None The Nature Conservancy in Texas Press Releases Search All Press Releases Niki F. McDaniel Senior Media Relations Manager, nmcdaniel@tnc.org, 210-224-8774, ext. 217

Davis Mountains Land Management Field Day set for Oct. 7

Nature Conservancy hosts free program on controlling invasive brush in grasslands for area landowners, land managers

Fort Davis, Texas —September 22, 2006 — The first Davis Mountains Land Management Field Day for area landowners and land managers interested in controlling invasive brush in grasslands will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, at The Nature Conservancy’s Davis Mountains Preserve in Fort Davis.

Participants will learn about the ecology of shrub invasion and a variety of brush-management techniques in sessions presented by experts from Sul Ross State University, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the Texas Cooperative Extension Service and The Nature Conservancy. The program is free for participants.

“Whether they’re running a cow-calf operation, a hunting ranch or just a place to relax, landowners and managers across the Davis Mountains are facing similar land-management challenges. One of the biggest challenges in the Davis Mountains is brush management,” said Colin Shackelford, Davis Mountains director of stewardship for The Nature Conservancy.  “From forage production to mule deer habitat, shrub invasion into grasslands has a significant impact on the land.”

Program topics and presenters during the Field Day will include:
• Overview of Davis Mountains soils and range sites, Lynn Loomis, Natural Resource Conservation Service.
• Ecology of brush invasion, Alyson McDonald, Texas Cooperative Extension Service.
• Herbicides and brush control, Jason Wrinkle, The Nature Conservancy.  
• Mesquite control overview, Logan Boswell, Texas Cooperative Extension Service.
• Fire and range management, Bonnie Warnock, Sul Ross State University.

The program will move outdoors on the preserve for field presentations on prescribed fire, mechanical brush control and herbicide use. Three CEU credits will be available for licensed pesticide applicators who participate in the Field Day.

Lunch will be provided during the day, with dinner and a social hour to follow the presentations.

Registration is required by September 29 for those wishing to participate. Call Colin Shackelford at (432) 426-2390 to register or for further information. Donations to offset the cost of meals will be accepted.

Shackelford added that The Nature Conservancy is working with landowners to conserve and restore grasslands throughout Texas and around the world. “Grasslands give us food, forage for livestock and pharmaceuticals in addition to providing important habitat for a multitude of native plants, animals and birds,” he said. “Grasslands also are important for protecting and recharging our streams, rivers and aquifers. Controlling brush to keep grasslands healthy not only helps achieve individual land-management objectives, it supports basic human needs.”

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The Nature Conservancy is an international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its nearly 1 million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped protect more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. In the Lone Star State, The Nature Conservancy of Texas owns 35 nature preserves and conservation projects and assists private landowners to conserve their land through more than 70 voluntary land-preservation agreements. The Nature Conservancy of Texas protects 250,000 acres of wild lands and, with partners, has conserved close to a million acres for wildlife habitat across the state. Visit The Nature Conservancy of Texas on the Web at nature.org/texas.