Concern for wildlife spurs couple to give easement
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

PHOTO BY DAVID LOWE Gordon and Judy Chapin recently donated a conservation easement on their Gravel Hill Ranch, home to numerous animal and native plant species and to a cabin built in the 1880s. The Chapins believe the first owner of the cabin participated in the Farmer Alliance, which began meeting near Donalson Creek in 1877 and evolved into the national Populist Party.

Gordon and Judy Chapin have spent more than 30 years trying to create and maintain wildlife habitats at their Gravel Hill Ranch. The couple's recent donation of a conservation easement gives them confidence those habitats will remain healthy.

The Chapins' donation of development rights to the Hill Country Land Trust prevents subdividing or development of their property on County Road 1225, while allowing the couple to retain private ownership and preserve the land's agricultural quality.

"They've been great people to work with, and it's just a gem of a property they want to see protected," HCLT president Bart English said.

A working cattle operation, Gravel Hill Ranch features 80 native Texas grasses, including little, silver and brushy bluestem, Indian grass and grama grasses. The ranch's 150 species of forbs and woody plants and 20 tree species also contribute to wildlife habitats. Bill Lindeman, HCLT board member, visited Gravel Hill Ranch several times over a two-year period to help the landowners identify most of the plants.

Since they moved to the property in 1973, the Chapins have been working to seed grasses, control erosion, remove brush and improve the genetic quality of their whitetail deer through management hunts. In addition, the couple have tried to grow native plants -- even those often considered "weeds" -- in natural mixes, as such mixes provide cover and nutrition for native species without diminishing agricultural productivity.

In preparing legal documents for the easement donation, the Chapins, with guidance from the land trust, formed a list of about 15 activities and characteristics of their property they hoped to protect in perpetuity, along with an equal number of development activities they sought to prohibit. Texas Parks and Wildlife Technical Guidance Biologist Mike Krueger then helped the landowners develop a Wildlife Habitat and Range Management Plan to protect their property and achieve the conservation goals of the easement.

"It's a gift," Mrs. Chapin said of the easement donation, "first to our children, and then to the wildlife and the native aspects we have enjoyed over the years, and ultimately perhaps to the community as well."

Conservation easements protect views and open space that many citizens can enjoy, the Chapins said. The Lampasas County ranchers have opened their property to local vocational agricultural students and 4-H range and Pasture Plant Identification Teams to let the groups practice native plant and grass identification.

At the same time, easements allow donors to retain private ownership of their land or to sell to other private owners. If landholders sell, the new owners assume the responsibility of implementing the conservation strategies in the Wildlife Habitat and Range Management Plan.

Property owners retain considerable freedom in outlining the ways they plan to enforce resources, and they have to update their range management plan every five years. This allows landowners to adapt to changing agricultural techniques, Chapin said, and keeps easement legal documents from imposing overly strict limitations on property owners' use of their land.

Chapin said wildlife typically range over areas larger than Gravel Hill Ranch, and by preventing the ranch from being subdivided the easement will guard against fragmentation of animal species. Along with seeking to improve whitetail quality, the couple have worked to increase Rio Grande turkey populations and have seen more painted buntings since they began conservation activities.

"To me, that's an absolute delight," Mrs. Chapin said of the birds.

Red-tailed hawk, horned owl, whitewing dove and bluebird populations also ahve grown since the Chapins began working their land, the couple said.

The Lampasas County landowners first heard of conservation easements about six years ago in Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine. Chapin said he and his wife consider an easement the only way to ensure their property will retain its agricultural character, even 50 or more years into the future.

"I don't know of any other way to ensure what happens to it in the future," he said.

Landowners' reasons for donat- ing easements vary, the couple said. Some property owners achieve income tax deductions and reduce estate taxes with an easement, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife easement guide booklets.

The Lampasas County residents mostly hope to protect wildlife, they said, and are not trying to profit from their ranch. Their partnership with the Hill Country Land Trust -- a Fredericksburg-based trust established in 1998 to preserve farm and ranch land, wildlife habitats and watersheds -- will help the couple preserve natural resources, Chapin said.

"The land trust over in Fredericksburg was extremely helpful to us" in designing habitat and wildlife management plans, he said.

The couple have benefitted greatly from Krueger's assistance, they added, and from the county's Texas Cooperative Extension office, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

"Every public entity we have contacted has been extremely helpful," said Mrs. Chapin.

The Hill Country Land Trust serves 14 Hill Country counties, but the Chapins were the first Lampasas County landowners to donate an easement to the trust, the couple said. Another property owner in the county recently contacted them for information about conservation easements, Mrs. Chapin said.

"The hope is that neighbors may consider putting conservation easements on their property so the habitat for wildlife will increase," English said, "but even if they don't (Gravel Hill Ranch) will always be protected."

Costs associated with creating an easement can make the strategy more affordable for the owners of large ranches, said English. Hill Country Land Trust does not set a minimum size for donations, though. In one case, the trust accepted a donation of 40 acres adjacent to property already under an easement. "It all depends on what the type of property is and what the goals are," said the HCLT official of deciding whether to accept a proposed easement donation.

Landowners interested in conservation easements can contact TPWD, the Hill Country Land Trust at (830) 997-0027 or the Chapins at 556-6910.

Compared to the 70,000-acre Canadian River Cattle Ranch -- the largest conservation easement in Texas history -- Gravel Hill Ranch represents a small home for wildlife, the Chapins said. Nevertheless, the couple believe their donation will keep their property and the native species living on it healthy in future years.

"We have been privileged to be the stewards of this property," Mrs. Chapin said. It has been a place where the resources are fragile. This is a gift going beyond us."