When someone says Texas, we think about the open range and big blue skies.
We think about cattle ranches and the piney woods and warm starlit nights.
Texans have always been uniquely connected to the land, whether we come from a six generation
ranching family or have a favorite state park we visit every year.
The land is our natural heritage and protecting it ensures a future with clean air, abundant
water and places to play.
In 1982, the Texas Land Conservancy was founded by a group of Dallas conservationists dedicated
to protecting land for future generations.
Led by Edward C. Fritz, the father of Texas conservation, the group set out to save wild
lands throughout the state, starting with the east Texas piney woods.
He always used to say that being outdoors in the forest was something that rejuvenated
him and he loved it, he just really did.
He said, if we don't start conserving land, every square inch of Texas is going to be
concreted over.
The group wanted to make sure that future generations of Texans would have land protected
from the ravages of poorly planned development, but Texas Land Conservancy has honored that
legacy by protecting tens of thousands of acres throughout the state.
We work with landowners and conservation minded individuals to craft perpetual conservation
agreements.
These agreements leave the ownership of a piece of land in the hands of the landowners
while putting the responsibility of protecting the integrity of its natural resources into
our hands.
Texans are deeply connected to their rural heritage and because 95% of our land is privately
owned, the only way to really make a difference is by partnering with private landowners throughout
the state.
Each year more join the effort.
My name is Howard Hicks and this is the Pike Davis Ranch and my great great grandfather
came to Texas from the Tennessee, Kentucky border area in around 1854 with a group of
20 people and he settled right here within a mile or so of where we are right now.
I'm Joyce, Joyce Lucas and we're here on the Burke-Sommerfeld Heritage Ranch which has
been in my family for 136 years and land, owning land has always been extremely important
and I learned that from my parents, my grandparents and now my grandkids have that as well.
My name is Chuck Snaker and this is 340 acres that my wife and I purchased in 1994.
It's located in Somerville County about 90 miles southwest of Dallas, the horizon stretches
off into the distance and it is spectacular.
We have two creeks on the ranch, one of them is Davis Creek named after our family and
the other one is a larger creek that runs the whole length of our place from north to
south and it's called Big Branch.
My kids, my boys started hunting here when they were about eight and then my daughter
was several years younger and she would watch the boys hunt and I remember one time the
boys had killed there and she said dad when I get big you get me a gun and a knife and
I said yes Ruth we'll get you one so she started hunting as well and she killed one
of the biggest deer that we've ever killed here on the ranch and then now it's my grandchildren
that come up here and so it's another generation that has learned about the heritage and just
really loves to come up here.
This ranch is about 444 acres and it's part of it's on the Lano River and that's pretty
significant too because the Lano is one of the last remaining wild rivers in the country
and I have spent a lot of time with all of my grandchildren playing in the river.
I mean it's not very deep but they have had fun and they also hunt and it's something
for me keeping the land and protecting it has always been important to me and I'm really
thankful that that seems to be true for my two daughters as well as my three grandchildren.
When I was young we moved from the middle of Fort Worth where I was born to the far
west side and living out there we were on kind of the edge of suburbia at that point
and there was cattle grazing across the street and the behind us to the west there was nothing
until you got the weather for just rolling prairie.
As that development took place I felt like I'd lost something and just for whatever reasons
my entire life I've always felt a connection to the land and having some place like this
where you can come out and you can kind of experience nature you can get away from the
city of Dallas where my wife and I live and just it's quiet it's open you see birds and
wildlife that you don't see in the city it's just a it is a wonderfully spiritual feeling.
The land is like I say been in our family since 1854 and we would like very much to
keep it in our family we love the land the way it is the natural state that it's in the
wildlife that are around it and we'd like to keep it as close to this kind of state
as it can and we've seen a lot of fragmentation of land here in the health country it's just
not the same as it was so we'd like to conserve the land somewhat as it is and a good vehicle
for doing that is a conservation easement.
There are kind of two aspects to owning this property and there one is a backward looking
and one is a forward looking the backward looking aspect has to do with the restoration
process trying to get it back to the way that it was before it was plowed and grazed and
into some kind of habitat that is good for all the diverse organisms that live out here
and that's a backward looking thing trying to go back to where it was and then there's
the forward looking component where you're trying to keep it that way preserve it once
you've gotten there and that's what the conservation easement does for me it provides that aspect
of it making sure that the whatever work we put into trying to get this into a more healthy
ecosystem continues on after we're gone.
We're inspired by landowners who take such good care of their land whether they are carefully
managing the number of cattle grazing or clearing cedar to make sure streams run fast and clear
these landowners are the real conservation champions of our state and we are honored
to work with them and carry on their stewardship legacy long into the future.
For me that gives me peace and it gives me assurance that I have done with my piece of
property that was just put in given to me I know that I've done the right thing.
Anyone with a deep abiding love of the land that would like to see the land remain open
in a natural state if they don't want to when they're when they have sold that property
or when they have died if they don't want that property to be a shopping center or
apartment complex the only way that we can assure that that's going to be the case the
only way we're going to preserve any land in Texas is with conservation easements.
For a lot of people who have been arranging for many years or maybe their lifetime it
sounds like they're generally rugged individuals so to speak and they don't really want anybody
telling them what to do well this is a way that you can specify the way that you would
like for your ranch to be run from here on out and have someone that's going to check
to make sure that it's taken good care of and if you'd like to make sure that that
ranch stays in its natural state and for the wildlife and for livestock if that's what
the person wants to do and just for the open spaces and the beauty of it this is a great
way to ensure that that's done.
We have made a commitment to the people of Texas to protect their natural heritage forever
with the help of our dedicated volunteers the generosity of committed donors and your
support we will work towards a brighter greener future.
To join the Texas Land Conservancy as a member landowner or volunteer go to TexasLandConservancy.org
or email info at TexasLandConservancy.org.
