TPWD Is Taking Grassland Restoration Applications Through Dec. 4 in 30 Texas Counties

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said Nov. 13 that it is accepting applications for the Grassland Restoration Incentive Program in what it calls the Great Plains region of Texas. The official release, issued from Austin, says the application period opened Nov. 4 and runs through Dec. 4. Landowners who want to apply should treat that deadline as already underway, not as a window that opens later this month.

TPWD is offering the round in partnership with the Oaks and Prairies Joint Venture and Quail Forever. The program, the department says, "aims to restore or improve native grassland habitat on private lands in select counties in Texas." Landowners are eligible for financial assistance to carry out habitat work that includes brush management, prescribed fire, firebreaks, herbaceous weed treatment, range planting, and wildlife habitat planting. The Nov. 13 announcement does not state a cost-share rate, a maximum award, or a minimum acreage. It also mentions a "GRIP flyer" with program contacts, but the flyer itself was not attached to the release page as fetched for this report.

The eligible counties, as listed by TPWD, are Archer, Austin, Baylor, Callahan, Clay, Colorado, Delta, Dewitt, Edwards, Ellis, Fayette, Fannin, Gonzales, Hunt, Karnes, Kinney, Lamar, Lavaca, Montague, Navarro, Real, Red River, Shackelford, Stephens, Throckmorton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Washington, Wilson, and Wise. That list is the department's. It includes counties well east and south of what many Texans think of as the High Plains, and this account does not relabel it. A January TPWD release advertised an earlier GRIP window in the same counties, with a March 4 deadline, and told applicants to visit a local USDA Service Center. Today's announcement does not repeat that instruction, and this report does not treat the January application path as the rule for the December deadline.

GRIP began in 2013 and, according to the Nov. 13 release, "has successfully treated more than 132,000 acres in Texas." That is a cumulative figure for the program in Texas, not an acreage target for this application period. The department says Texas, "along with much of the Great Plains, has experienced significant native grassland habitat loss through brush encroachment (e.g., mesquite, juniper), urban expansion, conversion to non-native monocultures, and other ecosystem stressors." It describes the incentive program as "one of several steps TPWD is taking to help wildlife species that rely on native grasslands such as bobwhites, meadowlarks, and horned lizards."

Bobwhite numbers and hunting seasons are a separate subject, as we reported in Texas Quail Surveys Point to a Good Season, and Scaled Quail on the Edwards Plateau More Than Doubled. This announcement is about restoring grass on private land, not about bag limits or season dates. It is also not the same program as the Panhandle Grassland Restoration Incentive Program, which TPWD has advertised separately for High Plains and Rolling Plains counties.

For more information, the department says, landowners should contact their local biologist, another trusted conservation professional, a contact listed on the flyer, or Derek Wiley, TPWD's Conservation Delivery Coordinator, at 512-902-7379 or [email protected]. TPWD's Find a Wildlife Biologist page asks users to select a county, or type to filter by name, with results listed below. This article does not reprint individual biologist names or phone numbers from that tool.

Most of the grass that still matters to quail, meadowlarks, and horned lizards in these counties is on private land. A state program that pays a landowner to cut brush, set a safe fire, or plant native grass is one practical way to put habitat back without the state buying the ranch. The offer is only as good as the deadline and the terms, and the terms in this announcement are limited: 30 named counties, a December 4 close, and a list of practices. Anyone interested should call the department and get the application in hand before the window shuts. "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea" is a verse about a king, but the ordinary work of a Texas landowner is closer to this: "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof" (Psalm 24:1). The grass is not ours to waste, and it will not come back by wishing.