By Justin Walker
Communications Specialist

The Texas Agriculture Land Trust (TALT) will host a seminar in Far West Texas next month to discuss tools and strategies for working land conservation.

The Saving Family Lands Seminar will take place Nov. 6 in Alpine at Sul Ross State University’s Espino Conference Center.

The event was created for those interested in learning more about conserving agricultural land for future generations, Blair Fitzsimons, chief executive officer for TALT, said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network.

“The mission of the TALT is to help families conserve land for future generations,” she said. “The workshop is designed to address topics like mineral development, oil and gas development and the impacts on land and what landowners can do to mitigate those impacts.”

Sessions will include details on various conservation programs available in the Trans Pecos area, as well as information on conservation easement, a tool Fitzsimons said will help families keep their land together.

There are 144 million acres of privately-owned land in the state, 84 percent of which is used for farming, ranching or timberland, Fitzsimons said.

“Those agricultural lands provide some critical natural resources that benefit all Texans,” she said.

TALT was formed roughly 10 years ago to protect those lands, Fitzsimons said. Leaders from TFB, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers and the Texas Wildlife Association wanted a land trust that solely focused on agriculture.

“These folks were concerned that Texas was losing her agricultural land at one of the fastest rates in the country,” she said.

TALT has hosted dozens of seminars like this across the state to address agricultural land issues. Fitzsimons said it was time for one in the Trans Pecos area.

“There is a lot going on out there—a lot of recent oil and gas development, and we just felt like it was a good time to talk about these issues out there,” she said.

The seminar is free and open to the public.

“We welcome anyone who has interest in these issues, whether they are a landowner or not,” Fitzsimons said.

Click here for more information on the seminar.