Habitat enhancement at Maverick Ranch;
monarch research and highway sprawl

By Bebe and Sissy Fenstermaker

Texas is home to many birds and is in the flight path of many others. Texas is, however, the only breeding ground for two songbirds whose numbers have reached such dangerously low levels they have been placed on the federal endangered species list. Both birds nest in the Hill Country and both are here on the Maverick Ranch. Since 97 percent of Texas is privately owned, responsibility for bringing back up the numbers of endangered species in Texas literally is in private landowners’ hands. It is up to us to build the species back up. The Maverick Ranch’s goal is to have and maintain the highest native biodiversity and we participate in many efforts to do this.

Just before Thanksgiving 2001 we began a process which seemed to turn nearly 40 acres upside down. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service approached us last summer about doing a project with them to enhance habitat for the endangered black-capped vireo (BCV). With the representative of the Service, we assessed our habitat in the broiling summer sun. What we were after was black-capped vireo habitat that did not also include habitat for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler (GCW). We found what we were looking for and worked the arrangements out. Our agreement with USF&W was to put the agreed-upon acres into BCV enhancement. They paid for the cutting, we provide the land, do some planting, and maintain the habitat for 15 years. We also had to find the machine operator to do the cutting and piling.

To aid one endangered bird we could not negatively affect the other. It’s the law. The vireo needs dense low brush, in which it nests, weaving an interesting nest about "door knob high." The warbler exclusively uses mature cedar (our native juniper) bark for nesting material. Both birds’ requirements are different although they can be found quite near each other.

We found what we were looking for; an area in which we had not documented GCWs and which had plenty of small oaks to which we could give a haircut. We were to remove all second-growth cedar, which on the Ranch meant cedar about fifteen years old. (It would be no loss to the GCW because at that age the bark does not slip for nesting material.) Then we would cut down all oaks ten inches and under in girth as measured at chest height. (That was the hardest part of the whole project since many big trees were about that thickness. It was a heart tug to bring one down.) We would cut them off near the ground, beginning an oak sprouting or regrowth from the root. This creates the dense brush the bird requires and the regrowth should begin to produce something adequate in five or six years.

We were looking for a small bobcat machine with tree-cutting shears and finding that was easy. Getting an operator who understood what the job required was the hard part. It proved most difficult to communicate to the applicants that what we would end up with would look like a mess. We explained we were enhancing habitat for an endangered bird. We had to have specific manipulation done which would provide best habitat in shortest time. It was interesting to sense at what point each operator began to tune us out. Almost to a person they assured us they knew exactly what we wanted. They’d say that when they got through, our place would look like a park. WRONG -- back to square one! One man even argued with us. He said he didn’t like what we were describing and that he knew best! That’s always what we "land stewards" like to hear. Finally we would begin each interview with, "This is going to look like a mess and we know it. We want a mess, that’s how we’ll know it’s correct!" They would then call back with a price far over the allowed amount and we would move on to the next one. We exhausted our list of names but our USF&W contact gave us some more from which we found one who appeared to understand.

We thought the job would take two months to do. It took five. None of us, landowners or operator, had ever done anything like this. From the smoke, sawdust, cedar branches, and sweat has arisen black-capped vireo habitat enhancement. We can write the book. We know what works and what doesn’t. We know when to use a machine and when to get out of it and chainsaw. We know how to sleuth tiny cedars hoping to escape the clippers. We know what must be done if oak wilt is not far away. We know how to paint each oak stump barn red, bright blue, or shed green and how much to thin the paint. The paint room at the Ranch is almost empty. We know what a paint can looks like when it’s been run over by a bobcat. We know what chainsaws sound like when too much oil has been put in the mixture. We have stood waiting for the lamb that stayed too long at the rodeo. It was very cold in the mornings when we’d start and by noon, every coat was off. It took the four, sometimes five, of us discussing and arguing to get it figured out. We passed over the same ground, repeating the same action too many times. Better to stay put until we finished one area, then move on. The operator couldn’t work long in one spot.

We have realized what had been a prairie and oak savanna many years ago had become an oak forest. Some experts feel that having too many oaks in this region has led to oak wilt. Certainly, if this is true, it is better to take excess oaks down instead of losing them to wilt. The downed oaks were cut up for firewood to be sold by the operator. The canopies were cut off and drug back over the stumps in order to protect the regrowth. It looks like a mess to the unpracticed eye but wonderful things are already happening. Small wildlife has moved into the piles of cedar and the oaks are already sprouting up. We see healthy seedlings of redbud trees, grasses, and forbs since sunlight hits the ground again. We hope other landowners will participate in these projects to build back the species numbers for the future. It will be a fascinating 15 years for us.

Bebe Fenstermaker

The Boerne area is fortunate to have a local resident who is a science teacher and also an expert monarch butterfly researcher. Mary Kennedy teaches at Texas Military Institute (TMI), which some years moved from its location in San Antonio to a site in northwest Bexar County. She and her students began studying the monarchs and found that little if any information about their habits in part of the United States was known. Most of the research done was in the northern reaches of their summer territory and being compiled by researchers at the University of Minnesota. Now however, after several years of careful data gathering by Mary’s students, more is known about the monarch’s behavior in this part of the country. Mary’s students have competed nationally and internationally in science fairs with projects delving into the life cycle and migration of this particular butterfly species. The Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne has roped the Native Plant Society into monitoring monarch activity in the park. With training by Mary and her students, several of the members find themselves now walking straight-line transects looking for any milkweed plant that falls along their path. Once a week each plant is carefully examined for eggs and larvae. In addition, we watch for adult monarchs, note what nectaring plants are blooming each week, and make note of any disturbances (mowing, haying, herbicide application, etc.) that might temporarily or permanently damage the plants. All the information compiled is recorded and sent to the University of Minnesota. The intent is to train more of us so that in the future we will observe monarch activity on our own at other locations which will then become part of the research.

It’s only May and already we’re experiencing June temperatures. The days are hazy and humid making life for those with allergies miserable. The haze over San Antonio is brown and in the last few years, it has finally crept out our way. The plants look as if they have been stung, showing brown spots on the leaves and buds that never develop into flowers. Friends who recently returned from their annual trip to the Big Bend reported the pollution was so heavy it hid from view the beautiful mountain panoramas, once a daily treat. They were not even able to finish two rolls of film. No longer is Monterrey the only source. Houston and San Antonio are now major contributors to the pall that blankets the park. I read recently that the Big Bend is now on the National Park Service’s "Ten Most Endangered Parks" list. We shouldn’t be surprised, though, as more and more roadways are being constructed around the state encouraging cities to sprawl. Nothing is offered in the way of alternative mass transportation within the cities or between them other than flying. No sooner are more lanes added to the already massive roadways than they are again congested and traffic is snarled.

Where or when will it end?

Sissy Fenstermaker