West Texas Rangelands
West Texas RangelandsWe hope to provide a variety of science-based rangeland information and current research on prescribed fire, wildfires, brush management, and grazing management!

What is the Value of Native Vegetation Restoration on Oil & Gas Rights-of-Way?

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Did you know that there are more than 500,000 miles of oil and gas rights-of-ways in Texas alone? There has been limited information available to evaluate the difference in restoring disturbed lands to native states versus the more traditional use of non-native seeds. Being able to understand the difference along with the ecosystem impacts and the social benefits could create a positive case for vegetation restoration by the oil and gas industry. 

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2023 Rural Land Value Trends Report

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Check out the 2023 Rural Land Value Trends Report from Texas Agriculture Law Blog by Tiffany Lashmet! https://agrilife.org/texasaglaw/2024/05/06/2023-rural-land-value-trends-report-is-here/

West Texas:

Strong demand for quality tracts continues to hold up prices in the region. At $2,410 per acre, prices rose 8.02 percent YOY. Tract size has also decreased from highs in 2021 and 2022, coming in at 385 acres this quarter, 10.65 percent below one year ago. Annualized sales volume declined 50.97 percent to 431 sales. Total dollar volume at $155.54 million decreased by 72.39 percent. At 64,540 acres, though a slight increase from last quarter, total acreage declined 74.44 percent YOY. Fourth quarter only sales volume fell 26.09 percent below that of fourth quarter 2022, a much less drastic drop compared to YOY.

Region 3 Take Homes:

Counties included: Archer, Baylor, Childress, Clay, Coke, Collingsworth, Concho, Cottle, Crockett, Dickens, Donley, Edwards, Fisher, Foard, Glasscock, Hall, Hardeman, Haskell, Irion, Jack, Jones, Kent, King, Kinney, Knox, Mitchell, Motley, Nolan, Reagan, Runnels, Schleicher, Scurry, Shackelford, Stephens, Sterling, Stonewall, Sutton, Taylor, Throckmorton, Tom Green, Upton, Val Verde, Wheeler, Wichita, Wilbarger, and Young.

  • In discussions with an attorney in San Angelo, he stated that he had worked on 10 to 15 wind and solar leases in 2023, with 8 to 10 of those signed. Several of the companies decided they were no longer interested before the lease was signed.
  • According to the attorney, this was due to a number of factors including poor due diligence on the part of the company or ERCOT West not having enough transmission lines. These wind leases come in blocks where the attorney may represent one to a dozen landowners at a time.
  • As mentioned in the 2022 discussion, a solar farm in San Angelo area was expanding. This expansion has been completed from one to two sections.  There has not been any construction in the immediate San Angelo area since 2022 of any new solar farms.  This could be a result of the increased cost due to higher interest rates, cost of materials and construction costs.
  • Purchases by developers dropped significantly in 2023. This is due primarily to the increased interest rates and the fact the end users for these properties are no longer in the market due to the higher interest rates.
  • There continues to be an increase in residential development in the immediate area of the larger trade areas, specifically Wichita Falls, Abilene and San Angelo. It appears that residential buyers continue to move to areas with smaller schools, which are considered to be above average for educational opportunities.

 

For the 2023 and previous years report, be sure to download it here – https://www.txasfmra.com/rural-land-trends

Rural Land Trends – Texas Chapter ASFMRA. (2024, March 29). Texas Chapter ASFMRA. https://www.txasfmra.com/rural-land-trends

Effective Management Practices for Increasing Native Plant Diversity on Mesquite Savanna-Texas Wintergrass-Dominated Rangelands

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In the ecoregions of the Rollings Plains and Cross Timbers of Texas, there are many native grassland communities that have been converted to low-diversity plant communities by long-term overgrazing of cattle and fire suppression. 

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CO2 Flux over Burned Honey Mesquite Savanna Rangeland

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Prescribed fire is a management practice used to reduce woody plant encroachment on rangeland and maintain native perennial grass diversity and productivity. Prescribed fire effects on CO2 fluxes and their contribution to atmospheric CO2 is not well known. The study below discusses the effect of fire on net ecosystem CO2 flux above Prosopis glandulosa Torr. (honey mesquite) using the Bowen ratio/energy balance method (BREB), and to compare these fluxes to fluxes determined by an empirical model.

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Extreme Prescribed Fire during Drought Reduces Survival and Density of Woody Resprouters

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Researchers looked at extreme fire conditions during drought in humid subtropical and semi-arid ecoregions that require innovative management strategies that go beyond the traditional restoration and conservation practices. These practices have either been historically ineffective or economically cost-prohibitive at restoring grass-dominated ecosystems following conversion to resprouting shrublands.

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An Economic Comparison of Prescribed Extreme Fire and Alternative Methods for Managing Invasive Brush Species in Texas: a Modeling Approach

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Did you know that 40% of the Earth’s surface is covered in Rangelands? However with the increase of brush encroachment, there has been an increase in conversion from rangeland into undesirable and unproductive species. In the Rolling Plains the primary invasive species focused on is prickly pear cactus, in South Texas Plains huisache is the primary focused species, and in the Edwards Plateau, Ashe & Redberry Juniper are of concerns. One fun fact, Mesquite is considered to be a secondary problem in all three of these ecoregions.

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Analysis of the Cost and Cost Components of Conducting Prescribed Fires in the Great Plains

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Fire is a naturally occurring process that was first applied by the Native Americans and continues today in the Great Plains by a diverse group of landowners. Fire is an incredible tool that is used to help restore fire regimes in the region. Not only is it used to restore fire regimes, it is also used to maintain and grow benefits for Agricultural outputs, risk reduction, and ecosystem maintenance.

 

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USDA Expands Conservation Practices Qualifying for Climate-Smart Funding

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At the end of October, USDA released an updated NRCS expanded list of practices and activities that are eligible for Climate-Smart funding through the Inflation Reduction Act. In addition, they added additional funding for the practices for the fiscal year 2024. 

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