Habitat Management in Texas: Views on Private Lands Incentive Programs and Management
Request for Proposals November 2023

Introduction

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) provides outdoor recreational opportunities by managing and protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat and by acquiring and managing public lands. Texas Parks and Wildlife’s mission is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. In some cases, TPWD, in concert with other natural resource partners, provides financial and non-financial incentives to support and promote habitat management and restoration. However, TPWD rarely works with constituents to measure program effectiveness.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is proposing to fund social science research to better understand the cultural, legal, economic, and social factors that constrain landowner management actions supporting wildlife populations. A science-based understanding of constituent perceptions and behaviors, the driving forces behind them, and how constituent beliefs can benefit or act as a barrier to conservation success is needed to improve conservation delivery for many wildlife species in Texas. Expected outcomes of this work will be to: 1) guide TPWD conservation delivery messaging in targeting landowners and land managers and 2) to identify and recommend strategies that would aid in reducing barriers to landowner participation in conservation programs.

Justification

The 2015 Land and Water Resource Conservation and Recreation plan contains four specific goals. Research to further our knowledge of human perceptions and behaviors, the driving forces behind them, and how human behaviors can benefit or act as barriers to wildlife conservation success is warranted and fall within goal one and associated strategies:

• Goal 1: Practice, encourage and enable science-based stewardship of natural and cultural resources.
  • TPWD will be an exemplary steward of the public’s lands and waters by using the best available science for ecosystem-based management.
  • Conduct strategic research on species, habitats, and ecosystems.
  • TPWD will maintain the highest level of scientific validity and credibility.

Pursuing this research will also directly address Goal #3 in the most recent Upland Gamebird Strategic Plan (2021) which states, “Promote upland game bird research and the restoration of native habitats for upland game birds using science-based management techniques.”

Research Objectives

The study design should address all of the following objectives:

1. Assess regional differences in landowner/manager attitudes and behaviors toward:
   1. Wildlife (e.g., upland game, big game, grassland birds) management practices on private lands,
   2. Potential barriers to implementation of wildlife management practices,
   3. Conservation programs,
   4. Natural resource agencies and partners (assess not only regional differences, but also differences based on acres managed, management motivations, etc.).
2. Assess regional differences in landowner awareness, opinions, use, and repeated use of conservation incentive programs (e.g., USDA conservation-based programs, Joint Venture-based programs, USFWS Partners Program) and easements:
   1. Identify barriers to participation in conservation incentive programs.
   2. Identify barriers to participation in conservation easements.
3. Assess regional landowner persistence and conservation behaviors post implementation of incentive-based programs.

All regional differences referenced above should be assessed at either the Texas Ecoregion or Bird Conservation Region level. All proposals should pick one or the other as their regional level for all assessments and consistently use that one level for the entire study proposal. TPWD is particularly interested in landowner/land manager attitudes about prescribed fire and brush management, so these activities should be included in any questionnaires about landowner/land manager attitudes on wildlife management practices (i.e., for Objectives 1 and 3).

Expected Management Implications

Conservation efforts in Texas are extensive and diverse. However, in the three-legged stool of conservation, which includes people, habitat, and wildlife, people (i.e., TPWD’s constituents) and our understanding of their knowledge, motivations, and constraints or barriers are often the weakest link. Expected outcomes of this research will be to develop strategies and actions for conservation delivery by TPWD and our partners relevant to private landowners and natural resource managers, which: 1) improve conservation program participation rates (e.g., reduce barriers), 2) improve conservation program communication and outreach, and 3) track post-conservation program participation behavior. This knowledge may help direct the delivery of conservation programs (GRIP, HIP), help conservation partners move the needle on Farm Bill Programs through actions on the State Technical Advisory Committee, and modify focal landscapes for conservation delivery.

Supporting Literature

• Daley, S.S., D.T. Cobb, P.T. Bromley, and C.E. Sorenson. 2004. Landowner attitudes regarding wildlife management on private land in North Carolina. Wildlife Society Bulletin 32(1):209-219.
• Dayer, A.A., S.H. Lutter, K.A. Sesser, C.M. Hickey, and T. Gardali. 2018. Private landowner conservation behavior following participation in voluntary incentive programs: Recommendations to facilitate behavioral persistence. Conservation Letters - Wiley Periodicals, Inc.