By Gary Joiner
TFB Radio Network Manager

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Lone Star Land Steward Awards program recognized six private landowners this month for excellence in habitat management and wildlife conservation.

The regional awards seek to publicize the best examples of sound natural resource management practices and promote long-term conservation of unique natural and cultural resources.

In addition, the prestigious Leopold Conservation Award, the highest honor awarded in the program, was presented by the Sand County Foundation at the May 16 banquet in Austin.

“We’re excited about this year’s crop of winners. These folks are the best of the best in land stewardship,” Justin Dreibelbis, director of TPWD’s Private Lands and Public Hunting program, said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “These private landowners and what they do on their land are important to all of us.”

Dreibelbis said the May banquet marked the 24th year of the Lone Star Land Steward Awards program.

This year’s ecological region award winners are the Vacek Family Farm in Fayette County (Blackland Prairie region); the Pigfoot Ranch in Mills County (Cross Timbers region); the H.E. Butt Foundation Camps in Real County (Edwards Plateau region); the Lockridge Ranch in Henderson and Anderson counties (Post Oak Savanah region); the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch in Fisher County (Rolling Plains region); and the Kirchoff Farm in Wilson County (South Texas region).

The Killam Duval County Ranch in Duval and Webb counties received the 2019 Texas Leopold Conservation Award. The ranch is owned by David Killam and managed by David Kitner. The Killam family purchased the ranch in December 1992. They implemented wildlife management strategies across its 125,000 acres, instituting a detailed plan for the ranch that has benefited the landscape and wildlife, while maximizing economic returns.

“You have to have both cattle and wildlife,” Kitner said. “If you don’t graze this country, it just becomes a spot looking to have a wildfire run through it. The grazing enhances any areas of bare dirt. The hoof action of the cattle will break that cap up, let moisture penetrate and put organic matter back into the soil as natural fertilizer. The cattle benefit the land, which in turn benefits the wildlife.”

The Killam Duval County Ranch received the Lone Star Land Steward ecoregion award for South Texas in 2010.

Information regarding the Lone Star Land Steward Awards program, its nomination process and a link to video profiles of current and past regional winners are available online.

“The videos are one of our favorite things about this program—that we get to capture these very unique stories on short videos,” Dreibelbis said.

He said the nomination process for the awards comes from the field.

“Anybody can make those nominations of a special land steward. We’re always looking for the best of the best to pat on the back for doing the right thing,” Dreibelbis said.