What it is:
The Trans Pecos Conservation Initiative is a landscape scale conservation program encompassing various efforts and entities working to restore habitats and populations of native flora and fauna species in the Trans Pecos / Chihuahuan Desert regions of Texas and New Mexico, and northern portions of the states of Coahuila and Chihuahua, Mexico, and preserving these attributes for future generations. We aim to accomplish this by putting boots on the ground doing substantial and sustainable habit enhancement projects.
Why Here:
Quite simply the strongest reason to do conservation work here may be that this is an area where we can win! The Trans Pecos region is expansive country by any definition. Its most remarkable features are probably its “sky islands”, towering mountain ranges connected by broad desert valleys that together support a dizzying array of wildlife that is uniquely adapted to live in this arid country. This arid nature lies at the heart of conservation work done here, and we must maintain the connectivity of these lands if we are to maintain the diversity of its inhabitants. This is a sparsely populated region where large landholdings are the norm, and significant parcels are already under various forms of long term protection. If we initiate habitat restoration efforts and wildlife management strategies here to restore this environment, it is feasible to affect conservation on a scale that is possible in very few places in the world today!
What we are doing:
We are breaking down what is at first glance an almost impossibly large job into workable pieces. Working toward a landscape scale vision and using sound science to guide us, we are intent on putting projects in place in a cohesive manner that have lasting impacts. Water is the key to all life in this country, and some of our most visible efforts to this point have been the installation of water collection devices called guzzlers, and erosion control features including gabions and dams. Our intent is to build out from critical, cornerstone demonstration areas that can be intensively managed in support of specific wildlife needs, and to maintain a backlog of meaningful projects available at all times. Current projects are underway to support existing and/or reintroduced populations of desert bighorn sheep, Gambell’s quail, mule deer, Rio Grande silvery minnows, pronghorn antelope, black bear and elf owls, and their supporting habitats. And as should always be the case, all wildlife will benefit from these efforts.
Who is involved:
The job at hand is too big for any one entity to tackle, and particularly among private landowners and public agencies, related work has been going on for decades. Our goal is to speed the pace of this work, and to carry it sustainably into the future by building powerful, long-term relationships and completing well designed projects whose real value is undeniable,
making it improbable that they fall out of favor or into disrepair in the future! Partners in our efforts to date include Texas Parks and Wildlife, the Texas Bighorn Society, the Mule Deer Foundation, Dallas Safari Club, the Quail Coalition, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Agency, Borderlands Research Institute (Sul Ross State University), the El Carmen Land & Conservation Company, LLC, CEMEX USA, the Cuenca Los Ojos Foundation, and private landowners.
What we would like from you:
Our goal is to build mutually beneficial, lasting relationships that make great things possible. We want to develop long-term commitments on the part of all involved to work together toward well defined common goals, and to intimately involve what is arguably your greatest asset, your people, in achieving conservation successes on a landscape scale. We want you to take ownership of a piece of this puzzle and to commit funding and sweat equity to its placement in the big picture. Work with us to develop a role that builds your organization in the process and we have a formula to carry the results of our work into the next generation, and the one after that!
Some specific projects currently completed or underway at this time include:
1) Installation of six self contained water guzzlers in support of a recent Gambell’s quail reintroduction along the Rio Grande sponsored by the Dallas Safari Club and the “Big Covey” Chapter of the Quail Coalition.
2) Construction of wildlife water guzzlers sponsored by CEMEX USA, the Mule Deer Foundation, Texas Bighorn Society, and the Dallas Safari Club on the El Carmen Land & Conservation Company Ranch and TPWD’s Black Gap WMA.
3) Multiple trap and transplants of mule deer to the ECLCC and Black Gap WMA with funding from Houston Safari Club and MDF.
4) The construction and expansion of wildlife water systems on the Lado Ranch near Van Horn funded by the Texas Bighorn Society and the Mule Deer Foundation.
For more information please contact David Wetzel at (719) 748-1289 or
dwetzel@phoenixlandandcattlecompany.com
