by John Jefferson

  Without leaving the state? And doing good things for wildlife while you’re at it?

  I’m not talking about a bank-breaking resort, either. But I am talking about the volunteer opportunities to spend a weekend or more in the mountains of West Texas, giving your eyes a refreshing gaze at unending vistas of a rugged landscape devoid of human blight. And letting your lungs rejuvenate while “breathing air that ain’t been breathed before,” as Johnny Cash once sang. 

  Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. (TPWD) has several wildlife management areas (WMA) west of the Pecos River. Each year, volunteers from the Texas Bighorn Society (TBS) and the Texas Chapter of the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) journey west to assist in habitat improvement and rainwater retention work. I say “work” but knowing that you’re putting a wildlife water fountain of sorts in a parched land that only gets 9-11 inches of rain each year has to give you a worthwhile feeling. And you’ll enjoy the camaraderie of like-minded sportsmen working beside you for the benefit of wild things. Although these are work trips, I suspect it’s not all work. And you can’t beat the “work environment”!

  Bighorns became extinct in Texas in the 1950s. Restocking soon began but suffered setbacks until TBS was formed and raised over $200,000.00 for brood pens in the Sierra Diablo WMA. Desert bighorns from Arizona, Nevada and Utah begat Texas’ current wild sheep herd.  More than 175 lambs have since been raised and released into the West Texas mountains! The herd now numbers 1,500 wild bighorns. According to Froylan Hernandez, the TPWD Bighorn Sheep Program Leader on Elephant Mountain WMA, the goal is 3,000 bighorn sheep.

  Too late for last week’s column, I just found out about the earliest 2019 volunteer work-adventures but if you drop everything you’re doing, there might be time enough to make the trek. It’s this coming weekend, March 15-16, on the Black Gap WMA. Information is on the TBS website under 2019 Work Projects. Carlton Turner is in charge (512-750-6243). Cell reception is questionable in West Texas, however. If you can’t make this one, you might at least get your name on the list for the future.

  The Mule Deer Foundation has a similar project you still have time to join. It’s May 17-19, near Van Horn.  MDF volunteers will construct water guzzlers and perform other habitat work. So far, MDF has constructed guzzlers that have provided over 75,000 gallons of water to any critters that’re thirsty. As New Mexico MDF Regional Director Colleen Payne told me, “There’s no sign at the water troughs saying, ‘For mule deer only.’ All wildlife species drink there.”

  MDF strives to ensure conservation of the species, its habitat and the future of the shooting, hunting and outdoor lifestyle. In the current environment, some are actively opposing those ideals. TBS and MDF provide a means for concerned sportsmen to work together for two struggling species living in harsh environments.

  And their work takes place in ruggedly beautiful venues.

  JJ