The 7 Wildlife Management Practices in Texas, Explained

The rule in one line

Texas Tax Code §23.51(7) defines wildlife management as actively using land — through at least three of the seven practices below — to propagate a sustaining breeding, migrating, or wintering population of indigenous wild animals for human use. TPWD’s regional guidelines set the intensity that makes each practice real for your ecoregion; your county page summarizes them locally.

Diagram of the 7 qualifying wildlife management practices under Texas Tax Code §23.51(7): habitat control, erosion control, predator management, supplemental water, supplemental food, providing shelter, and census counts — with a Texas example for each and the rule to perform at least 3 per year at ecoregion intensity with documentation. — The seven practices defined by Texas Tax Code §23.51(7). A qualifying plan commits to at least three, performed at the intensity TPWD publishes for your ecoregion and documented as you go.

1. Habitat control (habitat management)

Shaping the plant communities wildlife depend on — usually the highest-impact practice on degraded Texas rangeland.

Hill Country: selective ashe juniper (cedar) removal to release native grasses and oak regeneration
Pineywoods: thinning pine stands and creating 1–5 acre forest openings for browse and brood habitat
South Texas: strip/mosaic brush sculpting that keeps 40–60% thornscrub canopy
Blacklands & prairies: native grass re-establishment, invasive control (KR bluestem, johnsongrass), prescribed burns

Documentation that counts: acres treated per year, before/after photos, burn plans, seed invoices, contractor receipts.

2. Erosion control

Keeping soil in place so habitat can hold — banks, draws, and bare slopes are the workload.

Gully shaping and re-seeding with natives; brush berms and check dams in drainages
Streamside/riparian buffers and pond-dam repair with erosion-control seeding
Water bars on ranch roads; re-vegetating pads, senderos, and blowouts

Documentation that counts: sites treated with locations and photos, structures built, acres re-seeded, dates of work.

3. Predator management

Controlling the predators and nest raiders that suppress your target species — in Texas, priority one is almost always feral hogs.

Feral hog trapping (corral or box traps) with removal counts
Brown-headed cowbird trapping to protect nesting songbirds
Targeted coyote/raccoon/skunk control around fawning and nesting seasons; fire ant management in quail country

Documentation that counts: trap-nights, removal tallies by species and date, photos of sets — a simple, powerful log.

4. Providing supplemental water

Reliable water is the most limiting habitat factor across most of Texas; providing it deliberately is a practice.

Wildlife guzzlers (rain-catch waterers) on dry uplands
Converting livestock troughs with wildlife ramps and overflow drips
Managing tanks with shallow edges; protecting springs and seeps; windmill/solar conversions with storage

Documentation that counts: stations installed and maintained with inspection dates and photos; spacing that meets your regional standard.

5. Providing supplemental food

Filling seasonal nutrition gaps beyond what habitat currently provides.

Protein or corn feeding programs sized to your deer density
Cool-season food plots (oats/wheat/clover) and warm-season plots (lablab, cowpeas) where rain allows
Strip-disking for native forbs; half-cutting mesquite for browse; managing mast trees

Documentation that counts: feeder count and fill dates with pounds, plot acreage and planting dates, seed/feed receipts.

6. Providing shelter

Creating the cover animals need to nest, escape, and survive weather.

Brush piles from cleared cedar/mesquite (instant rabbit and quail cover)
Nest boxes for bluebirds, wood ducks, or bats; half-cut “covey headquarters” in quail country
Retaining roost trees, thickets, and tall-grass nesting cover at documented heights

Documentation that counts: structures built/installed with locations and photos; cover areas retained and measured.

7. Making census counts

Measuring populations so management responds to reality — and proving your program works.

Fall spotlight surveys on fixed routes; daylight herd counts
Trail-camera surveys (a camera per ~100 acres, 10–14 days) with population estimates
Spring gobbler counts, quail covey call counts, dove/songbird point counts; harvest logs with age and weights

Documentation that counts: survey dates, routes/protocols, raw counts and estimates — appraisers love a census table with a trend line.

Choosing your three (or four)

Run three practices well rather than five thinly. Pair one infrastructure practice (water, food, shelter — easy to document monthly), one land practice (habitat or erosion — a project or two a year), and census (one good survey season). Add predator management the moment hogs find you; they will.

Intensity is the part people miss

Each ecoregion’s guidelines say how much counts — feeder densities, waterer spacing, acres treated, survey effort. The app bakes those standards into your plan and your task calendar, so “enough” is never a guess. See it work →

Sources & further reading

Texas Tax Code §23.51 — the statute defining wildlife management as agricultural use
TPWD: Agricultural Tax Appraisal Based on Wildlife Management Use — the state hub for wildlife-use valuation, including the regional Comprehensive Wildlife Management Planning Guidelines
TPWD: Private Lands Publications & Forms — every current TPWD form and regional guideline book
Comptroller: Agricultural & Timber Appraisal — current manuals and wildlife-use qualification guidelines

The 7 Wildlife Management Practices, with Texas examples