This is the second of two live episodes that were recorded at the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s 2023 annual meeting in Houston, Texas. The topic of this panel discussion was Achieving Landscape-Scale Management in a Private Land State. As you learned in the previous episode, Texas has very little public land compared to other western states, so large-landscape conservation in Texas brings with it a number of extremely unique challenges and opportunities. In this conversation, we heard from four of Texas’s most respected conservation leaders– individuals who are finding ways to achieve ambitious conservation goals using their own unique skillsets and approaches.
I was joined on stage in front of an audience of nearly 600 people by Roel Lopez, Director of the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute; Chad Ellis, CEO of the Texas Agricultural Land Trust; Terry Anderson, co-founder of Conservation Equity Management and Conservation Equity Partners; and Billy Tarrant, Associate Director of Stewardship Services at Borderlands Research Institute. You can check out the episode notes for more information on each of the panelists and links to their respective bios and organizations.
As you’ll hear in the conversation, there are a wide range of innovative approaches and tools– from academic to non-profit to market-based– that are allowing Texas to be a trailblazer in private lands conservation in the United States. So we had a lot to cover in this hour-long session, including: The evolution and use of conservation easements, the importance of building solid relationships with landowners, new conservation tools on the horizon, how Texas has exported is private lands conservation tools to other states, data around population growth in Texas, advice for you and aspiring conservationists, and a long list of books, podcasts, and resources that have influenced these conservation leaders.
And just before this conversation, each of the panelists did a brief presentation that summarized all of the important work they are doing in Texas. If you’d like to listen to those talks and access their Powerpoint presentations, follow this link. However, you don’t need to listen to those presentations to get full value out of this episode– but they are there if you want to go a little deeper.
If you’re interested in conservation and learning from impressive individuals who have devoted their lives to land, stewardship, and conservation, then I know you’ll enjoy this episode. Once again, thanks to John Kinsey and the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society for inviting me down to Houston and for giving me the opportunity to have these meaningful conversations. Enjoy!
Photos courtesy of The Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society
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RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 3:00 – Introduction
- 5:00 – Discussing the Conservation Easement as a tool, and how it has evolved
- 10:30 – The importance of relationships in this work
- 13:30 – What new tools do we need in private lands conservation
- 22:00 – Discussing the private lands conservation strategies that Texas has been able to export to other states
- 27:15 – Whether or not the experts predicted the population numbers and growth that Texas is seeing today
- 29:45 – Advice for young professionals who want to become better storytellers
- 40:30 – The importance of building relationships with politicians for conservation work
- 53:00 – Books, podcasts, heroes, and other resources that have influenced the panelists
- 56:30 – Where the panelists find hope and motivation
Information Referenced:
- Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society
- Roel Lopez
- Chad Ellis
- Billy Tarrant
- Terry Anderson
- Blair Fitzsimons
- Texas Agricultural Land Trust (TALT)
- Mitigation banking
- Ecosystem service markets
- The Nature Conservancy
- Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust
- Republic Ranch magazine article about Terry
- Fault lines
- North Texas Water Municipal District
- Edwards Aquifer Protection Program
- Carter Smith
- The Partnership of Rangeland Trusts (PORT)
- Recovery Credit System
- Gopher Tortoise
- Dune Sagebrush Lizard Texas Conservation Plan
- Ocelots
- Marathon, TX
- How to Speed Read People by Liam Robinson
- Black-tailed deer
- Chronic Wasting Disease
- High Fence Deer Breeding/Hunting
- Pronghorn
- Farm Bill
- Texas Wildlife Association
- ESG – Environmental social, and Corporate Governance
- Texas Department of Transportation (TexDOT)
- US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef
- Bobwhite Quail Enhancement Program
- Good to Great by Jim Collins
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- The California Quail by Aldo Starker Leopold
- Aldo Starker Leopold
- Energy Sprawl Solutions Joseph M. Kiesecker
- Arizona Game & Fish Department
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
- Alpine, TX
- Texas A&M University
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:
- Dr. David Hewitt – The Science of Wildlife Conservation
- Taylor Hawes – Innovative Conservation in the Colorado River Basin
- Cole Mannix – Building Community through Land Stewardship and Local Food
- Carlos Fernández, Part 2 – Creating Conservation Opportunities During Uncertain Times
- Amber Smith – Creating Connection & Community
- Kate Mannix – A Legacy of Land Stewardship
- Lesli Allison & Tuda Libby Crews – Durable Conservation in the West… and Beyond
Visit the podcast page for a full, searchable list of episodes
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