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AUSTIN — The Boggy Slough Conservation Area (BSCA), located along the Neches River in Houston and Trinity Counties, received the 2025 Texas Leopold Conservation Award as part of the annual Lone Star Land Steward Awards.
The prestigious award, given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation and natural resource management by American ranchers, farmers and foresters in 28 states.
In Texas, the award is presented by the Sand County Foundation and national sponsor American Farmland Trust, in partnership with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The award is made possible through the support and contributions from Lee and Ramona Bass and the Dixon Water Foundation.
“Texas Parks and Wildlife is pleased to see this award go to such a deserving recipient,” said Tim Siegmund, Private Lands Program Leader for TPWD’s Wildlife Division. “Boggy Slough has been a cornerstone of the Neches River corridor for the better part of a century. The careful stewardship by the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, and its enrollment into a conservation easement, ensure it will continue to serve as a cornerstone and example of excellent land management for generations to come.”
The program has succeeded in spotlighting landowners who have prioritized habitat management and wildlife conservation on their properties – a key to long-term protection and restoration of Texas’ natural and cultural resources.
“These award recipients are examples of how Aldo Leopold’s land ethic is alive and well today,” said Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation President and CEO. “Their dedication to conservation is both an inspiration to their peers as well as a reminder to all how important thoughtful agriculture is to clean water, healthy soil and wildlife habitat.”
BSCA is bordered by 18 miles of the Neches River with about 4,500 acres of unique and pristine bottomland hardwood forests. The property hosts an abundance of wildlife including white-tailed deer, waterfowl, squirrels, red-cockaded woodpeckers and a host of other species. Boggy Slough is considered by many to have “brought deer back into East Texas” through their historic 20th century re-stocking program, as well as their devoted protection and management of the property.
The property’s mission is “to serve as a model of excellence for East Texas through ecological research and outreach to promote conservation, management, and stewardship of natural resources.”
Management practices on the property include prescribed fire, establishing native grass fields, herbicide control of invasive exotic plants, thinning timber stand to favor open pine savannahs, establishing and maintaining both longleaf and shortleaf pine species, and protection of several threatened or endangered species of plants and animals. They continue to manage their timber stands through a conservative selection approach and not high-yield forest production.
The property is currently home to seven clusters of endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and through continued management and thinning of timber stands, BSCA hopes to see an increase in those population numbers. Additionally, BSCA has one of the largest colonies of the endangered Texas Prairie Dawn plant in Texas. The property has allowed a variety of genetic and pollination studies to be implemented on the property. BSCA is also home to the threatened Neches River Rose mallow plant which occurs at the edge of woodlands in open marshy habitats found in sloughs, oxbows, river terraces and sand bars associated with the river and its tributaries.
The owners of property, T.L.L. Temple Foundation, will be presented with the distinguished award at the Lone Star Steward Awards Dinner on May 21 in Austin. They will also receive a $10,000 prize for being selected to help further their stewardship of the property.
LEOPOLD CONSERVATION AWARD PROGRAM
The Leopold Conservation Award Program is a competitive award that recognizes landowner achievement in voluntary conservation. Sand County Foundation presents the award in California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and in New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont). www.leopoldconservationaward.org
SAND COUNTY FOUNDATION
The Sand County Foundation inspires and empowers farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners to ethically care for the land to sustain water resources, build healthy soil, and enhance wildlife habitat. www.sandcountyfoundation.org
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST
The American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through its No Farms, No Food message. Since its founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.8 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally sound farming practices on millions of additional acres, and supported thousands of farm families. www.farmland.org
TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department mission balances outdoor recreation and sustainable use of resources with conservation and management of natural and cultural resources. The department operates 89 Texas state parks, natural areas and historic sites, more than 50 wildlife management areas, three saltwater fish hatcheries and five freshwater hatcheries. TPWD game wardens and wildlife and fisheries biologists work in every Texas county, enforcing laws and encouraging management to conserve fish and wildlife. The agency has 13 internal divisions: Wildlife, Coastal Fisheries, Inland Fisheries, Law Enforcement, Legal, State Parks, Infrastructure, Communications, Financial Resources, Human Resources, Support Resources, Information Technology, and the Executive Office. www.tpwd.texas.gov
