MANAGE FORESTS & LAND

  • FOREST LEGACY: COMPLETED TEXAS FOREST LEGACY PROJECTS

    Shaver-Dixon

    Fiscal Year: 2005
    Acres Protected: 2,907
    Total Cost: $990,000
    FLP Funding: $493,000
    Source of 25% Match: Landowner In-Kind Contribution ($497,000)
    National Rank: Not Applicable—New Start Up Funding
    Completion Date: October 19, 2009

    Summary: The Shaver-Dixon tract is located in the Northeast Texas region of the Texas Forest Legacy Area, eight miles south of Mineola and twenty miles north of Tyler. The property is immediately upstream of six properties currently under conservation management, comprising over 20,000 contiguous acres of riverine corridor. Both the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service list the segment of the Sabine River running through this acreage as Ecologically Significant. The objective of the owners of this 2,981 acre tract is to retain the property as a large, contiguous, non-industrial private working forest with an emphasis on the development of premium bottomland hardwood forest wildlife habitat, watershed management and eco-tourism development. The property is adjacent to development as well as a state highway expansion project.

    Turkey Creek

    Fiscal Year: 2007–2008
    Acres Protected: 10,729
    Total Cost: $4,483,000
    FLP Funding: $3,362,250
    Source of 25% Match: Nonprofit Organization ($1,120,750)
    National Rank: 13 (Phase 1) & 5 (Phase II)
    Completion Date: December 21, 2009

    Summary: The Turkey Creek Project is a two-phase working forest conservation easement protecting 10,729 acres of forest in Southeast Texas. The project is located 25 miles north of Beaumont. Phase I, which includes 2,887 acres, was ranked 13th nationally during the FY2007 cycle. Phase II contains 7,842 acres of hardwood, pine upland, longleaf, flatwood ponds, stream frontage, rare pitcher plant bogs and the nation's endangered savanna remnant habitats. The tracts are contiguous to the Big Thicket National Preserve, one of America's Top Ten Most Endangered Parks due to forest fragmentation. Phase II provides one mile of connectivity to the preserve's boundary and 5.5 miles of frontage to Phase I and Turkey Creek, which links to Beaumont's drinking supply and the Gulf of Mexico's coastal estuaries. This land also serves as a critical stopover habitat for migratory birds. The land has been in forest management for over 50 years and is certified to ISO 14001, SFI and BMP standards. The tracts contribute to the $30.6 billion overall economic impact of the forest industry to the region, and the project is in a critical conservation area identified by the United Nations International Biosphere Reserve Program.

    Longleaf Ridge Phase I

    Fiscal Year: 2010
    Acres Protected: 4,850
    Total Cost: $2,425,000
    FLP Funding: $1,820,000
    Source of 25% Match: Nonprofit Organization ($605,000)
    National Rank: 30
    Completion Date: Pending Completion

    Summary: The Longleaf Ridge Conservation Area is located in the West Gulf Coastal Plains, "Pineywoods," ecoregion. It harbors intact and biodiverse longleaf pine woodlands, encompasses two national forests (Angelina and Sabine), and integral East Texas timber industry lands. The Nature Conservancy’s ecoregional planning team identified Longleaf Ridge as the highest priority in Texas. Having the highest biodiversity rankings within the ecoregion also ranks the area in the top six potential conservation areas of Texas.

    Longleaf Ridge includes several populations of federally endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers and some of the last confirmed Louisiana pine snake. The Longleaf Ridge Project, a two-phase working forest conservation easement protecting 8,344 acres of forest in southeast Texas, is ten miles north of Jasper. Owned by Temple-Inland Inc. until 2007, tracts were managed as part of the company’s conservation program. In 2007, it was acquired by The Campbell Group, LLC, a TIMO. They are interested in selling conservation easements to maintain the area as a working forest and to protect its scenic character. The Nature Conservancy hopes to pursue multiple phases of this project.
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