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Texas A&M Forest Service launches online tools to assist Texas landowners.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M Forest Service launched the Learn Plan Act Texas website in partnership with the Southern Group of State Foresters and the Texas Forestry Association. It will educate Texans on land stewardship practices. The agency also redesigned its My Land Management Connector application to make stewardship easier than ever before.
“With approximately 96 percent of Texas privately owned, the Texas private landowner holds the key to the sustainability of our forest resources,” said Texas A&M Forest Service Forest Systems Department Head Hughes Simpson. “They have a stewardship ethic. They just need the information and the tools to achieve that.”
“Learn Plan Act Texas fits our strategic goals of providing outreach and education to forest landowners so they can effectively manage their land to meet their objectives while sustaining it for future generations,” said Texas Forestry Association Senior Director Susan Stutts.
New Texas landowners, in particular, may benefit from a step-by-step approach to land management. Landowners can find the information and resources they need. They then can determine their property goals and conserve their land using Learn Plan Act Texas. They can also find service providers to carry out land management practices using My Land Management Connector.
“Learn Plan Act Texas provides the landowner with the information he or she needs to decide what management is right for their land,” said Simpson. “It will be a good first step to prioritize their goals to achieve what they ultimately want to do with their land.”
It is created by Texas A&M Forest Service. The ‘My Land Management Connector’ simplifies stewardship. It makes it easy for landowners to find and research providers for services like timber harvesting, consulting services, herbicide application, and more.
Both tools educate and assist landowners as they work to protect, conserve, and keep their piece of Texas healthy. Unmanaged land may be at a higher risk of invasive species, insects and disease, and wildfires.
“An engaged landowner leads to a healthy forest because they’re doing things to better the forest and make it more productive. We want landowners to engage and actively take care of their piece of Texas,” said Texas A&M Forest Service East Texas Operations Head Wes Moorehead.
“Our role is always to bring information and tools to those who need it, so they can be better stewards of the land. Our role was to help these two initiatives come to fruition,” he said.
Service providers may sign up and create a presence on My Land Management Connector. It will get the word out about their business and contact landowners who have requested the types of services they provide. Neighboring landowners have the option to use the application to connect with one another and share services across property lines to cut the cost of service per acre.
Visit Learn Plan Act Texas at https://www.learnplanacttexas.org/. My Land Management Connector can be found at http://mylandmanagementconnector.com/.