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

Edwards Plateau Ecoregion

Gillespie County Wildlife Exemption

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

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

The wildlife exemption in Gillespie County

Gillespie CAD does more than review the original application. The district’s current 2025–2026 reappraisal plan schedules review of wildlife-management annual reports, open-space field review, and inspection of open-space applications. Keep a clean annual record of what you actually did - dates, locations, photos, receipts or logs, and results - even in a year the district has not separately asked you for a PWD‑888.

For a tract that was reduced in size, GCAD’s published agricultural-use guidelines use 20 qualifying acres as the local wildlife-management minimum.

The ground changes underneath you here. Limestone and caliche run through most of the county, but north toward Willow City and Enchanted Rock the country turns to granite, thin soils and different plant response, and the Pedernales and its tributaries cut riparian corridors through both. TPWD identifies the Mason–Gillespie–Llano convergence as exceptionally deer-dense in places, which is why browse monitoring tends to earn its keep on Gillespie tracts.

On the ground in Gillespie County

The Pedernales cuts limestone east of Fredericksburg, while north toward Willow City the county exposes granite, thin soils, live oak and Ashe juniper in combinations that make Gillespie County unusually varied for the central Hill Country. A wildlife exemption here often replaces a light cattle or grazing lease on a family place that already has a tank, spring or rough creek draw. Selective juniper reduction can release native grass and forbs without stripping needed cover; pair that with dependable water, protected drainage habitat and a repeatable deer or bird census, and the plan starts to look like the land instead of paperwork.

Gillespie 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 Gillespie County?

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

No ➔

There is no wildlife acreage test in Gillespie 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 Gillespie County appraisal district has published its figure. The legal minimum land requirement is 20 acres.

Source: Gillespie CAD Agricultural Land Use Guidelines and Standards (2020), November 21, 2019.

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

What Gillespie CAD actually reviews

GCAD’s current 2025–2026 reappraisal plan specifically schedules open-space field review, review of wildlife-management annual reports, mailing of open-space application letters, and inspection of open-space applications.

Keep a PWD‑888-ready annual record of dates, locations, photos, receipts or logs, and results even in a year when the district has not told you to file an annual report.

How it works here

Gillespie 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 Gillespie 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, Gillespie 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 Gillespie 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 Gillespie CountyCommonly Recommended

Habitat control

Selectively manage Ashe juniper and other brush to create a mosaic of grass and forb openings against woody cover. On granite-influenced sites, do not assume the ground responds like deeper limestone bottomland. Retain useful mature oak and juniper cover, and protect sensitive draws.

Commonly Recommended in Gillespie CountyCommonly Recommended

Census counts

Use repeatable camera stations, browse-use observations, deer and turkey counts, or bird surveys. On heavily browsed tracts, track how the habitat responds as well as how many animals you see.

Commonly Recommended in Gillespie CountyCommonly Recommended

Supplemental water

Wildlife-accessible troughs with escape ramps, guzzlers on dry uplands, and protection or restoration around springs and drainages carry more weight than adding water where perennial riparian water already meets the objective.

Erosion control

Prioritize active headcuts, ranch-road runoff, Pedernales tributaries, and exposed decomposed-granite or shallow-soil slopes. Brush berms, rock structures, reshaping and revegetation should each tie back to a mapped erosion problem.

Providing shelter

Retain useful oak and juniper mottes and downed woody structure. Where selective clearing produces brush, stack it into piles that give real escape or nesting cover rather than burning everything.

Predator control

Feral-hog control is usually defensible where hog activity is documented around creek bottoms, tanks, feeders or rooting areas. Name the species and the reason rather than logging generic predator removal.

Supplemental food

Favor native forb and browse recovery. Food plots are plausible on suitable deeper soils and much harder to defend on very shallow caliche or granitic rock.

Filing & the appraisal district

DateWhat happens in Gillespie 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 Gillespie County appraisal district (Fredericksburg).
After Apr 30Late applications accepted until the appraisal roll certifies, with a 10% penalty on that year's savings.
ReportingGCAD’s reappraisal plan includes annual-report review and field review. Keep dated logs and photographs as you go.

Gillespie Central Appraisal District is in Fredericksburg, and its number is 830-997-9807. 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 Gillespie County acreage that's easily five figures. How rollback works →

Gillespie County questions

Gillespie County wildlife exemption FAQ

The questions Gillespie 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 Gillespie County?
For most tracts, there is no minimum at all. Gillespie 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 Gillespie County appraisal district applies the figure it has adopted: 20 acres. 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: Gillespie CAD Agricultural Land Use Guidelines and Standards (2020), November 21, 2019.
What is the wildlife exemption filing deadline in Gillespie 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 Gillespie County appraisal district in Fredericksburg. 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 Gillespie 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 Gillespie 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 - Gillespie County is Edwards Plateau country, so the Gillespie 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 Gillespie 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 Gillespie 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 Gillespie 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 Gillespie County - TPWD or the appraisal district?
The appraisal district. The Gillespie 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 Fredericksburg; 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 Gillespie County - same ecoregion, same intensity standards, and largely the same ground:

Kerr CountyKendall CountyLlano CountyMason CountyBlanco CountyBandera County All 254 counties
Rio Grande wild turkey and northern bobwhite quail among native Texas grasses and limestone

Protect your Gillespie County valuation.

Bring your previous report and field records. Keep this year’s practices, county feedback, and next PWD‑888 together.

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