Economical Management Offers Life to Playas
Contact(s): Ken Cearley, 806-651-5760, kcearley@ag.tamu.edu
DeDe Jones, 806-677-5600, dljones@ag.tamu.edu
The overall message of the symposium was this represents a substantial loss of valuable resources to landowners, because if properly managed, a playa lake can enhance property value, as well as benefit wildlife.
Dr. Loren Smith, zoology department head at Oklahoma State University, said a comparison of cropland and rangeland playas will show most cropland playas have lost a majority of their depth due to sedimentation, where grassland playas have minimal sediment fill.
Sediment deposition is caused by water erosion, not wind, Smith said. Restoration will require focusing on the watershed and keeping topsoil in place. The first step should be to establish a buffer strip around the playa.
“If we don’t do anything in the next 20 years, most playas will cease to be productive,” Smith said.
Gene Miller, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologist from Canyon, agreed, saying the greatest benefits for native wildlife, wetland health and water conservation can be achieved by the establishment of large native prairie buffers.
To encourage this watershed management, he said it will take programs that are attractive to landowners and allow voluntary participation.
Each landowner has to find a place somewhere on the line between managing only for wildlife and only for farming and ranching that works for them, said Ken Cearley, Extension wildlife specialist in Canyon.
“We’re constantly faced with making a living off that land, and most of the time playas are just in the background,” Cearley said. “It’s our choice to give a playa a priority or not. Farming and ranching are both first in mind when we talk about agriculture, but wildlife are also a part of the mix and should be an integral part of production on the land.”
Sound stewardship of the land is the bottom line, as well as what is economically feasible, he said.
Landowners should consider how much value a well-maintained playa might add to their land because of the wildlife it attracts for food and cover, Cearley said. Most advertisements for land in newspapers now mention deer, turkey and quail for hunting or observation purposes.
Some playas are prettier than others, and may offer more return, he said, suggesting landowners start by taking inventory of the land, pinpointing the positive aspects.
Getting an aerial photograph of the location through Texas Natural Resource Information Service, GoogleEarth.com or other locations with user-friendly global positioning satellite technology can help, Cearley said.
Know how much personal involvement it will take, especially when getting into hunting and other recreational type uses that may require leases and visitors to the area, he advised.
“Set your goals and priorities,” Cearley said. “Then figure out a way for the land to reach its full potential.”
To reach maximum potential, a buffer of native grasses at least two to three times the area of the playa basin needs to be established, he said. Fencing may be necessary to control grazing.
Different grazing pressures result in different wildlife utilizing the plant life for food and cover, he said. Light grazing favors pheasants, while intense grazing would attract animals looking for short-grass cover, such as prairie dogs, burrowing owls and shorebirds.
Some playas must continue to be used for livestock water, Cearley said. In those cases, it might be necessary to fence portions of the playa and understand the grazed portion will be under more pressure.
Fencing may not be needed when the playa is among row crops, he said. But management is still an issue, including leaving stubble in place as long as possible, allowing the waste grain to be used as feed for pheasants and other birds.
Several government programs are available to assist landowners with playa preservation, including CP23A, the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, said DeDe Jones, Texas Agricultural Extension risk management specialist.
Jones provided an outline of the three programs:
– CP23A is a special incentive Conservation Reserve Program for restoring playas on land with a dryland cropping history of at least four years. The money must be used to establish a buffer that is at least 50-feet wide and up to four times the wetlands’ acreage. Cost-sharing of up to 90 percent is available, but none for fencing. Contracts are for 10-15 years and there is a one-time sign-up bonus of $10 per acre and an annual long-term maintenance payment of $4 per acre.
– Wetlands Reserve Program has three options, but basically provides incentives to stop cultivation of areas that once were playas. Cropping history is not required. It provides a 10-year restoration cost-share agreement with the Natural Resources Conservation Service paying 75 percent of eligible expenses, including fencing, earth moving and grass planting.
– Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program involves a 50 percent to 75 percent restoration cost-share agreement with the contract running between five to 15 years. Grazing is allowed.
Jones said estimated net income from the CP23A is often more than the returns from dryland wheat and sorghum in the High Plains, so it may appeal to producers in this region.
The attractiveness of the Wetlands Reserve Program depends on the ability to generate enough wildlife revenues to offset restoration costs and crop and pasture income losses, she said.
The Wildlife Habitat program can be more economical at lower restoration cost levels and/or longer contract lengths, Jones said.
“Every playa has to be handled on a case-by-case basis to see which option works best,” she said.
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