Illustrated Edwards Plateau limestone creek, Ashe juniper and Golden-cheeked warbler.

Edwards Plateau Ecoregion

Comal County Wildlife Exemption

How to get - and keep - a 1-d-1 wildlife management valuation on Comal County land: deadlines, the appraisal district, and the practices that fit this part of Texas.

Ecoregion
Edwards Plateau
County seat & CAD
New Braunfels, Texas
Application window
January 1 – April 30
Core requirement
Form 50‑129 + PWD‑885 · 3 of 7 qualifying practices annually

The wildlife exemption in Comal County

In parts of Comal County, clearing the cedar is the wrong first move. Mature Ashe juniper and oak woodland can be valuable golden-cheeked warbler habitat, so habitat control here should start with an inventory of what is already growing on the tract before anything gets cut. The district is also firm about reporting: once wildlife management is approved, Comal’s published open-space manual says the property owner or the wildlife-management association must submit an annual report.

For a tract that was reduced in size, Comal’s open-space manual takes the high end of the Eastern Edwards Plateau range, which works out to 20 qualifying acres for a standard tract and 12.5 qualifying acres for a tract inside a Wildlife Management Property Association. The district’s forms page also lists an Agricultural Appraisal Supplement as required with the agricultural and wildlife application, so the filing packet is more than Form 50‑129 and PWD‑885.

North and west of New Braunfels, up toward Canyon Lake and the Guadalupe, limestone and karst drainage carry live oak and juniper woodland into steep creek country. Subdivision has broken a good deal of that ground into smaller pieces, so what a neighboring tract does with its cover and its creek frontage affects your wildlife use about as much as your own fence line does.

On the ground in Comal County

New Braunfels grew where the Comal meets the Guadalupe, but most wildlife-managed acreage lies north and west toward Canyon Lake and the Hill Country. There, limestone, live oak, Ashe juniper, rocky drainages and rapid subdivision pressure define the problem. A strong Comal County plan can open selected dense juniper, release native grass and forbs, protect creek or karst cover, maintain water and track wildlife use. On smaller exurban tracts, habitat continuity matters almost as much as any single practice.

Comal County lies in the Edwards Plateau and is assigned to TPWD's Edwards Plateau (Eastern) wildlife-use appraisal region - the legal map that sets the reduced-tract acreage rule below.

Is there an acreage minimum in Comal County?

Did the tract get smaller since January 1 of last year?

No ➔

There is no wildlife acreage test in Comal County at all. Whatever the size, file Comptroller Form 50‑129 with a PWD‑885 plan. A 7-acre tract that already carried 1‑d‑1 (ag exempt) and was never split can convert with no penalties.

Yes ➔

The Comal County appraisal district has published its figure. The legal minimum land requirement is 20 acres (95%). Wildlife management property associations: 12.5 acres (92%).

Source: Comal Appraisal District Open Space Guidelines & Standards, 2024.

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See how Comal County compares: minimum acreage for all 254 Texas counties →

Comal requires an annual wildlife report

Comal’s published open-space manual states that once wildlife management is approved, the property owner or the wildlife-management association must submit an annual report. Build that record as the year goes along, so you are not trying to reconstruct three practices from memory at filing time.

The district’s current forms page also lists an Agricultural Appraisal Supplement as required with the agricultural and wildlife application. Keep it on the filing checklist next to Form 50‑129 and PWD‑885.

How it works here

Comal County follows the statewide 1-d-1 framework (Texas Tax Code §23.51(7)); the local variables are your appraisal district's filing habits and the Edwards Plateau intensity standards:

  • Start from an existing ag or timber valuation. Wildlife management is a conversion of qualified open-space land - check eligibility if your status is unclear.
  • File a wildlife management plan (TPWD form PWD‑885) with the Comal County appraisal district, attached to Comptroller Form 50‑129, between January 1 and April 30. What goes in the plan →
  • Perform at least 3 of the 7 practices each year at Edwards Plateau intensity levels - see the local examples below.
  • Document everything - dates, photos, quantities. When the chief appraiser requests an annual report (PWD‑888), you'll answer with records, not recollections.
  • No minimum acreage applies unless your tract got smaller since January 1 of last year. If it did, Comal County's figure is covered above - the district picks one number for the whole county, and the plan is still the application either way.

The 7 practices in Comal County

These are the kinds of activities appraisal districts in the Edwards Plateau recognize as real management - your plan picks at least three. The Edwards Plateau region guide covers the species, habitat problems and intensity standards behind them.

Choose any 3 of the 7 qualifying practices. The highlighted practices are commonly recommended in this county, but the right combination depends on the property and management goals.

Commonly Recommended in Comal CountyCommonly Recommended

Habitat control

Inventory the mature Ashe juniper and oak woodland before planning any clearing, since that structure can be potential golden-cheeked warbler habitat. Open selected areas where grass and forb response is the objective, and keep mature canopy where woodland habitat or connectivity between wooded blocks is the goal. Land enrolled in the Comal County Regional Habitat Conservation Plan follows that program’s clearing dates and mitigation terms, which apply to enrolled participants only.

Commonly Recommended in Comal CountyCommonly Recommended

Census counts

Bird surveys carry weight where mature woodland is being managed for avian habitat, and repeatable camera stations and browse observations document mammal use and the pressure on the habitat. Run the same stations and routes the same way each year so the annual report can show a trend.

Commonly Recommended in Comal CountyCommonly Recommended

Erosion control

The usual problems here are steep limestone runoff, canyon and drainage cuts, ranch roads, disturbed ground along the construction edge, and tributary approaches running to the Guadalupe and Canyon Lake. Work from a photo point you can find again, and shoot it from the same spot before and after the treatment.

Supplemental water

Protect creek margins, springs and riparian cover first, and make existing troughs and tanks safe for wildlife to get into and out of. Upland water earns its place where it opens up ground animals cannot use for lack of water, and less so where a live creek or the Guadalupe already runs through the property.

Providing shelter

Keep mature woodland and riparian cover standing, and leave snags where they are not a hazard. Brush from selective clearing can be stacked into piles that give real escape or nesting cover. Match the structure you build to the species the plan is written around.

Predator control

Feral-hog work is defensible where rooting and wallowing damage is documented along creek bottoms, tanks or plots. Any other predator control should name the target species and the reason it is being done.

Supplemental food

Native forb and browse recovery, along with woodland-edge management, holds up better on this ground than a food plot dropped onto thin limestone soil. If you do plant, pick a site with the soil to carry it and record the establishment and maintenance work.

Filing & the appraisal district

DateWhat happens in Comal County
January 1Valuation date - land is judged on its use and qualification as of this day.
Jan 1 – Apr 30File Form 50‑129 with your PWD‑885 plan at the Comal County appraisal district (New Braunfels).
After Apr 30Late applications accepted until the appraisal roll certifies, with a 10% penalty on that year's savings.
ReportingAnnual report required once wildlife management is approved. Keep dated logs and photographs as you go.

Comal Appraisal District is in New Braunfels, and its number is 830-625-8597. Confirm details before filing; districts adjust procedures year to year.

Last locally verified August 30, 2026

The cost of letting it slip

Losing qualification means market-value taxes going forward - and if the land's use changes to non-agricultural, rollback taxes: the previous three years of tax savings, recaptured in one bill. On typical Comal County acreage that's easily five figures. How rollback works →

Comal County questions

Comal County wildlife exemption FAQ

The questions Comal County landowners ask most - answered against this county’s appraisal district and the Edwards Plateau standards its plans are judged by.

How many acres do you need for a wildlife exemption in Comal County?
For most tracts, there is no minimum at all. Comal County applies no acreage test to wildlife management use unless your tract was reduced in size since January 1 of the preceding year. If it was, the Comal County appraisal district applies the figure it has adopted: 20 acres (95%). The district sets 12.5 acres (92%) for land in a wildlife management property association. A tract that was never split can convert at any size, so long as it already carries a 1‑d‑1 (ag exempt) valuation. Source: Comal Appraisal District Open Space Guidelines & Standards, 2024.
What is the wildlife exemption filing deadline in Comal County?
April 30. The window opens January 1 and closes April 30 - file Comptroller Form 50‑129 with a TPWD PWD‑885 wildlife management plan attached at the Comal County appraisal district in New Braunfels. Miss it and the district still accepts a late application until the appraisal roll certifies (typically mid-July), but with a 10% penalty on that year’s tax savings. One trap catches new owners every year: buying land that already holds the valuation does not carry it over to you - you have to file your own application.
Do I need an existing ag exemption to get a wildlife exemption in Comal County?
Yes. Wildlife management is a qualifying use within the 1-d-1 open-space valuation, not a separate exemption - so the land has to already carry an agricultural or timber productivity valuation on the day you convert. If it does, converting changes the qualifying activity and nothing else: the productivity value carries over from your previous ag category, so your tax bill does not move. If the land lost its valuation, you would requalify the ordinary way first - agricultural use for 5 of the preceding 7 years - and then convert. The conversion playbook →
Which wildlife management practices qualify in Comal County?
Any three of the seven named in Texas Tax Code §23.51(7): habitat control, erosion control, predator control, supplemental water, supplemental food, providing shelter, and census counts. The list is statewide, but the standard you are judged against is regional - Comal County is Edwards Plateau country, so the Comal County appraisal district expects work sized to Edwards Plateau intensity levels and aimed at the problems that actually limit wildlife here: juniper (cedar) encroachment, overbrowsing by high deer densities, and declining spring flows. Habitat control, supplemental water, and census counts are the most common opening three. See what each one looks like here →
What species should a Comal County wildlife management plan target?
Whatever you name, it has to be indigenous - Texas Tax Code §23.51(7) qualifies land used to sustain a breeding, migrating, or wintering population of native wild animals, and that is the species test that actually decides qualification. In the Edwards Plateau, plans are usually built around white-tailed deer, Rio Grande turkey, bobwhite quail, black-capped vireo, golden-cheeked warbler, and a wide range of native songbirds and pollinators. The Edwards Plateau supports some of the densest white-tailed deer populations in North America - often exceeding one deer per 8–10 acres - which makes census counts and habitat management especially meaningful here. Introduced species are the common trap: exotics like axis deer or blackbuck may live on the property, but managing for them (alone) earns you nothing toward your three practices - so confirm every species you name in the plan is native to Texas before you file.
Does Comal County require a PWD-888 annual report every year?
The chief appraiser may require one whenever they ask - that is the statutory standard, and many Texas districts ask annually or on a review cycle. The practical answer is to assume it is coming: keep dated records, photos, and quantities for every practice as you go, and the report is a formality instead of a scramble. Landowners rarely lose a valuation because the work was not done; they lose it because the work could not be proven. What a strong PWD‑888 looks like →
Will switching from cattle to wildlife trigger rollback taxes in Comal County?
No. Rollback under Texas Tax Code §23.55 is triggered by a change to a non-agricultural use - developing, paving, or subdividing the land. Moving from grazing to wildlife management is a change of use within 1-d-1, so the valuation continues uninterrupted and no recapture is owed. What does carry risk is letting the land go idle: land quietly used for nothing agricultural can be treated as having changed use. A documented wildlife plan is precisely how you stay out of that gray zone. How rollback works →
Who approves the wildlife exemption in Comal County - TPWD or the appraisal district?
The appraisal district. The Comal County appraisal district’s chief appraiser reviews your Form 50‑129 and PWD‑885 plan and decides whether the land qualifies, the same as for any agricultural application. Texas Parks & Wildlife publishes the forms and the ecoregion guidelines your plan should match, but it does not approve individual properties and has no vote on your valuation. The district is headquartered in New Braunfels; current contact details are in the Texas Comptroller’s county directory.

Looking for the statewide picture? The full Texas wildlife exemption FAQ covers eligibility, plans, practices, reports, and rollback in depth.

The Edwards Plateau counties closest to Comal County - same ecoregion, same intensity standards, and largely the same ground:

Hays CountyKendall CountyBexar CountyBlanco CountyTravis CountyGillespie County All 254 counties
Rio Grande wild turkey and northern bobwhite quail among native Texas grasses and limestone

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