Check out this recent article from the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies about their work in West Texas at our Marfa ranch.
Winter Grassland Bird Tagging in Far West Texas
April 2023 at Dixon Water Foundation’s Leo Unit: Regen Ag School: Integrating Holistic Management® into Your Ranch or Farm
Don’t miss this rare opportunity at the award-winning Dixon Water Foundation Leo Ranch to gain comprehensive knowledge in Holistic Management® and create a livestock grazing plan that will help create more land health and financial success on your ranch or farm.
This school is for you if you’re interested in farming, ranching, land conservation, or urban agriculture and want to improve your decision-making, profitability, water use, and soil health. Large- and small-scale producers are all invited! Visit the link below for more information.
Grassroots Carbon event at Leo Ranch October 14, 2022
https://buildgrassroots.com/event/dixon-water-foundation-regenerative-practice-adoption-workshop/
HMI Grazing Workshop at Mimms Unit September 20-21, 2022
September 20-21, 2022 | 8:30AM – 5:00PM CST
Marfa Visitor Center USO Hall, 302 S. Highland Ave., Marfa, TX 79843
and Mimms Ranch of Marfa, TX
This two-day Advanced Grazing Workshop is for ranchers and those who want to learn how livestock grazing management strategies benefit rangeland and businesses with a focus on land literacy. Land and livestock managers who practice Holistic Planned Grazing monitor for results and rely heavily on their observations to effectively manage and adapt when conditions require. In doing so, they’re able to mitigate risk and loss.
Click here to read more and register
DWF in Recent Episode of Marfa Public Radio’s Nature Notes
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
Mourning the Loss of Walt Davis
We are saddened to announce the loss of our friend, mentor, and Dixon Water Foundation Board Member, Walt Davis.
As we process our thoughts on Walt, please see this recent tribute from the Holistic Management International newsletter.
BCarbon Begins Joint Research Project on Soil Carbon Sequestration with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
Project involves 20,000 acres of public and private grasslands.
BCarbon and ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE) will begin a three-year study of nature-based carbon sequestration potential in association with the King Ranch, the EXELL Cattle Company, the Clark Farm, the Dixon Water Foundation, the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, and the New Mexico State Land Office.
The research will measure variation in carbon sequestration rates between tallgrass, shortgrass, and Texas coastal prairie ecosystems across a variety of climate and soil conditions as well as quantify range management impacts on water and biodiversity. Other key capacity and cost issues will be studied, including new measurement technologies and regional soil carbon analysis infrastructure including data analytics, laboratories, education, and training.
BCarbon is a non-profit carbon credit certification organization based in Houston, Texas that was created in 2020 by a diverse stakeholder group sponsored by the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Jim Blackburn, CEO of BCarbon said, “Nature-based systems have the potential to significantly reduce our carbon footprint as well as provide far greater resilience for floods and droughts. This is the kind of real-world collaboration we believe will produce lasting results. And make no mistake about it – we are looking to create lasting results on climate, ecology and economics.”
Robert Hodgen, President and CEO of King Ranch, Inc. stated, “This project aligns with several of our core values including innovation, sustainability and support of rural communities. Our team is excited to collaborate with BCarbon and EMRE in this important project to define the natural carbon sequestration capacity of ranchlands across the country.”
Land Commissioner Jodi Smith with the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands added, “The Department manages over 700,000 surface acres of trust lands to provide funds for public schools and other public institutions. Managing these lands to naturally store more carbon could be important for the future funding of public education in North Dakota, and for meeting the state’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2030; however, we need the research to help us plan more effectively.”
Julie Maitland, Division Director for Agricultural Programs and Resources at the New Mexico Department of Agriculture said, “New Mexico is leading important efforts in climate change. Understanding how soil carbon might offer both climate solutions and important new economic revenue streams to our rural areas is critical to our long-term strategy.”
Will Barnes, Deputy Director of the Surface Resources Division of the New Mexico State Land Office added that, “working with state land agricultural lessees to conduct this kind of world class scientific research is vitally important to the protection of resilient rangelands and rural economies in New Mexico and helps the Commissioner’s efforts to create new diverse revenue streams on behalf of New Mexico public schools, universities and hospitals.”
Robert Potts, President of the Dixon Water Foundation offered, “We have supported our own research into soil carbon in the past. We know it occurs. We are very pleased to have a chance to extend our knowledge to areas like our Marfa, Texas ranching operations in drier climates where soil carbon accumulation will be more challenging.”
Dr. H.C. Clark, Owner of the Clark Farm in Texas, appreciates being part of this research project stating, “I’ve been reading about this potential soil carbon market for several years and am excited to be a part of the development of science-based research to help make better-informed decisions.”
“ExxonMobil’s continued investment in R&D plays an important role in developing breakthrough solutions aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity across our businesses,” said Vijay Swarup, Vice President of Research and Development at ExxonMobil. “This collaboration with BCarbon is designed to study the nature-based carbon sequestration potential in grasslands in multiple states, with the potential to be deployed on and around ExxonMobil operations.”
The project will be underway as of January 15th , 2022, and research updates will be posted here regularly. For further information, contact Jim Blackburn, CEO and Chairman of the Board for BCarbon, at blackbur@rice.edu.
View full press release here.
Dixon Water Foundation’s Mimms Unit becomes host to first Motus station in the Chihuahuan Desert
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
Advanced Grazing HMI workshop this week at Dixon’s Leo Ranch.
Registration ends Oct. 5, so please visit the link above to sign up.
Dixon Water Foundation – Guided Hikes, October 2021
We wanted to inform you of a couple opportunities that we are offering soon to hike on Dixon properties. These will be casual, free, guided hikes with limited attendance. The terrain may be rocky and the hikes will last a few hours, so please be prepared.
The first date we will be offering is Sunday October 10, 2021 at our Alamito Creek Preserve, about 30 miles south of Marfa, Texas. Guests will meet at the entrance to the ranch and hike along the creek with local birding experts during this fall migration. We’re offering two time slots: 8:00 AM and 8:30 AM.
Please visit these links to register:
Alamito Creek Preserve 8:00 AM
Alamito Creek Preserve 8:30 AM
The second date (sold out) is Tuesday October 12, 2021 at our Mimms Unit ranch just outside of Marfa, Texas. This hike departs at 9:00 AM. Guests will hike with Dixon staff and a local ecological site expert to discuss the grasslands.
Please visit this link to register:
Mimms Unit – Marfa Grasslands 9:00 AM (sold out)
An email will be sent with further information after registration.
Hikes may be canceled due to weather or if pandemic conditions worsen.
