Dixon Water Foundation

Promoting healthy watersheds through sustainable land management

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DWF receives Leopold Conservation Award®

May 22, 2017 by Administrator

The state’s top land conservation award typically goes to a private ranch, but this year the honoree is the Dixon Water Foundation, a North Texas-based nonprofit which manages not one, but six different ranches, all of them devoted to demonstrating how good land management using cattle grazing can lead to more and better water for people and wildlife.

Founded in 1994 by the late Roger Dixon, the Dixon Water Foundation promotes healthy watersheds and sequestration of carbon through regenerative land management to ensure that present and future generations of Texans have the water resources they need. In 2005, the foundation acquired the Bear Creek Ranch in Parker County west of Fort Worth. In 2008, they went west to try their approach in drier soils, acquiring the Mimms Ranch near Marfa. Today the foundation operates six ranches totaling 21,960 acres. Each one utilizes a high intensity/low duration holistic grazing system which mimics the natural effect of large herds of bison which used to migrate through Texas.

On May 18, the foundation received $10,000 along with a Leopold Conservation Award crystal at the 22nd Lone Star Land Steward Awards dinner in Austin. This award is given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, and conferred each year by Sand County Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to private land conservation, in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In Texas, the Leopold Conservation Award program is sponsored by the Lee and Ramona Bass Foundation.

Dixon Water Foundation staff and board members receive the Leopold Conservation Award at the 22nd Lone Star Land Steward Awards ceremony in Austin on May 18th. (Photo by Texas Park and Wildlife Department)

Photo by Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept.

Since 1996, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has hosted the Lone Star Land Steward Awards to recognize private landowners for habitat management and wildlife conservation.  In addition to the statewide Leopold award, multiple eco-region recipients are acknowledged in various parts of the state.

A primary purpose of the award is to elevate outstanding landowners who can serve as a positive example to other ranchers and landowners, and to demonstrate how good land management practices can be both profitable and ecologically sustainable.

“Even though they’re a nonprofit, the Dixon Water Foundation always makes management decisions with the bottom line in mind,” said Justin Dreibelbis, who leads TPWD’s private lands conservation efforts. “If their ranches don’t pay for themselves, the demonstration won’t apply to other landowners.”

And the foundation has demonstrated decades of results, using only one tool: cattle.

“The only tool that we use is cattle, because that’s the tool that’s on the landscape; that’s what most landowners across Texas are using,” said Robert Potts, foundation president. “If you’re ranching for the long-term, this is the way to build the wealth in the land. This is going to be a much more profitable way, we believe, to run a ranch. Because you’re not mining the soil, you’re building the soil. That makes it more resilient during drought, and makes it more productive when you do get rain.”

Alongside its cattle enterprise, the foundation is committed to education, outreach and community service, and its list of these credits goes on and on for pages in the award nomination form. For example, Mimms Ranch serves as an outdoor classroom for K-8 students at Marfa International School. Students study sustainable land management, water quality, soil health, desert plants and animals, and other topics through hands-on activities at the ranch. Similarly, more than 1,200 students from Aledo I.S.D. west of Fort Worth complete field labs at Bear Creek Ranch. From studying how wildlife rebound after drought to pronghorn restoration, the foundation also hosts research projects on its properties in partnership with multiple colleges and universities.

Ultimately, it all comes back to water, which the foundation views as the single most important resource for Texas’ future.

“Lots of people worry about how much rain falls,” Potts said, “but what really matters is how much rain gets in the ground. That’s the rain you can use. The rain that runs off, that creates flash floods, that erodes creek banks, that silts up reservoirs — that doesn’t do you any good.”

“What’s easy to happen in these drier environments is that you lose the ground cover, and when that happens you end up with bare ground, and when you have bare ground it’s like not having skin on the earth,” Potts explained. “So we’ve been really pleased that we’ve been able to bring back a lot of the native cover with low grasses like curly mesquite interspersed with bunch grasses like blue gramma.”

“By owning these ranches and being able to raise and sell cattle and support the economics of the enterprise, we’re also able to build wealth in the soil. We’re able to build micro-life in the soil, sequester carbon in the soil, create healthier forage, and then that pays dividends over a long period of time.”

 

Filed Under: Recent News Tagged With: awards, ranching, wildlife

Study affirms adaptive grazing’s water benefits

May 2, 2017 by Administrator

Adaptive multi-paddock grazing enhances water conservation and protects water quality, according to a recent Texas AgriLife study published in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment.

“We found grazing management practices do have a significant influence on ecosystem services provided by rangelands,” said co-author Dr. Srinivasulu Ale, a geospatial hydrology associate professor. “Not only did the multi-paddock grazing practice provide several hydrological benefits such as increased soil infiltration, increased water conservation and decreased surface runoff, but also environmental benefits such as water quality improvement.”

Richard Teague, an AgriLife rangelands researcher in Vernon and science advisory board member for the foundation, was another co-author on the study. Teague said the research was designed to help producers assess the hydrologic and water quality impacts of traditional and alternate grazing management practices and identify best management practices for long-term sustainability of rangelands.

The Dixon Water Foundation funded the research project and employs adaptive multi-paddock grazing on Dixon Ranches.

For a summary of the research findings, visit the Texas AgriLife news website. The complete journal article is also available on ScienceDirect: “Evaluating the ranch and watershed scale impacts of using traditional and adaptive multi-paddock grazing on runoff, sediment and nutrient losses in North Texas, USA.”

Filed Under: In The Media Tagged With: ranching, research, water

Riparian workshop at Alamito Creek on April 13

March 28, 2016 by Administrator

The first Chihuahuan Desert Riparian and Pond Management Workshop will be held at on April 13 at the the Dixon Water Foundation’s Alamito Creek Preserve. This workshop is a collaboration between the foundation and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Sul Ross State University, Borderlands Research Institute, U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Nature Conservancy.

Registration is set from 8:30-9 a.m. at the Marfa National Bank, 301 S. Highland Ave. in Marfa. At 9:15 a.m. participants will caravan to the Alamito Creek Preserve for the remainder of the workshop.

“This workshop will be fast-paced and held in the field on rough terrain and walking to various sites will be required,” said Jesse Lea Schneider, AgriLife Extension agent in Presidio County and a workshop coordinator.

She said proper dress, for example sturdy shoes and a hat, are a must.

“Please bring your own lunch and plenty of water,” she said. “In the event of inclement weather, the workshop will be rescheduled.

“Our Chihuahuan Desert Riparian areas are some of the most misunderstood and underappreciated of the ecosystems. Our hope is to make this an annual event to bring educational opportunities to landowners and enthusiasts across the area.”

Individual registration is $10. RSVP by April 11 by calling 432-295-0342.

Topics and speakers include:

– Introduction to Dixon Water Foundation, Alamito Creek Preserve, Robert Potts, Dixon Water Foundation president and CEO, Presidio County.

– Pond Ecology and Fish Stocking, Peter Woods, AgriLife Extension fisheries program specialist, Bay City.

– Riparian Vegetation and Best Management Practices and Ecohydrology of Streams and Springs, Jeff Bennett, National Park Service physical scientist and hydrologist, Big Bend National Park.

– Linking Pasture to Stream, Dr. Alyson McDonald, AgriLife Extension range specialist, Fort Stockton.

– Grazing Riparian Zones, Dr. Bonnie Warnock, Sul Ross State University professor, Alpine.

– Water and Wildlife, Benefits and Nuisance Control, Dr. John Tomecek, AgriLife Extension wildlife specialist, San Angelo.

– Waterfowl and Wetland Management in Desert Landscapes, Dr. Ryan O’Shaughnessy, Sul Ross assistant professor.

– Farm Bill Programs, Carrie Koennecke, Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist, Marfa.

– Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Landowner Incentive Program and U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service, Arleen Kalmback, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department landowner incentive program coordinator, Austin.

– Experiences From a Land Manager, Chase McRory, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department district biologist, Sanderson, and Casey Wade, Dixon Water Foundation manager, Presidio County.

For more information, call Russell Martin, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department natural resource specialist, Alpine, at 432-837-2051, ext. 228 or Schneider at 442-295-0342.

Alamito Creek Preserve

 

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Alamito Creek, education, field program, ranching, water, wetlands, wildlife

The Grasslands: Nice to Visit, Critical to Save

February 4, 2016 by Administrator

Some of our West Texas neighbors posted a great set of Savory Institute articles and videos about grasslands, why we should care about them, and how we can restore them with sustainable grazing management. The Gill family used Holistic Management on this 32,000-acre high-desert mountain ranch located in the Sierra Diablo.

Below is one of the Savory Institute videos the Gills shared about grasslands:

Filed Under: Recent News Tagged With: grasslands, Holistic Management, ranching

Register for Southern Soil Health Conference

December 15, 2015 by Administrator

The Southern Soil Health Conference is coming up on January 12-13 in Ardmore, Oklahoma.

This conference for producers and land owners focuses solely on Soil Health, Cover Crops and Grazing. At least 75% of registrants are people directly involved with the land—production agriculture (crops and/or livestock) and land owners. This conference will also be producer driven with almost all the speakers and presenters being farmers. Keynote speakers will include: Dr. Allan Williams, Steve Tucker, John Heerman, and Darin Williams.

In addition, we will have 8-10 Texas and Oklahoma producers sharing about their individual experiences with Soil Health and how it has affected their farming operations. Some of these speakers are Jimmy Emmons, Craig Watson, Yates Adcock, Max Martin and more…

This conference is about knowledge and learning and not selling products. We will not be having a commercial trade show to promote individual companies or products.

The Southern Soil Health Conference is sponsored in part by the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Farm Foundation, No-Till on the Plains, Southern SARE, Texas Grazing Land Coalition, Dixon Water Foundation, Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, Oklahoma Conservation Commission, Sand County Foundation, and the Natural Resource Defense Council.

Learn more and register on the Green Cover Seed website.

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Filed Under: Events Tagged With: education, ranching, soil

National Conference on Grazing Lands on Dec. 13-16

November 24, 2015 by Administrator

The sixth National Conference on Grazing Lands, a unique conference for livestock producers by livestock producers, is coming up December 13-16 in Grapevine, Texas. The program lineup includes a tour of Dixon Ranches Leo Unit and soil health presentations by ranch manager Robbie Tuggle and science advisory board members Dr. Lisa Bellows and Dr. Richard Teague.

Learn more about or register for the conference on the National Grazing Lands Coalition website or in this article by Hugh Aljoe, foundation board member and Noble Foundation producer relations manager.

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: education, field program, grasslands, Leo Unit, ranching

Soil Carbon Curious

November 18, 2015 by Administrator

Soil Carbon Curious is a new short film from Peter Byck, the producer of Soil Carbon Cowboys and Carbon Nation. It’s about an exciting new collaborative research group, the ASU•Soil Carbon Nation Whole Systems Science Team. As Byck describes:

“Adaptive Multi-Paddock grazing (AMP grazing) is regenerating soils around the world, producing healthy grass-finished beef. But the science on AMP grazing is sparse, to say the least. Now, a group of leading soil, rangeland, bug and social scientists are setting out to fill the science gap. Led by Dr. Richard Teague of Texas A&M, and convened by filmmaker Peter Byck of Arizona State University, the ASU•Soil Carbon Nation Whole Systems Science Team is positioned to do large scale science that’s never been done before.”

The team is working on the 1 Million Metric Tons Pilot Program, which aims to demonstrate the carbon-sequestration potential of soil managed with adaptive multi-paddock grazing.

You can now also view Soil Carbon Cowboys en español.

Filed Under: In The Media Tagged With: grasslands, ranching, research, soil

SRSU sustainable ranching students in Odessa news

October 25, 2015 by Administrator

Students in Sul Ross State University’s sustainable ranch management program were featured in an article in the Odessa American. Steve Lang writes:

Despite a steady rain, students learned basic welding techniques in assembling gates on the O2 Ranch.

“They got to use a bit of grit to get the job done,” said Bonnie Warnock, Clint Josey Endowed Chair for Sustainable Ranch Management.

Respect and Vision are other operative words for the new program, which will offer both a B.S. degree and certificate program in sustainable ranch management. Through a combination of classroom and hands-on ranch experience, students will learn how to manage a ranch, literally from the soil up. The curriculum includes classes in soils, range management, wildlife management, animal husbandry and agricultural business…

…Rob Kinucan, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, said the Sustainable Ranch Management program came to fruition through a pleasant combination of personnel and support.

“This has been an aspiration of Bonnie’s since she first joined the faculty, but we never had the mechanism to make it happen until the Dixon Water Foundation created the endowment,” he said.

“This is a wonderful opportunity and we have the perfect person to lead the program. Bonnie has the right combination of an academic background blended with applied life skills in ranching. This is a stellar program that really fills a niche in West Texas.”

Read the full article on the Odessa American website. And learn more about the sustainable ranching program on the Sul Ross website.

Filed Under: In The Media Tagged With: education, grants, ranching

Cross Timbers Landowner Workshop at Leo on Oct. 2

September 30, 2015 by Administrator

Landowners in Cooke County are invited to a one-day workshop on October 2 with Texas A&M AgriLife at Dixon Ranches Leo Unit. From 7:30am to 4pm, participants will learn about recognizing the cross timbers, wildlife habitat management & tax appraisals, range management, conservation easements, soils, and invasive plants. Admission is $20. CEUs available. For a complete program, download a PDF of the Cross Timbers Landowner Workshop agenda.

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: education, field program, Leo Unit, ranching, soil

Ian Mitchell-Innes at Mimms Unit

July 25, 2015 by Administrator

Ian Mitchell-Innes, Holistic Management Educator and mob-grazing expert, held a workshop with Dixon Ranches staff, board of directors, and advisory board members at Mimms Unit in July. The South African rancher discussed grazing strategies, animal performance, and other topics.  

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[Show slideshow]

  

You can learn more about many of the principles and practices he covered in this online presentation, Ranching in Sync with Nature:

Ian Mitchell-Innes Ranching in Sync with Nature from ffbroadwell

Filed Under: Recent News Tagged With: field program, Mimms Unit, ranching

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The Dixon Water Foundation promotes healthy watersheds through sustainable land management to ensure that future generations have the water resources they need.
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Decatur, TX 76234

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Marfa, TX 79843

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