CONNECT

  • NEWSROOM: TEXAS A&M FOREST SERVICE SUPPORTS SOIL AND WATER STEWARDSHIP WEEK

    April 22, 2016 — COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M Forest Service partners with the Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Texas Wildlife Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, and Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board to highlight the importance of voluntary land stewardship in Texas during the annual Soil and Water Stewardship Week, April 24–May 1.

    “Land Stewardship Produces a Healthy Texas,” is the theme of this year’s statewide campaign.

    “This campaign aims to bring more awareness and support to voluntary land stewardship, because the way private landowners manage their resources directly impacts the water resources available for public consumption,” said Hughes Simpson, water resources coordinator with Texas A&M Forest Service. “We are proud to partner with ATSWCD to bring more support to voluntary land stewardship.”

    Voluntary land stewardship is the careful and responsible management of land and its resources.

    “With approximately 95 percent of Texas land privately owned, voluntary stewardship is vital to keeping these lands healthy, productive and sustainable in the future,” Simpson said.

    It all starts with a conservation plan and the foundation of any conservation plan is focusing on soil health. Farmers, ranchers, timber and other agricultural producers have been working with their local soil and water conservation districts for over 75 years receiving technical assistance to develop and implement conservation plans for their operations.

    Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans,” Rickey James, president of the ATSWCD said.
    James said it is important to remember that soil contains living organisms that perform functions required to produce our food and fiber.

    Soil and water conservation performed in urban areas can also help supplement land stewardship efforts in rural areas.

    “Some cities have brought the land stewardship concept into their own backyards, as urban agriculture, native landscaping, and community forests are becoming more popular,” James said. “This trend has positively impacted urban communities socially, economically, and environmentally, as well as educated and reconnected people to the land, if even on a small scale.”

    Other partnering organizations in the Land Stewardship Produces a Healthy Texas public awareness campaign includes the Earthmoving Contractors Association of Texas, Independent Cattlemen’s Association of Texas, Plains Cotton Growers, South Texans’ Property Rights Association, Texas Agricultural Land Trust, Texas Association of Dairymen, Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, Texas Department of Agriculture, Texas Grazing Land Coalition, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Poultry Federation, Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association, Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas Wheat Producers Board and Association, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

    For more information on Land Stewardship Produces a Healthy Texas, please visit www.tsswcb.texas.gov.

    -30-

    Texas A&M Forest Service contacts:

    Hughes Simpson, Water Resources Coordinator, hsimpson@tfs.tamu.edu, 979-458-6650

    Texas A&M Forest Service Communications, newsmedia@tfs.tamu.edu, 979-458-6606
  • RELATED INFORMATION