Meet the Field Crew for the JA Ranch Sustainability Assessment Pilot Project

Texas Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) State Coordinator Jeff Goodwin provides rangeland management brainstormed the idea to incorporate the Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable (SRR) Ranch Sustainability Assessment Process into the Texas GLCI 2011 program of work, noting compatibility with the GLCI focus on ranch economics.  Current Texas GLCI Chairman J.K. "Rooter" Brite, Jr. offered his JA Ranch as a demonstration site, and field crews began collecting data during June 2011.  Additional data will be collected next month when the field crews return to their plots and transects on the JA Ranch.  Jeff and Lem Creswell, both with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Texas, are shown below working with clipping plots to determine forage supply (photo courtesy NRCS).

In addition to working with Texas GLCI, Jeff provides training to NRCS field office personnel, technical assistance to landowners, and leadership for land management in the state of Texas through the GLCI. During the past 2 years, prior to becoming the state Coordinator for Texas GLCI, while serving as the Blackland Prairie Area GLCI Coordinator, Jeff was involved with providing grazing land technical assistance to 312 landowners and/or cooperating partners on their property. The assistance included the development of conservation plans, forage inventories and monitoring strategies for grazing management plans as well as grazing land management decision making tools. Additionally, 68 educational awareness and technical outreach presentations were hosted for 3,839 participants.