Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service Offices of Freestone, Leon, and Navarro Counties will be hosting a Wildlife Habitat Field Day at the Blue Lake Ranch in Freestone County on June 1.
Blue Lake Ranch is mostly made up of Trinity River Bottomland. Several years of management decisions have led to excellent habitat development for whitetail deer and waterfowl. The ranch showcases a 65 acre wetland habitat, forested bottomland, Blue Lake, and several hundred acres of land that is well suited for birds and other wildlife.
Several sites on the ranch will be used to develop discussions by Texas Parks and Wildlife, NRCS, and Texas AgriLife Extension Service staff. Some of the topics that will be discussed include native grass establishment, prescribed burning, oak tree reforestation in the Trinity River Bottomlands, invasive weed and brush species management, utilizing food plots for whitetail deer, establishing and managing wetland areas, and thinning bottomland forest to encourage plant diversity.
Participants are asked to call the Freestone County Extension Office at 903-389-3436 by Tuesday, May 29th for registration information and directions to the ranch. All participants should come dressed prepared to walk through parts of the ranch. Rubber boots are highly recommended.
Program registration will begin at 9:00 AM. Activities will begin with introductions at 9:30 AM. Lunch will be provided. Each participant with a Texas Department of Agriculture- Pesticide Applicators License will be eligible for 2 hours of Continuing Education Credits for renewal of their license. Directions and a printable map may be downloaded from the Freestone County Texas AgriLife Extension Service web page at http://freestone.agrilife.org.