El Carmen Land & Conservation Company, LLC
Scope
The construction of two large format wildlife water guzzlers (“Nevada Style”), each incorporating approximately 5000 gallons of storage capacity and extremely reliable gravity fed drinkers on El Carmen Land & Conservation Company, LLC (ECLCC) property in the Big Bend region of Texas.
Background
These guzzler installations represent critical components of ongoing habitat enhancement slated for this 26,000+ acre privately held conservation property in support of recent and upcoming transplants of mule deer to this area, and the adjacent Black Gap Wildlife Management Area (TPWD) funded and championed by the CEMEX USA Corporation. The Mule Deer Foundation has sponsored the installation of multiple guzzlers on these two properties, and been involved with two previous transplants of mule deer and follow-up telemetry research documenting early stages of a successful restoration of deer numbers to this drought ravaged area (circa 2010-2013) that has historically supported a robust mule deer population and extensive hunting opportunities on both public and private lands. Others partnering in this broad based, landscape scale effort have included the CEMEX Corporation, the Texas Bighorn Society, Dallas Safari Club, Houston Safari Club, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Quail Coalition, Borderlands Research Institute (Sul Ross State University), and also involved extensive volunteer participation. The overall design of this conservation effort also encompasses the extensive El Carmen project (400,000+ acres) in adjacent Coahuila, Mexico (CEMEX) and Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Black Gap WMA (103,000+ acres), directly effecting well in excess of half a million acres of biologically diverse Chihuahuan Desert habitat. Additionally, all conservation efforts here indirectly effect neighboring protected landscapes including Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park in the US, and the Ocampo, Maderas del Carmen, and Canon de Santa Elena Flora and Fauna Areas in Mexico, creating a palate in excess of 3,000,000 acres for this massive, landscape scale conservation effort! . The Rio Grande river dividing the US and Mexico in between these properties also holds “Wild and Scenic River” status.
Expected Benefits
In addition to supporting past transplants of nearly 100 mule deer to this area, (ECLCC & Black Gap WMA) and another transplant slated for the coming year, numerous native game and non-game species will directly and immediately benefit from these installations including: desert bighorn sheep, scaled and Gambells quail, black bears, javelina, resident and migratory bird populations, and a host of other species.
Publication of high quality articles, press releases, and effective use of social media sites has been accomplished on past projects and will be an integral component of this project as well, providing valuable P/R benefits to all organizations involved!
Project Details
Specifically we want to build two large rainwater catchment systems, each capable of capturing in excess of 1000 gallons of water per inch of rainfall, and positioning these systems so that it is also possible to supplement this source with hauled water initially, and if required to ensure that this provides a reliable year-round water source for all native wildlife for decades to come.
Funding requested for this project from MDF is $30,000.00,
and we envision using some volunteer labor for construction of the guzzlers. The total project cost of approximately $40K includes site prep work and on-site project support services provided by CEMEX USA and ECLCC during what is expected to be a two day / four night endeavor in this remote location along the Rio Grande.
This is part of an ambitious project providing well documented, significant, and long term habitat enhancement for wildlife and extensive P/R benefits for the participating sponsors!