United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service		 Texas Go to Accessibility Information
Skip to Page Content
 Texas coast




Texas WHIP State Plan Fiscal Year 2007

State Objectives:

A. To restore and conserve native wildlife habitats with emphasis on:

  1. Prairie/Savannah
  2. Riparian/Wetland
  3. Forestland/Woodland
  4. Thorn Shrub
B. Support of national priorities:
  1. Promote the restoration of declining or important native wildlife habitats.
  2. Protect, restore, develop or enhance wildlife habitat of at-risk species (candidate species, and state and federally listed threatened and endangered species).
  3. Reduce the impacts of invasive species on wildlife habitats.
  4. Protect, restore, develop or enhance declining or important aquatic wildlife species’ habitats.
State Priorities:

The state habitat priorities for WHIP correspond to the conservation priorities identified in the Texas Wildlife Action Plan known as the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS). The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department completed this plan in 2005 based on input from many wildlife biologists from various agencies and organizations within the state as well as public input and comments. Following is a link to the entire document: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/grants/wildlife/cwcs/

Texas is divided into ten Ecoregions representing different habitat types. These ecoregions correspond closely with the Major Land Resource Areas of Texas utilized by NRCS. Each MLRA (ecoregion) has been placed into one of three priority levels with priority one being most critical and priority three least critical.

Priority 1 – High Priority Regions (MLRAs)

  • Blackland Prairie (86A,B)
  • Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes (150A,B; 151)
  • South Texas Plains (83A,B,C,D,E)

    • Priority 2 – Secondary Priority Regions (MLRAs)
  • Cross Timbers (80A,B; 84B; 85)
  • Edwards Plateau (81A,B,C,D; 82)
  • High Plains (77A,B,C,D)
  • Pineywoods (133B; 152B)

    •  
    Priority 3 – Tertiary Priority Regions (MLRAs)
  • Post Oak Savannah (87A,B)
  • Rolling Plains (70E; 77E, 78B,C,D)
  • Trans-Pecos (42)
    • Conservation Practices

    The following conservation practices from the NRCS Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG) will be emphasized:

  • Upland Wildlife Habitat Management (645)
  • Brush Management (314)
  • Prescribed Grazing (528)
  • Prescribed Burning (338)
  • Range Planting (550) – Natives only
  • Riparian Forrest Buffer (391)
  • Firebreak (394)
  • Restoration of Declining Habitat (643)
  • Wetland Wildlife Habitat Management (644)
  • Wetland Development or Restoration (657)
  • Windbreak / Shelterbreak Establishment (380)
  • Tree / Shrub Establishment (612)
  • Forestland Improvement (490)
    • Partnerships (members of the Texas State Technical Committee)
  • Audubon Texas
  • Ducks Unlimited
  • Environmental Defense
  • Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club
  • National Wild Turkey Federation
  • Pheasants Forever
  • Plateau Land & Wildlife Management
  • Quail Unlimited
  • Quail Forever
  • Texas Cooperative Extension
  • Texas Farm Bureau
  • Texas Forest Service
  • Texas Land Trust Council
  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
  • Texas Quail Council
  • Texas Wildlife Association
  • The Nature Conservancy of Texas
  • U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Wetland Habitat Alliance of Texas
  • All Bird Joint Ventures: Playa Lakes, Rio Grande, Central Texas Oaks and Prairies, and Gulf Coast.
    • Criteria for Measuring Program Success

    Program success will be determined by completing Habitat Value Assessment Worksheets for each habitat type on an annual basis. The worksheets will be used to evaluate changes in habitat as a result of implementation of the wildlife conservation plan.

    State Application Ranking Process and Criteria

    The current ranking evaluation worksheet is posted on the Texas NRCS web page at http://www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/whip/index.html.

    Printable version requires Adobe Acrobat.

    Texas Whip State Plan Fiscal Year 2007 (PDF; 33 KB)

    < Back to WHIP