Dixon Water Foundation

Promoting healthy watersheds through sustainable land management

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New Report Testing Novel Phenology Monitoring Approach to Help Inform Graze Planning

June 22, 2023 by Dixon Water Foundation

In the spring and summer of 2022, Dixon Water Foundation helped sponsor and host a project that utilized novel imaging technology to track prairie plant phenology. Phenology is the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate, plant and animal life. As phenology relates to plants, it refers to flowering and seeding.

This project, conducted by the Bontanical Research Institute of Texas, explored the use of time-lapse cameras and community science protocols to observe and analyze pollinator abundance and plant phenology within various pastures of Dixon’s Leo Unit in North Texas. By understanding when and where pollinators and resources important to pollinators were on the landscape throughout the year and considering this information when making a grazing plan, ranchers may be able to promote conservation of essential species and native prairie functionality.

See the results of the pilot study in the report linked here.

Filed Under: News & Events, Recent News Tagged With: education, field program, grasslands, ranching, research, wildlife

Winter Grassland Bird Tagging in Far West Texas

March 2, 2023 by Dixon Water Foundation

Sunrise at Mimms Ranch. Photo by Josh Lefever
https://www.birdconservancy.org/winter-grassland-bird-tagging-in-far-west-texas/

Check out this recent article from the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies about their work in West Texas at our Marfa ranch.

Filed Under: In The Media, News & Events, Recent News Tagged With: education, grasslands, ranching, research, wildlife

DWF in Recent Episode of Marfa Public Radio’s Nature Notes

July 1, 2022 by Dixon Water Foundation

The central grasslands stretch from Canada to West Texas, and extend into the desert highlands, from Arizona to the Marfa Plateau and Chihuahua. For many Americans, they remain as foreign as they were for Cather’s 19th-century narrator. Grasslands are thought to lack the “charisma” of mountains and forests – to some, they epitomize “fly-over country.”

But the grasslands in fact contain an immense natural and cultural richness. And they’re deeply imperiled. Of the 600 million acres of historic grasslands, two-thirds have been lost or degraded. There’s a growing effort to preserve and restore them. And in Trans-Pecos Texas, the Dixon Water Foundation is committed to that effort…

Read More Here

Filed Under: In The Media, News & Events Tagged With: field program, grasslands, Holistic Management, Mimms Unit, ranching, research, soil, wildlife

Dixon Water Foundation’s Mimms Unit becomes host to first Motus station in the Chihuahuan Desert

January 28, 2022 by Dixon Water Foundation

In Mid-December, 2021, Dixon Water Foundation’s Mimms Unit ranch in the Marfa Grasslands became the first location in the Chihuahuan Desert to host a Motus wildlife tracking station. Motus is an international network of tracking stations that will document when radio-tagged migratory wildlife species come within the range of the a deployed station. This range is typically around 15-20km (9-12 miles). The station utilizes several radio antennas that coincide with widely used radio collar technologies, as well as a solar powered logger that catches observation data which is uploaded over a cellular network.

The Mimms Unit was selected as a host site due to the presence of over-wintering grassland birds that are the focus of several studies researching habitat requirements and causes of population declines for species of concern. Many birds spend their breeding seasons in the Northern Great Plains and migrate south to the Chihuahuan Desert for the winter. The goal of this station is to record the presence of radio-tagged birds to help answer questions about when and where birds spend various portions of their life cycle.

Dixon staff worked with the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies to locate a site for the new station and chose to repurpose an out-of-service utility pole on a hillside overlooking large pastures.

Researchers and the public alike can learn more about Motus at their website, motus.org

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies technicians talk to seasonal survey teams about the newly deployed Mimms Unit Motus station, December 2021.

Filed Under: News & Events, Recent News Tagged With: grasslands, Mimms Unit, research, wildlife

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

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

North Texas Land Scholars application deadline July 1

June 15, 2015 by Administrator

North Texas Land Scholars is a five-day leadership camp that fosters a passion for land stewardship through hands-on activities like hunter safety, plant and insect collections, quail habitat analysis and dissections, and much more. A partner of the Dixon Water Foundation, UNT Quail created this program to encourage youth to become responsible leaders and land stewards, and ultimately to restore the ranch and wildlife legacy of Texas. The application deadline is July 1, and the 2015 camp runs July 26-31 at Camp Grady Spruce. Financial assistance is available, and scholarships are awarded during the camp. For more information and an application, visit the North Texas Land Scholars website. 

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: education, grants, wildlife

RMBO produces video about Mexican grasslands

October 14, 2014 by Administrator

One of our partners, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory, collaborates with private landowners in northern Mexico to support working ranches and improve grassland habitat for birds and other wildlife. They produced this great video about sustainable ranching in Chihuahuan Desert grasslands earlier this year.

Filed Under: In The Media Tagged With: grasslands, ranching, wildlife

Rodent recovery at Mimms in Texas Wildlife magazine

October 8, 2014 by Administrator

The recovery of small mammals at Dixon Ranches Mimms Unit in Marfa, following the 2011 Rock House Fire, was featured in the September 2014 issue of Texas Wildlife magazine. Writing for the Texas Wildlife Association publication, graduate student Bobby Allcorn and Professor Bonnie Warnock of Sul Ross State University‘s Borderlands Research Institute describe their Dixon-supported research on rodents at Mimms and a neighboring ranch in Presidio County. They write:

Rodents are such an integral part of their ecosystems that management plans for a landscape, or a species, should take into account the potential state of the small mammal population. The research being conducted here will help landowners and wildlife professionals make more informed decisions and develop better strategies to achieve their goals.”

Filed Under: In The Media Tagged With: Mimms Unit, research, wildlife

RFD TV’s Out on the Land features Mimms Unit

January 20, 2014 by Administrator

The Dixon Water Foundation’s Mimms Unit in Marfa will be profiled on RFD TV’s Out on the Land on February 4 and 5, 2014. For showtimes and channel information please visit Out on the Land‘s schedule. [The complete episode is now available online.]

Filed Under: In The Media Tagged With: cattle, Holistic Management, Mimms Unit, ranching, water, wildlife

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OUR MISSION

The Dixon Water Foundation promotes healthy watersheds through sustainable land management to ensure that future generations have the water resources they need.
https://youtu.be/WdtvsHgsnPo

NORTH TEXAS OFFICE

4528 County Road 398
Decatur, TX 76234

WEST TEXAS OFFICE

P.O. Box 177
Marfa, TX 79843

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