Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference promises answers to wide range of questions

July 11, 2016 - by Steve Byrns

AgriLife Extension, others set Aug. 3-5 event in Alpine

Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, [email protected]

Contact: Dr. John Tomecek, 325-653-4576, [email protected]

ALPINE – Organizers of the 2016 Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference promise an exciting new program for this year’s event set for Aug. 3-5 in Alpine.

“This multi-agency opportunity will be a hard-hitting, high-quality educational experience for anyone interested in wildlife in the Trans-Pecos region of Far West Texas,” said Dr. John Tomecek, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service wildlife specialist at San Angelo. “Our speakers will include ranchers, researchers, outfitters and other ‘students of wildlife,’ including former Texas Parks and Wildlife Department commission chairman Dan Allen Hughes Jr.”

Pronghorn antelope, such as this trio near Marfa, are but one of the wildlife species to be discussed during the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference Aug. 3-5 in Alpine. (Texas A&M AgriLife Communications picture by Steve Byrns) — Pronghorn antelope, such as this trio near Marfa, are but one of the wildlife species to be discussed during the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference Aug. 3-5 in Alpine. (Texas A&M AgriLife Communications photo by Steve Byrns)

The program is being co-hosted by AgriLife Extension, the Borderlands Research Institute at Sul Ross, the Texas Wildlife Association, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Individual registration is $95 by July 25 and $110 thereafter. For more information contact Tomecek at 325-657-7311, [email protected] or register online at http://www.texas-wildlife.org/resources/events/trans-pecos-wildlife-conference .

Day 1 activities open at 5 p.m. with registration and social at the Granada Theatre, 207 E. Holland Ave. Evening topics and speakers will include a presentation and discussion session by the Texas Deer Study Group; Antler Development on the Apache Ranch, Hughes; and Lessons Learned from Decades of Deer Management, Greg Simons, Wildlife Systems Inc., owner/operator, San Angelo.

Day 2 opens with registration from 7:45-8:30 a.m. followed by the general session, Scale of Wildlife Management. The conference will then break into concurrent sessions II through V for the remainder of the day.

Concurrent sessions will include:

— Session II, Carnivore and Non-game Management: Identifying predation on wildlife and livestock, Mountain lion ecology, Managing songbirds, and Opportunities for landowners.

— Session III, Managing Habitats in the Desert: Using guzzlers to enhance wildlife.

— Session IV, Big Game: Mule deer management, Antler development in mule deer, Pronghorn restoration, Desert bighorn sheep restoration.

— Session V, Game Birds: Boom-bust dynamics for desert quail, Habitats and feeding for quail, Managing wetlands in the desert.

The final day of the conference will be a half-day field tour leaving at 8:30 a.m. to the historic CF Ranch in the Davis Mountains where various range and wildlife management practices will be highlighted. These will include Getting to Know Your Mule Deer Food Plants, and a comparative anatomy session that will demonstrate why deer, aoudad, elk and pronghorn antelope eat the nutrients and select the habitats they do.