Decatur, Texas — Three Dixon Water Basis ranch properties, totaling greater than 21,000 acres, have been designated Audubon Licensed bird-friendly habitats by the Nationwide Audubon Society by way of the fowl nonprofit’s Conservation Ranching program. The land certification underscores the inspiration’s dedication to grassland administration, particularly by way of rotational cattle grazing as a method to create a mosaic of habitat for grassland birds.
Audubon Conservation Ranching is a wildlife habitat program working to stabilize declining grassland fowl populations in Texas and throughout the U.S. As detailed on this yr’s State of the Birds 2022, grassland birds are among the many fastest-declining fowl species in the USA, with a 34% loss since 1970. The Dixon Water Basis’s north Texas ranch in Cooke County – the Leo and Pittman models – consists of 5,000 acres of tallgrass prairie, a lot of it native. Right here, the Dickcissel, Japanese Meadowlark, and Northern Bobwhite are species of precedence. On the basis’s 16,000-acre Mimms Ranch northwest of Mara in Presidio County, the west Texas rangelands assist many various fowl species, together with the Burrowing Owl, Cassin’s Sparrow, and Scaled Quail.
The Dixon Water Basis, which exists to advertise wholesome watersheds and the sequestration of carbon by way of regenerative land administration, views the Audubon certification as an evolutionary subsequent step on the group’s environmental path.
“We see the Audubon Conservation Ranching program and the Audubon certification as being in alignment with our mission to advertise wholesome watersheds by way of good land administration,” mentioned Casey Wade, Vice President of Ranching Operations for the Dixon Water Basis. “By elevating animals tailored to thriving on native grass, we’re in a position to maintain 1000’s of acres of rangeland in meals manufacturing whereas additionally conserving habitat for the wildlife that make the most of these grasslands. By holding the grasslands intact, with good habitat for wildlife, good floor cowl, and wholesome soils, these grasslands may also be capable to catch extra rainfall, scale back runoff and erosion, and sequester extra carbon.”
Thomas Schroeder, Conservation Ranching Supervisor for Audubon in Texas, says that partnerships like with the Dixon Water Basis assist illuminate the function of cattle as habitat helpers. “Range is the secret for grassland birds,” Schroeder mentioned. “Managed rotational grazing permits for the simultaneous intense grazing of some pastures and choose resting of others, important for making a fascinating grassland mosaic for birds with differing habitat wants,” Schroeder mentioned.
By assembly all Audubon Conservation Ranching program necessities – that are third-party verified – beef produced on the licensed Dixon Water Basis ranches can carry the Audubon Licensed bird-friendly seal, a shopper bundle label that acknowledges product origin as lands managed for birds and biodiversity. The availability line from the Dixon Water Basis runs by way of the Grassfed Livestock Alliance, with product retailing on the recent meat counter at Entire Meals Market areas in Texas, in addition to Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.
For extra details about Audubon Conservation Ranching in Texas, contact Thomas Schroeder.
About Audubon Conservation Ranching
A wildlife habitat initiative of the Nationwide Audubon Society with a singular market entrance, Audubon Conservation Ranching’s objective is to stabilize declining grassland fowl populations in partnership with ranchers – on whose land 95 p.c of grassland birds stay. Audubon Conservation Ranching’s enrollment contains greater than 100 ranches, protecting greater than 3.5 million acres which have earned standing as Audubon Licensed Hen-friendly Land. Incentivizing this habitat work for birds and biodiversity are shoppers with an urge for food for conservation, who assist it with the acquisition of merchandise grazed on these lands. Customers see a particular bundle designation – the Audubon Licensed bird-friendly seal – that units these merchandise aside. For extra info, go to Audubon.org/ranching.
About Audubon
The Nationwide Audubon Society protects birds and the locations they want, at this time and tomorrow, all through the Americas utilizing science, advocacy, schooling, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon’s state applications, nature facilities, chapters, and companions have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches hundreds of thousands of individuals annually to tell, encourage and unite various communities in conservation motion. Since 1905, Audubon’s imaginative and prescient has been a world through which folks and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation group. Be taught extra at www.audubon.org and @audubonsociety.