In the imagination, the West Texas cowhand or rancher is synonymous with rugged individualism. There’s truth to the stereotype: a degree of self-sufficiency is a must in rural life.
But so is neighborliness. Whether it’s working cattle, pulling a well or digging a grave, critical rural tasks require collaboration.
That’s doubtless true when it comes to conserving wildlife, which doesn’t tend to recognize property lines. August 5th to 7th, the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference will bring together landowners and scientists – to explore practical solutions for sustaining our region’s wild creatures.
Eliana Goodwin is the engagement and activities coordinator with Alpine’s Borderlands Research Institute, or BRI. With the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and the Texas Wildlife Association, the BRI hosts the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference every four years.
“The content is specifically designed to help landowners,” Goodwin said of the conference, “but I don't think that it is limited to just people who own property. If you are interested in natural resource conservation, in wildlife, in plants and birds in any capacity, then I think you'll benefit from being there.”
In a region where most land is privately owned, landowner stewardship shapes the fate of wildlife. And Goodwin said there are few local landowners who don’t take that responsibility seriously.
The conference, she said, is a chance for landowners to learn the latest in scientific research, to ask questions and to compare notes on what’s working.
“Conservation can't happen without partnerships like these and gathering to discuss these issues,” she said. “That's the only way that we're going to get conservation done – because conservation doesn't just happen on a single property. It happens in this large, interconnected landscape.”
The conference begins the evening of August 5th, with the Texas Big Game Awards Banquet, at the Museum of the Big Bend on the Sul Ross State University campus. On the 6th, there’s a full day of presentations in the university’s Espino Conference Center.
The first session opens with a panel discussion of a galvanizing issue: the Big Bend border wall. Participants will include former Big Bend wildlife biologist Raymond Skiles, attorney Jim Bradbury and Grahame Jones of the Texas Conservation Alliance. The discussion will reflect “different viewpoints,” Goodwin said.
That’s followed by a talk on New World screwworm. The parasitic fly, which has now been identified in the Trans-Pecos, is a scourge for cattle. But it also threatens wildlife here. Next, the McDonald Observatory’s Stephen Hummel will discuss preserving the region’s dark skies, and Sul Ross scientists will share their work in a “research lightning round.”
The second session centers on big game – and scientists will report on trends in mule deer, pronghorn and desert bighorn populations. Then it’s aoudad. These non-native wild sheep can edge out native big game, but they’re now embedded in the local hunting economy and culture. The BRI’s Justin French will talk about how to manage the impacts of these adaptive, and impressive, creatures.
A third session focuses on non-game animals – including black bears, which continue their recolonization of the borderlands. And the final session looks at habitat management, with a focus on grassland and riparian restoration.
A reception that evening will give attendees a chance to network and ask follow-up questions. And the conference concludes Friday morning with field outings.
Goodwin said the goal is to nurture community-wide engagement with conservation.
“What we want people to get out of it is feeling connected,” she said, “feeling connected to the landscape and to the other people who are working to conserve it and the idea that everyone has a part to play in conservation in our area.”
Registration for the event ends at noon, July 31st. To register, or for more information, search “Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference 2026.”
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