From Staff Reports
During a time of possible operational transition for landowners throughout north-central Texas, many have selected conservation programs from the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help sustain their land use and the rural landscape so vital to the success of their ranches.
In Navarro County, the voluntary Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) has been successful while helping eligible landowners and their property protect, restore, and enhance the original hydrology, native vegetation and natural topography of their land. Two of these ranches that have made successful transitions utilizing WRP are the Thorn Ridge Wildlife Ranch and Lonesome Quail WRP located in Chatfield, just about 50 miles south of Dallas.
“WRP has really helped some landowners in Navarro County address their property restoration needs while establishing a wetland environment that has increased wildlife habitat and other related natural resources concerns on their land,” said Kristy Oates, NRCS district conservationist for Navarro County.
Within the 2008 Farm Bill, there are WRP restoration practices that can be applied, including dikes, range planting, forest site preparation, tree and scrub establishment, structures for water control, critical area planting, fence, pest management, and wetland wildlife habitat management. Also, WRP offers three enrollment options: a permanent easement, 30-year easement, or a restoration cost-share agreement.
“WRP easements are extremely valuable to the wetland wildlife habitat for migratory birds, wetland dependent wildlife, and protecting and improving the water quality within the Trinity River Basin,” Oates said. “Thorn Ridge Wildlife Ranch and Lonesome Quail WRP are easements that are linked, so they collectively increase ecological benefits for both landowners.”
On the Thorn Ridge Wildlife Ranch, landowner Paul Dube enrolled 200 acres into WRP and targets conservation education and recreation. He changed the focus of the ranch from pastureland into a predominantly wetland habitat, which has significantly increased waterfowl and song birds on the land.
“When I saw the WRP information, it seemed a perfect fit for what I wanted to accomplish with a property of this nature,” Dube said. “I wanted to do much of the work myself, and NRCS helped with the best management practices and technical assistance to create this wetland wildlife habitat here today.”
By using WRP, the Thorn Ridge Wildlife Ranch provides natural food and cover for wildlife, along with bluebird boxes and hardwood trees. In fact, NRCS planted 38,000 trees on Dube’s ranch utilizing WRP, and improved the water quality providing excellent wildlife habitat.
“The restoration on Thorn Ridge Wildlife Ranch included swales and kidney ponds to make small water enhancement areas while establishing vegetation such as hardwood trees to produce an overall package for the wildlife,” Oates said.
Moreover, Dube addressed his efforts toward eliminating any pesticides or herbicides in the land’s filtering process before they could flow back into the wetlands.
“The wetlands and associated vegetation filter water and we have made a commitment to improving water quality on this land,” Dube said. “The technical support and information from NRCS were amazing, so it truly helped throughout the entire restoration process on the ranch.”
Just a few miles down the road from Thorn Ridge Wildlife Ranch is Lonesome Quail WRP, where landowner Carroll Moran has 3,100 acres and enrolled 800 acres in WRP. Moran has a goal of adding more wetlands wildlife habitat, along with cover and food sources for different species, including white tail deer, nesting turkeys, and several kinds of ducks.
“When I was considering the purchase of land for wetlands habitat restoration, I found Lonesome Quail WRP and Tomahawk Ranch in Chatfield,” Moran said. “I found out about WRP from a fellow rancher, and Tomohawk already had NRCS programs working on it so the transition was easy.”
Plus, Moran, an avid outdoorsman and conservationist, says he wanted land to restore for duck hunting while creating a wetlands wildlife habitat.
“It was all about restoring the wetland bottoms, so within my lifetime I have been interested in the restoration of land for wildlife and we got that done working with NRCS,” Moran said. “I ended up with two really great ponds for duck hunting that I originally had in mind using WRP.”
During the development of wetland habitat on Moran’s ranch, NRCS planted 349 acres of hardwood trees, along with moving 95,623 cubic yards of soil to create swales, kidney ponds and dikes.
Moran connected easements that NRCS had completed with Thorn Ridge Wildlife Ranch and Lonesome Quail WRP to have a unified management plan for the wetlands on both properties that now included three easements.
“I have joined in management of these three easements and wetlands on Thorn Ridge Wildlife Ranch, and now under one management effort it works great for the wildlife, and our (Dube and Moran) common goals after the restoration using WRP,” Moran says.
He commented about the successful relationship with NRCS and working with WRP to bring the wetlands wildlife habitat to his land and overall land management goals.
“I thought the process was seamless, and the best part about working with NRCS was the program went really smooth and the technical expertise was excellent,” Moran said.
“WRP is restoration and the beauty of that restoration for both humans and animals alike,” Oates said.
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