Sportsmen Acres Community, Oklahoma

Transcription

(music) [Narration] The High Plains and Rolling Plains eco-regions make up what is commonly referred to as the Texas Panhandle. Bordering the states of New Mexico and Oklahoma, these eco-regions cover an area as far South as the cities of Odessa and San Angelo. The Eastern edge of the Rolling Plains encompasses the cities of Abilene and Wichita Falls. With wide-open vistas of prairies and playa wetlands, the High Plains is one of the most productive and biologically-diverse regions of the state. Sadly, it is also one of the least conserved. A large percentage of this eco-region has been converted to croplands, oil and gas fields, with wind energy development increasing daily. Still, a great diversity of wildlife continues to thrive here: mule deer, pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs, migratory waterfowl, and grassland-dependent species such as the Lesser Prairie Chicken. Equally important, there are twenty thousand playa lakes in the Texas High Plains that support over two-hundred and forty species of wildlife, almost a third of which are rare or endangered. But as land fragmentation, agriculture, and increased energy production claim more of the landscape, concern over the sustainability of existing wildlife habitat is at an all-time high. [Heather Whitlaw] The High Plains ecosystem, it doesn't work as a functioning system anymore because the system was dependent upon large-scale processes. This is fire dependent country. There were strong summer fires would come through the high plains. We needed large grasslands to have appropriate groundwater runoff from the rains to recharge the aquifer via the playas. And when we start fragmenting that, for example, put sedimentation into the playas from the production agriculture acres, then they don't function properly with that layer of dirt in them and the water is not returned back to the aquifer, and as a result, the ecological processes that were in place to support aquifer recharge, migratory shorebirds at playas, grassland dependent species such as Lesser Prairie Chickens, we don't have the available habitat or the properly functioning habitat to sustain those species. [Narration] The Lesser Prairie Chicken has been a candidate for listing as a federally threatened or endangered species since 1998. Over the years, conservation programs and partnerships with private landowners have helped keep the bird off such lists. Now more complex threats could reverse those efforts. [Heather Whitlaw] Wind farm development is increasing in the high plains. Some of the farms are thousands of acres in size and they take up a huge amount of native range and essentially make it unavailable for a number of our high plains wildlife species. In this case with the Lesser Prairie Chicken, the habitat threats are dire, and they continue. They're increasing. We need to continue to work with our private landowner partners to make sure that the bird and the habitats it depends upon are conserved, and healthy and functioning. [Narration] The Texas Wildlife Action Plan offers a proactive approach by encouraging better land use practices now, in order to prevent more costly and restrictive management actions in the future. [Heather Whitlaw] The biological diversity and the integrity of this system is important. We live here, this is our part of the world, we want this to function. We want to have the diversity of natural species and systems. At the same time this is a land of many uses and somehow our management challenge is to find the balance. Our goal is to stem the tide of habitat loss and fragmentation, both to benefit the species and also to maintain what we have left in intact high plains systems and hopefully even restore some of those processes and native range and that's why the Texas Wildlife Action Plan is so important. It sets forth our course of action for a healthy High Plains ecosystem. [Narration] That course of action includes continued technical guidance to help improve agricultural practices. Encouraging policies that limit negative development impacts, and working with landowners to prevent further erosion and landscape fragmentation. Traveling east off the C aprock Escarpment of the High Plains, the landscape transitions into the Rolling Plains. With over twenty-five million acres of rough broken topography, this region features grazing ranges, native prairie, and tree-lined riparian zones, all of which host a variety of wildlife. [Gene Miller] Typically what the average citizen or sportsman would think about when the Rolling Plains is named would be popular game species like morning dove, bobwhite quail, scaled quail, white-tailed deer, mule deer, Rio Grande wild turkeys. There is a connection also with some High Plains species like Lesser Prairie Chicken, black-tailed prairie dog. Two key non-game species that are very prolific throughout the Rolling Plains would be Scissor-Tailed Fly Catcher that can be seen easily in pastures and up and down roadways, and even species like Mississippi kites, these all are dependent upon healthy grasslands within the Rolling Plains ecosystem. [Narration] Like the High Plains, grasslands within the Rolling Plains eco-region also suffer from land fragmentation and conversion. But invasive plants have played an equally damaging role with an even greater impact on the state's most precious natural resource, water. [Gene Miller] Certainly we have a lot of agriculture influence, agricultural activity within the Rolling Plains- farming, livestock grazing and so-forth, but due to the hand of man, if you will, in the last 150 years, and the lack of fire, these areas have become invaded by the key woody plants we talk about, namely species like honey mesquite and red berry juniper and tree cholla cactus that affect habitat quality, productivity for livestock, that affect water infiltration rates, and the amount of water that ends up in streams, and seeps, and draws and ultimately more water down state for Texans to use. [Narration] For the future of the Rolling Plains, partnerships with private landowners will be essential to help manage wildlife habitats. [Gene Miller] It starts with plants and dirt. Comes down to wise use of the landscape of using traditional tools like planned brush management, planned use of fire, planned grazing, all in the proper proportions. If we do a good job at that, we'll have native plant communities, we'll have biological diversity and help private stewards of land in Texas meet their goals and objectives.