Private farms, ranches and forestlands account for 83% of Texas' total land base include over 142 million acres owned and operated in more than 250,000 separate landholdings. Proper stewardship of the wildlife, water, rangeland, and forest resources provides much of the economic, environmental and quality-of-life infrastructure for the state. In addition, the awareness of natural resource issues and benefits of private land stewardship by urban clientele is critical for support of natural resource management. The Texas RREA project specifically targets land managers, community leaders, and urban clientele through high-impact programs designed for sustaining the productivity and conservation of natural resources on private lands. Our priority goals include insuring healthy ecosystems and enhancing resource management on working forests and rangelands. Our prime issues in pursuit of these goals includes management of invasive species; and addressing land conversion and fragmentation, and promoting the public benefits of working forests and rangelands. Associated issues include maintaining stewardship and health of forests and rangelands. The purpose of these programs is to increase the natural resource knowledge and technical capacity of clientele leading to better resource use, productivity, economic stability, and resource conservation.
