration Open
12:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Exhibits and Auctions Open
8:00 AM – 11:30 AM
TWA Committee Meetings **
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
(Grand Oaks Ballroom & Foyer)
** Anyone is welcome to attend the committee meetings to learn more about the programs associated within those committees.
Big Game Committee
(Cibolo Canyon Ballroom 8)
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM
(Cibolo Canyon Ballroom 11)
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
TWAF Luncheon
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
TWA Joint Membership & Directors Meeting
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
TWA Ladies Reception
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Cocktails with Exhibitors
(Grand Oaks Ballroom A-F Foyer) (Note: Ladies only event and no charge for drinks)
(cash bar, includes 2 drink tickets, Grand Oaks Ballroom) Sponsored by Silver Eagle Beverages
Break
Legislative and PAC Committees (Cibolo Canyon Ballroom 1-2)
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(Grand Oaks Ballroom)
(Cibolo Canyon Ballroom 1-4)
(Cibolo Canyon Ballroom 3-4)
Land and Water Committee
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM
Wildlife Conservation Committee
JUNE 2022
6:00 PM – 11:00 PM
TWA Convention Kickoff Dinner & Casino Party - Back for 2022! (Grand Oaks Ballroom)
JULY 14-17, 2022 JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa 23808 Resort Parkway, San Antonio, TX 78261 Bring the Family: Children under 12 are admitted free!
DAY 3 – SATURDAY, JULY 16, 2022 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
(Grand Oaks Ballroom A-F Foyer)
TWA Family Breakfast
Sponsored by Crockett National Bank
(Grand Oaks Ballroom) Sponsored by San Pedro Ranch
8:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Registration Open
9:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Exhibits Open
Cocktails with Exhibitors (Ballrooms Foyer and Grand Oaks Ballroom)
5:00 PM 10:00 PM
Family Portraits Photo Booth Open
5:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Marriott Range Riders Kid’s Activities
7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
TWA Grand Auction and Banquet Dinner
(Ballrooms Foyer)
(Grand Oaks Ballroom, Level 2)
Silent & Not-So-Silent Auctions Open (Grand Oaks Ballroom)
9:00 AM – 11:45 AM
TWA Life Members and President’s Council Reception
TWA WildLife Education Concurrent Session Seminars
Sponsored by H-E-B
(Grand Oaks Ballroom)
(Cibolo Canyon Ballroom Pre-Function Rooms 1-4) Sponsored by Brady & Hamilton LLP
(Cibolo Canyon Ballroom 8-11)
10:30 PM
Silent Auction Final Closing (Grand Oaks Ballroom)
Wildlife Management and Research (Cibolo Room 1)
Landowner Awareness and Opportunities (Cibolo Room 2)
DAY 4 – SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2022
Education/ Outreach (Cibolo Room 3)
Habitat Management
8:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Final Auction Check-Out
12:00 PM
TWA Convention Closes
(TWA Registration Desk)
(Cibolo Room 4)
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
TWA General Session and Awards Luncheon (Grand Oaks Ballroom)
Texas Big Game Awards Celebration (Grand Oaks Ballroom) Sponsored by Nyle Maxwell Family of Dealerships
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Open Time, Please Visit Our Exhibits (Grand Oaks Ballroom)
WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG
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ANNUAL PRIVATE LANDS SUMMIT • INFORMATIVE SEMINARS • MEET & GREETS • ENTERTAINMENT • FUN FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY!
AUCTION SUCCESS!
JULY 14-17, 2022
WILDLIFE 2022 IS THE PLACE TO BE THIS JULY! This year’s auction features some of the most exclusive hunts, trips and vacation packages available anywhere as well as game feeders, blinds, firearms, and in this case, ranch management tools.
Exclusive adventures and items like this are among the many exciting items you can find at the TWA 37th Annual Convention, WildLife 2022, to be held July 14-17, 2022 at the beautiful JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa.
An exciting hunting opportunity is a trip to the legendary King Ranch. Last year, one member harvested a nilgai on his all-inclusive hunt.
Visit www.wildlife2022.com and register today!
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JUNE 2022
TEXAS WILDLIFE ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION PRESENTS
Evolution of a Photographer and Author
Wyman meinzer
Join Texas Wildlife Association Foundation for its annual Foundation Luncheon featuring the official State Photographer of Texas, the acclaimed Wyman Meinzer. Raised on the League Ranch, a 27,000-acre ranch in the rolling plains of Texas, Meinzer's images have appeared in Smithsonian, National Geographic Books, Natural History, Ebony, Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, Audubon, Sports Afield, Field and Stream, Outdoor life, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas Highways, Korea GEO, German GEO, Das Tier, Airone, Horzu, BBC Wildlife, and a host others.
FRI |July 15 JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa Noon-1:30 PM
$175 INDIVIDUAL TICKET
$1750 RESERVED VIP TABLE FOR 10 Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Business Casual Attire Register online today www.wildlife2022.com
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JULY 14-17, 2022
JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa 23808 Resort Parkway, San Antonio, TX 78261
ANNUAL PRIVATE LANDS SUMMIT • INFORMATIVE SEMINARS • MEET & GREETS • ENTERTAINMENT • FUN FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY!
TEXAS BIG GAME AWARDS STATEWIDE CELEBRATION
BACK FOR 2022 CASINO NIGHT!
WHAT’S NEW FOR WILDLIFE 2022
Makes plans now to register and save on registration and hotel pricing! TWA’s 37th Annual Convention is only a few weeks away and we some exciting new changes to the schedule. FRIDAY, JULY 15, 6:00 PM - 11:00 PM Casino Night is back! Join us for TWA’s Family Dinner Celebration and Casino Night on Friday in the Grand Oaks Ballroom. Fun for the entire family.
SATURDAY, JULY 16, 12:00 PM will now host the Texas Big Game Awards Sportsman’s Celebration! Joining forces with all the other special TWA awards, this awards luncheon will make for an exhilarating afternoon of exclusive recognition in the Grand Oaks Ballroom.
BRING THE FAMILY! CHILDREN 12 AND UNDER ARE ADMITTED FREE!
Visit WWW.WILDLIFE2022.COM or call (800) 839-9453 for more information
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(Sponsors as of June 1, 2022)
ANNUAL PRIVATE LANDS SUMMIT • INFORMATIVE SEMINARS • MEET & GREETS • ENTERTAINMENT • FUN FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY!
CONVENTION SPONSORS PLATINUM
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
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JUNE 2022
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Facebook®
texas-wildlife.org
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search Texas Wildlife Association
@TexasWildlifeAssociation
Visit the TWA website for the latest news, statewide and local leadership contacts, calendar of events, Texas Wildlife magazine, membership – join, renew or upgrade – Conservation Legacy, Texas Youth Hunting Program, Texas Big Game Awards and much more.
Become a follower of TWA on Twitter. Join the over 4,000 followers and receive periodic communication from TWA about headlines, news of interest, calendar reminders, and more.
Enjoy TWA information and postings, discussion boards, photos, videos and other items of interest using the world’s most popular social network. Communicate with TWA members, supporters and other who share similar interests.
Follow TWA on Instagram at @ TexasWildlifeAssociation.
WWW.TEXAS-WILDLIFE.ORG
53
TEXAS WILDLIFE
OUTDOOR TRADITIONS
Gift From the Sea Article and photo by SALLIE LEWIS
The waves not only wash up treasures from the salty bottom, they wash away many of the burdens of modern life.
W
ith the summer solstice just weeks away, I am hardpressed to think of anything more tempting than a long and leisurely trip to the beach. Over the years, many of my most cherished childhood memories were made on the Texas Gulf Coast. As I type this, I get nostalgic just thinking about its salty sea air and windswept oaks. Back in 2020, I took a few solo weekend trips to Rockport and Port Aransas. In the process, I felt a little bit like the aviator and
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JUNE 2022
author, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, whose best-selling book, “Gift from the Sea,” recounts her solo sojourns to Florida’s Captiva Island in the 1950s. In Lindbergh’s luminous prose, she muses about life and the gifts of solitude through the lens of various seashells, like oyster beds and Argonauts, double-sunrise shells and channeled whelks. Much like the author’s own experiences, my solitary days gave me the space I needed to reflect on life and the pandemonium unleashed by the pandemic. To my surprise, I found peace all around, from the swaying sea oats growing wild on the sand dunes of Mustang Island to a tiny hilltop chapel painted with vibrant watercolor murals. Some of my favorite moments came in the fleeting golden hours, watching the sun set and the moon rise over the water. Removed from the noise and distractions of home, I began to notice the reassuring rhythms of the sea, and the serene cadence of coastal life. One morning, I woke up early and biked to the Port Aransas marina. Giant teal nets hung from the “Peggy Ann,” a shrimp boat, still glistening from their morning sweep. I returned home with a large sack of fresh jumbo shrimp, which I prepared for dinner that evening in a heaping bowl of linguine with lemon and capers. During my seaside getaways, I especially relished the relaxed, unhurried routine and the days spent outside, immersed in nature. I spent hours walking the beach, searching for treasures washed up from the ocean floor, and watched pelicans, plovers, and sandpipers hunt for their midday meals. Everywhere I looked, life was revealing her colors— and I was paying attention. While traveling solo can be a daunting exercise, I like to think it can be a wise teacher, too. With each of my trips, I realized how little I actually needed. My suitcase full of outfits, shoes, jewelry, and makeup went largely untouched as I eschewed vanity and embraced simplicity, with sun-kissed skin and shoeless feet. Some days, I rarely uttered a word, listening instead to seagulls caw overhead or palm fronds rustle in the wind. Like Lindbergh in “Gift from the Sea,” every time I left the beach, I returned home with much more than pretty seashells in tow. The greatest gift, as I learned firsthand, was the way it made me feel—refreshed, restored, and reconnected to the resounding beauty of life.
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