Seasons – August 2022

As our summer season comes to a close and we look forward to cooler weather (and hopefully some rain!) this fall, now is the time to ensure your property is on track to complete all necessary qualifying Wildlife Management activities, and that they are well documented.

In this issue of Seasons, we will highlight tips for Wildlife Management during drought cycles, management activities to complete before the end of 2022, wildlife management activity suggestions for predator control, webinars for landowners, upcoming events, news and articles for Texas landowners, and more.

As always, we hope you enjoy all that this season and Seasons has to offer! Stay safe, and stay cool out there friends!

Until next Seasons,

The Plateau Team

It has to Rain Sometime. 

Shane Kiefer, Chief Operating Officer, Certified Wildlife Biologist

“It never failed that during the dry years people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.”

John Steinbeck, East of Eden.

I wrote the first version of this article 16 years ago. At that time, the quote above seemed to me to perfectly capture the western attitude about rainfall and drought. Looking back from 2022, it seems nearly impossible to forget the dry years simply because the wet years have seemed so sparse, or perhaps the magnitude of the dry years has been so large they have taken up permanent residence in my mind.

Drought has always been a recurring feature in Texas, but a look at the US Drought Monitor Time Series (graphic below) gives me a different perspective on those 2006 concerns. Since that 2006 drought, Texas has seen “Severe” to “Exceptional” droughts in 2008, 2009, 2011-2015 (with brief reprieves in some areas), 2018, 2021, and 2022. The cycles appear similar, but the intensity of those dry periods is noticeably different. Exceptional Drought (the most severe category) barely makes an appearance until 2006. It has since recurred in all those years mentioned above. The worst of them all was 2011, when at one point almost 90% of the state was in Exceptional Drought. That 2006 drought was bad, but there are been 4 very similar periods since 2013.

Since the 2006 drought, Texas has seen “Severe” to “Exceptional” droughts in 2008, 2009, 2011-2015 (with brief reprieves in some areas), 2018, 2021, and 2022. The cycles appear similar, but the intensity of those dry periods is noticeably different. Exceptional Drought (the most severe category) barely makes an appearance until 2006.

What is Drought?

Drought is defined in several ways, but the simplest definition is a period when rainfall is less than 75% of the long-term average. There are other factors to consider, such as evaporation and soil moisture, which tell us more about how much water is available to plants and wildlife for growth. The US Drought Monitor uses a combination of several indicators including the Palmer Drought Severity Index, soil moisture models, USGS streamflow, and others to categorize drought in five levels – Abnormally Dry, Moderate Drought, Severe Drought, Extreme Drought, and Exceptional Drought. As of 8-2-2022, 97% of TX is in Moderate to Exceptional Drought, with over 60% in Severe Drought or worse. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center is expecting La Niña to continue through fall and early winter, meaning it is not likely to get better anytime soon.

Agricultural Impacts

As always, agricultural producers are having a hard time with all of this dry weather. Hay is a valuable commodity right now and with little natural forage to support livestock herds, bringing in supplemental feed is essential to keeping these animals alive. Light to moderate grazing can make some grasses more drought tolerant, but heavy grazing during and after a drought reduces grass production. Grasses need time to recover, too. Producers under a rotational or flash-grazing program should be seeing the benefits during these dry times. Ungrazed or infrequently grazed grasses develop deep root systems that allow access to water resources that heavily grazed plants cannot reach. Well-managed ranges fare better in a drought, but at some point grazing animals have to be removed for the long-term health of the land.

The U.S. Drought Monitor* illustrates Texas  drought conditions as of Thurs. August 4, 2022.

Wildlife Management during Drought

The flora and fauna of Texas are built to deal with drought and the general semi-arid conditions of the area. Native grasses and forbs fare much better than introduced pasture grasses and crops in dry times. Wildlife populations in good health and with good habitat will adjust to changing conditions though reproduction will likely be impacted. An ecologically based habitat management program serves to improve water cycling, mineral cycling, and energy flow and manipulate plant succession. These processes enhance vegetative quantity, quality and diversity. A greater diversity of all life forms, including microorganisms, insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals may be achieved under sound management. The land’s long-term health is improved and conserved for future generations to utilize as a source of income, recreation, and for aesthetic enjoyment.

Managing for plant diversity is essential. A diverse habitat has a good mixture of various species of grasses, forbs (weeds), and browse (woody) plants. In a healthy plant community, many of the plants will be at various stages of growth, which adds another element of diversity. Vegetation benefits the water cycle by increasing water infiltration into the soil for both vegetation and aquifer recharge and reduces surface runoff. The diversity of vegetation increases the availability of food and cover for wildlife species. A greater diversity of range plants results in more food available for wildlife during different seasons of the year and different weather patterns. The volume and diversity of plants protects the soil from erosion. The decomposition of vegetation also helps restore needed minerals to the soil to sustain plant life. Selective brush management and periodic disturbances such as fire, soil disturbance, livestock grazing, mowing, and even drought can maintain a diverse plant community, simulating conditions under which plants and animals evolved within ecosystems in Texas. That said, there is a limit to what good stewardship can do without rain and many of these tools are best set aside during drought. Well managed lands will respond with abundance when the rains return.

Those of you with water on your property should be seeing the benefit in terms of attracting wildlife. All animal trails lead to water during times like this. If you don’t have a reliable, natural source of water, rainwater catchment systems can provide essential support to the wildlife on your property. Here’s hoping that the rains will return sooner than expected and when they do, maybe the sight of that cistern will remind you that dry times will always come again, but with planning and good land stewardship, those times are a little easier to weather.

*The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC.

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