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We're tasked by the state with responding to wildfires. We study weather patterns, drought cycles and the status of vegetation across the state to predict when and where dangerous fire conditions may occur. Should a wildfire ignite, we maintain a statewide network of strategically-placed teams of firefighters and equipment so that we're able to respond quickly when the call comes.
Rural fire departments respond to 80 percent of wildfires in Texas - and they do it with shoestring budgets and almost entirely with volunteers. We help fire departments pay for needed training and equipment and help Texans learn how to prevent, prepare for and protect against wildfire.
With roughly 94 percent of forestland in Texas privately owned, the trees, forests—and the benefits they provide - rests in the hands of thousands of Texans. While keeping the entire state's forested landscape in mind, we inform and educate landowners on sustainable land management practices.
We work with communities to plant, care for and conserve trees. We empower local volunteers to make a positive impact in their communities. We are here to assist when disaster strikes with damage assessments, information, technical assistance and long-term recovery.
We analyze and monitor forests, landscapes and communities for susceptibility to health and wildfire risks. We take action with education, information, diagnosis and treatment. We know that any information we have is more powerful when we give it to you.
We can help quench your thirst for learning. Explore links to identify trees using their leaves and branches, create your own tree trails and experience Texas history from the perspective of a witness tree. Share activities in the classroom to open up a world of conservation for new generations.
Rural fire departments respond to 80 percent of the wildfires in Texas - and they do it with shoestring budgets and a staff often made up almost entirely of volunteers. Sometimes they need a little help. Our programs help fire departments pay for needed training and equipment. We also help communities and property owners learn to prevent, prepare for and protect against wildfire.
We work with communities to plant, care for and conserve trees where people live, work and play. We foster appreciation and stewardship of urban forests empowering local volunteers to make a positive impact in their communities. We are here to assist when disaster strikes. From damage assessment, to information and technical assistance, to long-term recovery - we help property owners and communities thrive.
Our experts research, analyze and carefully monitor forests, landscapes and communities for susceptibility to health and wildfire risks. We take action with education, information, diagnosis and treatment. We know that any information or knowledge we have is more powerful when we give it to you. As a state agency, our responsibility is share what we know.
If you have an unquenchable thirst for learning, we offer programs and information that you may either explore independently or share with a group. Learn about trees, forests, the benefits they provide and the challenges they face. Read stories about trees that are living witness to Texas history. Locate champion trees across the state. And bring activities into the classroom to open a world of conservation to a new generation.
-Forest Health
Forest Legacy
+Forest Restoration
+Forest Taxation
+Landowner Assistance
Manage Forests & Land
+Vegetation Management
+Water Resources & BMPs
+Wildlife Management
Windbreaks
Texas Forest Info
My Land Management Connector
+Prescribed Fires
Connect With a Forester
This list includes some common and less commonly found invasive species for this region, but is not all-compassing. Please visit texasinvasives.org to find additional species.
Tree-of-Heaven: Ailanthus altissima. Originally from China; rapid growing tree to 80 feet tall; alternate, compound leaves, 10-40 leaflets with smooth margins on 1- to 3-foot stalks. Large terminal clusters of small yellowish-green flowers yield wing-shaped fruit on female trees. Forms thickets and dense stands.
Chinese Tallow: Triadica sebifera. Introduced from China in the 1700s as an ornamental and for its waxy seeds. Deciduous tree reaching 60 feet in height. Readily invades open land and has distinct heart-shaped, alternate leaves that display brilliant fall colors. Attractive white berries persist on the tree in the fall and winter.
Chinese Privet, Glossy (Japanese) Privet: Ligustrum sinense (and others). Native to China and Europe and brought to the U.S. by the mid-1800s as ornamentals. Mostly evergreen, thicket-forming shrub having opposite, elliptical leaves with smooth margins. Fragrant, white flowers form in spring and produce clusters of dark purple berries.
Paper mulberry: Broussonetia papyrifera. Native to Asia. Paper mulberry was introduced for use as a fast-growing, ornamental shade tree. In its native lands, paper mulberry is used in paper making. In Hawaii and other parts of the South Pacific, its bark is used to make cloth. In the United States it is found from Illinois to Massachusetts, south to Florida and west to Texas. Paper mulberry is an invader of open habitats such as forest and field edges.
Salt cedar: Tamarix spp. Salt cedars are characterized by slender branches and gray-green foliage. The bark of young branches is smooth and reddish-brown. As the plants age, the bark becomes brownish-purple, ridged and furrowed. Leaves are scale-like, about 1/16-inch-long and overlap each other along the stem. They are often encrusted with salt secretions. From March to September, large numbers of pink to white flowers appear in dense masses on 2-inch long spikes at branch tips.
Chinaberry Tree: Melia azedarach. Introduced from Asia in the mid-1800s as an ornamental tree. Dark green leaves are doubly compound, alternate, deciduous, and display bright yellow fall colors. Fruit is spherical, about ½" in diameter, yellow, persists on the tree in winter and is poisonous.
Chinese Pistache: pistacia chinensis. Growing to 25 ft (8 m) in gardens, this deciduous species has glossy green leaves consisting of up to 10 pairs of leaflets that in fall (autumn) turn yellow, orange and scarlet. It tolerates a wide range of conditions, including drought, heat, and alkaline soils. It will replace native plants, thereby altering the habitat for native animals and plants. Once mature, the female tree will produce large quantities of seeds, which are easily spread.
Vitex: Vitex agnus-castus. A prawling plant that grows 10-20 ft (3-6 m) and about as wide. Branched flower clusters are produced on new wood in late spring and early summer in a great flush. Outcompetes native vegetation. Found in limestone outcrops and dry creek bed.
Japanese Honeysuckle: Lonicera japonica. Introduced from Japan in the early 1800s for erosion control and as an ornamental. Semi evergreen, woody vine with simple, opposite leaves. Produces white to yellow (sometimes pink) fragrant flowers from April through September.
Nandina: Nandina domestica. Introduced from Asia and India in early 1800s. Widely planted as an ornamental, but now escaped and spreading from around old homes. Evergreen, erect shrub to 8 feet in height, with multiple bushy stems that resemble bamboo. Glossy, compound green or reddish leaves, white to pinkish flowers in terminal clusters and bright red berries in fall and winter.
Princess tree: Paulownia tomentosa. Deciduous tree to 60 feet (18 m) in height and 2 feet (60 cm) in diameter with large heart-shaped leaves, fuzzy hairy on both sides, showy pale-violet flowers in early spring before leaves. aggressive ornamental tree that grows rapidly in disturbed natural areas, including forests, streambanks, and steep rocky slopes.
Quihoui privet: Ligustrum quihoui. semi-evergreen to evergreen shrub, one to three meters high. Can out compete native vegetation and when not controlled can create a monoculture and change the understory of a forest. Morphologically similar Ligustrum sinense (Chinese privet), but can be distinguished by its narrower leaves, highly divaricate branching habit, and narrower inflorescence.
Storms often leave trees looking bare and deflated—but these looks can be deceiving. Trees have an uncanny ability to recover from storm damage. Before assuming your trees are lost, give them a quick assessment.
Texas A&M Forest Service offers careers that can take you anywhere from a wildfire line defending lives and homes, to a forest protecting and conserving Texas natural resources to a computer working on a new application to create solutions for Texans across the state.
The emerald ash borer (EAB) is a destructive, invasive wood‐boring pest responsible for killing millions of ash trees across the country.
Sabine National Forest timber sales invested in Sabine and Shelby Counties Sabine and Shelby counties received $657,492 for county road improvement projects from timber sale profits through the Good Neighbor Authority partnership between USDA Forest Service and Texas A&M Forest Service.
Texas A&M Forest Service assesses hurricane impact, a state forest temporarily closes In the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, Texas A&M Forest Service conducted an initial assessment of the storm's impact. As a result of tree damage and personnel resource allocation, the W.G. Jones State Forest has been temporarily closed.
Texas volunteer firefighter was arrested on felony arson charges A volunteer firefighter and emergency medical services (EMS) crew member in Alpine, Texas, was arrested July 5 on suspicion of setting multiple brush fires in the area.
A volunteer firefighter and emergency medical services (EMS) crew member in Alpine, Texas, was arrested July 5 on suspicion of setting multiple brush fires in the area.