HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Wild turkey on the land of Plateau client Donna Brasher in Dripping Springs. Photograph by Plateau's own CFO, Janine Gwaltney.

WILDLIFE AND YOUR PROPERTY TAXES

Everything is bigger in Texas, including property taxes. As tax bills make their way into our mailboxes, many of us are getting a big reminder. But while we may have one of the highest property tax rates in the country, Texas also provides rural landowners with alternative tax valuation incentives such as Wildlife Management Valuation (Wildlife) to significantly reduce those tax burdens.

To move into Wildlife status, your property must currently have an Agricultural Tax Valuation (Ag). While Wildlife is a tax valuation that is exactly the same as your Ag status (so why even switch?), it provides landowners more options for managing their land. It eliminates the need for fencing, veterinary, crop harvesting and other expenses associated with farming or ranching. It also reduces your liability potential…if your livestock get loose you’re liable, if wildlife are loose, they’re supposed to be! For those who bought land for recreation or an investment, or those no longer able or desiring to ranch or farm, Wildlife is a cost efficient means of maintaining a favorable tax valuation.

What Does It Mean To “Manage” For Wildlife?

The Texas Property Tax Code says Wildlife Management means “actively using land…to propagate a sustaining breeding, migrating, or wintering population of indigenous [native] wild animals for human use, including food, medicine, or recreation…”. While many folks think of deer, you can also manage your land for many other types of native wildlife including, but certainly not limited to, birds, horned lizards, and even butterflies.

To maintain your Wildlife status, the law requires you engage in minimum number of activities to help ensure you really are making your  land a habitat for your designated wildlife, but, truth be told, many of these activities feel more fun and educational than chore-like, such as the winter and resident bird surveys many current Wildlife landowners are conducting now.

Finally, Wildlife is not limited to big property owners. If you live on smaller acreage you still qualify as long as you currently have an agriculture valuation. 

Copyright 2009 Plateau Land & Wildlife Management

THE TRUE WINTER TEXANS

No, we're not talking about the hundreds of Mid-westerners and Canadians that flock to Central and Southern Texas to escape the harsh winters of the north. The True Winter Texans are the migratory birds that utilize Texas during the winter months as their home away from home. Birdlife in Texas is a dynamic event, as populations fluctuate from winter visitors to spring migrants to summer breeders to fall migrants back to winter visitors. Another group is the year-round residents like Carolina Chickadee, Black-crested Titmouse, Northern Mockingbird, Greater Roadrunner, and some Red-tailed Hawks, which are common throughout central Texas. More attention is given to year-round residents and summer breeders, mainly due to the higher frequency of occurrence throughout the year; and that some are brilliantly colored, or encountered yearly on a breeding bird census. Texas is unique in having subdued, warmer winter weather, and is home to an exciting and diverse population of winter bird species.

Let's paint a picture of winter birdlife in Texas. Imagine a pond surrounded by open grassland on one side and woodland on the other. Central Texas is home to 15+ species of wintering waterfowl including Redhead, Canvasback, Northern Shoveler ducks, three species of teal, and many more which can be found feeding or resting on the pond. Other winter visitors seen in association with ducks typically include American Coot, grebes, and Double-crested Cormorant, with Spotted Sandpiper and Wilson's Snipe along the shoreline.

The open pasture hosts good numbers of Eastern and Western Meadowlarks, and large swarming flocks of grackles, cowbirds, starlings, or Brewer's Blackbirds. Lucky birdwatchers may see Sandhill Cranes or geese feeding within old fields. American Kestrel, Merlin, and Northern Harrier can be seen perched on a bare limb of a tree or hunting over the open grassland, while Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks are patrolling the woodland for Northern Flickers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, or songbirds to feast on.

A Chickadee bird box awaits its winter visitor, above.

Wintering and Resident Bird Surveys are being conducted now by experienced Plateau birders. To learn more about this service, click here.