Leopold Live! Chapter 2 Recap: Herbicides and Brush Management

This past month we premiered our seventh episode of Leopold Live!: Chapter 2 with our wonderful partners at the Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, and we truly enjoyed connecting with you to talk about private land stewardship here in Texas. In this latest episode we spoke with Bamberger’s ranch manager, Steven Fulton, about herbicides and brush management and how this tool can help you manage wildlife habitat on your landscape.

Feral Swine Trap Loan Program Available to Landowners in Clay, Hardeman, Wichita and Wilbarger Counties

The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) is working with the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Texas Wildlife Damage Management Association (TWDMA), Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI), and four local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) to help address the issues that feral swine pose to agriculture, ecosystems, and the health of humans and animals.

What Landowners Need to Know: The Endangered Species Act in Texas

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) is a critical piece of legislation related to the conservation of threatened and endangered species and their ecosystems. This lesson provides historical context, a step-by-step look at the listing process, details on how this legislation impacts private landowners, and resources and opportunities for Texans.

Study investigates reintroduction of ocelots to native Texas range

A team of collaborators will study the viability of potential actions designed to reestablish a population of ocelots in South Texas to help increase their numbers in the U.S.

New film: How the Texas Longleaf Team works with landowners to restore the longleaf ecosystem

The NRI Texas Longleaf Team recently had a chance to work with Texan by Nature to produce a film celebrating the work we do, highlighting one of our landowner partners, Pine Island. 

Lights Out, Texas!

Each year, NRI participates in the Lights Out, Texas! campaign to promote education, awareness, and action that focuses on turning out lights at night during the spring and fall migrations to help protect the billions of migratory birds that fly over Texas annually.

Leopold Live! Chapter 2 Recap: Supplemental Water for Wildlife

In this latest episode we chatted with our own Dr. Jim Cathey and Bamberger’s resident zoologist, Jared Holmes, about supplemental water for wildlife and how you can implement it as a practice to help benefit species on your property.

TxMAP: A new way to map with conservation data

Creating your individualized, conservation-minded map of Texas just became the bee's knees.

Leopold Live! Chapter 2 Recap: Game Cameras

Lights, camera, Leopold Live! Last month we premiered our fifth episode of Leopold Live!: Chapter 2 with our incredible partners at Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, and we truly enjoyed sharing more about wildlife management practices through the series.

Return on Investment: How putting a dollar figure on the value of conserved lands can help save more of them

The fall issue of the Land Trust Alliance Saving Land magazine highlights recent grants to land trusts for remote monitoring projects, transformative partnerships between land trusts and Indigenous groups and NRI's work to define the economic value of protected lands.

September Conservation Matters is here

Water Seed Grant projects summarize progress, new chapter of Leopold Live! premiers, three AgriLife scientists earn recognition and more!

NRI's Director Dr. Lopez to head Texas A&M rangeland, wildlife and fisheries department

Will continue in dual role as the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute director

Featured Map: Land ownership types across the U.S.

Working lands, whether private or publicly owned, provide substantial economic, ecological, and recreational resources across the U.S. Here in Texas, we often boast of being a “private land state”, meaning the majority of the land (~95%) is held in private ownership. Many may wonder how this came to be and if other states fall under similar ownership patterns. For this new Featured Map, we briefly explore the history of land settlement across the nation and demonstrate the unique ownership landscape that exists today.

Private Land Stewardship Academies: Threatened and Endangered Species

We're building a community of practice around land stewardship where you can click, open, explore, shuffle and share the content to save and use as you need it. We're excited to share the final of four collections with you—out now: Threatened and Endangered Species.

Leopold Live! Chapter 2: Food Stations Recap

Lights, camera, Leopold Live! Last month we premiered the fourth episode of Leopold Live!: Chapter 2 with our incredible partners at Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, and we truly enjoyed getting to share even more about wildlife management practices through this series. Our hosts, Dr. Roel Lopez and Dr. April Sansom, introduced this new chapter of Leopold Live! and explained how new episodes will be a little different from what we covered in Chapter 1.

Texas A&M bird collection influences the future of ornithology, conservation

More than 27,000 birds that span state, nation and globe used for research, education

Read August's Conservation Matters

Helping Texas' unique snakes, Urban Riparian demonstration site gets more funding, tap water's journey & more in this issue of Conservation Matters.

Leopold Live! Chapter 2: Brush Clearing and Brush Piles Recap

Lights, camera, Leopold Live! Last month we premiered our third episode of Leopold Live!: Chapter 2 with our incredible partners at Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, and we truly enjoyed getting to share more about wildlife management practices through the series. 

A Big Opportunity for Small-Acreage Landowners

Conservation efforts often focus on large properties with thousands of acres of potential habitat. That focus is understandable, given the impact that effective stewardship of those holdings can have.

A video: How freshwater mussels attract fish

Did you know that freshwater mussels (Unionidae) use a variety of methods to attract fish? While some passively release glochidia in the water, others proactively lure fish to resemble minnows, insects and other prey. A little hard to imagine, right?

Private Land Stewardship Academies: Vegetation and Landscapes

We're building a community of practice around land stewardship where you can click, open, explore, shuffle and share the content to save and use as you need it. We're excited to share the third of four collections with you—out now: Vegetation and Landscapes.

Leopold Live! Chapter 2: Bluebird Boxes Recap

Lights, camera, Leopold Live! Last month we premiered our second episode of Leopold Live!: Chapter 2 with our incredible partners at Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, and we truly enjoyed connecting with you again as we continue with the series. Our usual hosts, Dr. Roel Lopez (TAMU NRI) and April Sansom (Bamberger Ranch), opened the episode by introducing this new chapter of Leopold Live! and explaining how these upcoming episodes will be a little different from what we covered Chapter 1.

Read July's Conservation Matters

TWRI publishes 2020 Annual Report, landowners can take a survey about longleaf pine, meet a scientist & more in this issue of Conservation Matters.

Helping Texas’ unique snakes through research

NRI as a unit of Texas A&M AgriLife, has been doing a lot of work researching three unique snakes; the Louisiana pinesnake, the eastern indigo and the massasauga rattlesnake.

ALRI Celebrates Landmark Year With 2020 Range-wide Accomplishment Report

America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative released its 2020 Range-wide Accomplishment Report celebrating a decade’s worth of accomplishments and significant progress towards restoring longleaf pine. 

Calling all landowners: a two-minute survey about longleaf pine

To amplify our restoration impacts in East Texas, we developed a short survey to learn more about how we can best serve possible landowner partners. 

Private Land Stewardship Academies: Wildlife Management

We're building a community of practice around land stewardship where you can click, open, explore, shuffle and share the content to save and use as you need it. We're excited to share the second of four collections with you—on deck: Wildlife Management.

Read the June Issue of Conservation Matters

Texas Land Trends Data Explorer tool reboot, meet scientist Pam Plotkin, NRI Sourcebook published & more in this issue of Conservation.

Leopold Live! Chapter 2: Wildlife Valuation 101 Recap

Leopold Live is back! We have officially premiered our first episode of Leopold Live!: Chapter 2 with our incredible partners at Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, and we truly enjoyed connecting with you again as we embarked on this next part of this series.

The Spring 2021 Sourcebook: Volume 2, Issue 1

From the field to your desk, the Spring 2021 NRI Sourcebook is here — a digital collection complete with the recently accepted peer-reviewed scientific publications, research reports, and resources developed to support the improvement of conservation, natural resource management and private land stewardship.

Reboot: The Texas Land Trends Data Explorer

Under the Texas Land Trends project, informative reports have been developed over the years to empower public and private decision-makers with the information needed to plan for the conservation of vital working lands. Public usability and access to this report data has been a cornerstone of this long-standing effort, promoting the creation of the Data Explorer tool, which was first launched in 2015.

Fossilized tracks show earliest known evidence of mammals at the seashore

Researchers report the discovery of several sets of fossilized tracks, likely from the brown bear-sized Coryphodon, that represent the earliest known evidence of mammals gathering near an ocean.

Preparing for hurricane season, NRI publishes 2020 annual report, meet scientist Paul Montagna & more in May's Conservation Matters

NRI selected as DoD 2021 Environmental Award Winner

Academy of Finland funds topical, high-impact and innovative Postdoctoral Researchers in biosciences, health and environment

The Academy of Finland’s Research Council for Biosciences, Health and the Environment today decided to fund 33 new posts as Postdoctoral Researchers including NRI's Melissa Meierhofer.

Behind the Scenes: Leopold Live Chapter 2

We've officially kicked off filming for Leopold Live!: Chapter 2 and we're excited to give you a behind-the-scenes peek at what's coming up in the next few months from new stewardship practices to practical knowledge to keep in your back pocket. 

The NRI 2020 Annual Report is here

Each spring, NRI releases an Annual Report highlighting our mission, our programs, and the impactful projects defining the last year. We are continually grateful for the opportunities to pursue natural resource conservation solutions across the nation for generations to come. 

PEW: Along Southeast Coast, Plan to Protect 1 Million Acres of Salt Marsh Draws Broad Support

Fishermen, hunters, and others say safeguards would help nature and communities from North Carolina to Florida

Private Land Stewardship Academies: Natural Resource Management

We're building a community of practice around land stewardship where you can click, open, explore, shuffle and share the content to save and use as you need it. We're excited to share four collections with you—first up: Natural Resource Management.

2021 Soil Stewardship Week: Healthy forests, healthy communities

NRI has partnered with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, Association of Texas Soil & Water Conservation Districts, Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas Wildlife Association, and Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association to highlight Soil and Water Stewardship Week and the importance of voluntary land stewardship in Texas. The statewide campaign is April 25 through May 2, 2021, and the focus this year is “Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities.”

Earth Day: Restoring the only land we have

Stewardship, conservation, restoration—all words you'll read and hear at NRI. This week, we're joining communities around the globe in celebrating Earth Week—Restore our Earth, and we want you to come along. Read more to find out how you can jump in this week.

April Conservation Matters is here

Texas Longleaf Implementation Team named 2021 Conservation Wrangler, TWRI publishes new txH2O magazine & more in this issue of Conservation Matters.

Pretty and powerful: six wildflowers that benefit Texas ecosystems

April showers bring May flowers, which may be the better part of spring for Texans—a charismatic display to distract us from the inevitable heat ahead. Alas, they are more than their displays.

What's the rub: Why wild pigs rub on trees, poles and posts

New video: Have you ever wondered why wild pigs leave rub markings on trees, poles, posts and other surfaces? Learn the three most common reasons why we find these rubs in various places, what they mean and how this behavior impacts vegetation and structures.

CultureMap: Laura Bush nature group picks 4 Texas conservation projects to help

Texas conservation nonprofit Texan by Nature has named its picks for conservation projects for 2021, which include water, pine trees, birds, and horned lizards.

TLIT Named 2021 Conservation Wrangler by Texan by Nature

Texan by Nature (TxN), a Texas-led conservation non-profit today announces the selection of the 2021 Conservation Wranglers. Conservation Wrangler is an accelerator program that catalyzes the very best Texan-led conservation projects occurring in the state. Selected projects are science-based and demonstrate a positive Return on Conservation for people, prosperity, and natural resources.

No Party like a Plant Party: A look into Texas Rangeland Plants

Dr. Megan Clayton, Associate Professor and Extension Range Specialist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and one of NRI’s partners in support of RREA, is seeking to address the widespread lack of plant knowledge with a new program that puts the spotlight on Texas vegetation.

Update: Wild pigs negatively impact ground-nesting birds

Abatement efforts to reduce the negative impacts associated with wild pigs remain essential to the conservation of natural resources and native wildlife. Learn more about the impact of wild pigs on ground-nesting birds in our latest short video.

Conservation Matters: March 2021

Read about the Ogallala Aquifer Virtual Summit, see the featured map, meet a scientist & more in this issue of Conservation Matters.

Activity Patterns and Behavioral Modifications of Feral Swine in North America and Eurasian Boar in Europe

One means of understanding wild pig biology and behavior is turning to their not-so-distant relatives, the Eurasian boar. Read more to see how we examine the differences between North American feral swine and Eurasian boar research focused on the activity patterns and behavioral modifications of these animals in response to both human control efforts and environmental influences.

Texas Brigades summer camps offer wildlife knowledge, life skills

Summer is fast approaching, and that means summer camps are on the horizon. But not all summer camp experiences are created equal...

Featured Map: Demonstrating the cascade of stewardship

Water is a cornerstone in supporting Texas’ rich array of landscapes, burgeoning populations and prosperous economy. Managing and regulating this valuable resource to ensure long-term, sustainable use is a top priority for state and local planners—however, it quickly becomes a delicate balance with consideration to ecological processes, natural disasters and general land/water ownership rights.

Texas Brigades accepting summer camp applications through March 15

Texas Brigades is accepting applications for its summer Brigade Camps. Applications are due online by March 15.

Promoting Coastal Resilience Through Partnerships and Planning

What some might see as an unlikely partnership at first, has blossomed into an action-oriented, trail-blazing group of partners working collaboratively towards a common goal: building coastal resilience in the Southeast region.

2021 REPI Webinar Series is Released

Join the REPI office for this online series highlighting best practices, knowledge sharing and tutorials on REPI partnership efforts that support military missions, accelerate the rate of conservation, and promote military installation and community resilience.

Leopold Live: Chapter One

Just like old times, only different. Adjusting to social distancing measures allowed us to think creatively in how we approach our engagement and education work, and partnering with the Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve was a smart match for our team and like-minded missions—educating land stewards by demonstration and practice. 

Citizen science: How a community saved the Key deer

When a member of a Florida Keys community found an old survey collar, a local Facebook group dedicated to a native endemic species pulled together and reached out to NRI reminding us how critical citizen science can be for wildlife. 

Sentinel Landscapes Partnership Announces 2021 Designation Cycle

The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership is now accepting applications for its 2021 designation cycle! Apply today to become part of an innovative community working to strengthen military readiness, bolster agricultural economies, and enhance climate change resilience. 

TSSWCB Receives Additional Funding from USDA-NRCS to Address Feral Swine in Texas

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced it is awarding approximately $1.5 million to the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) to fund three additional pilot projects to control feral swine in Texas.

Financial, ecological benefits of conservation easements on working lands

A recent report by the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, Texas Water Resources Institute and Texas Land Trust Council shows state-funded conservation easements in Texas provide numerous financial and ecological benefits.