McGillivray and Leona McKie Muse WMA
Phone: (254) 434-3184
Address:
13549 CR 478
May, TX 76857
Contact:
Devin Erxleben
Dates Open:
Limited public access is offered during land management workshops, field days, Wildlife Management Area (WMA) tours and public hunts. Public hunting opportunities are offered through drawn permit hunts and walk-in style hunts during specific dates and times with a Special Drawn Permit or Annual Public Hunting (APH) Permit. For information about drawn hunts or walk-in hunt opportunities, please go to the Public Hunting in Texas & Access to TPWD Lands webpage.
Description
The McGillivray and Leona McKie Muse Wildlife Management Area is located in northeastern Brown County in the Cross Timbers and Prairies Ecosystem. The WMA consists of 1,972.5 acres of open grassland, shrubland and limestone ridgetops dominated by mixed oak communities.
The Muse WMA was donated to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department by McGillivray and Leona McKie Muse in 2000 and was established as a Wildlife Management Area in 2006. Prior to TPWD ownership, the property was leased for livestock grazing for several decades. The operation of the Muse WMA includes the development and management of wildlife habitats and populations of indigenous and migratory wildlife species. The Muse WMA also provides areas to demonstrate habitat development and wildlife management practices to landowners and other interested groups; develop new techniques for managing wildlife populations and habitat through on-the-ground research designed for local issues and conditions; and provide public hunting and appreciative use of wildlife in a manner compatible with the resource.
Habitat management efforts have focused on restoring native plant communities, reducing woody brush from heavily encroached areas and increasing available surface water. Staff at the Muse WMA conduct annual surveys to monitor plant and animal populations and habitats. Additionally, the Muse WMA has served as a study area for several research projects including: a Texas horned lizard reintroduction and movement study, an evaluation of best management practices for restoring mesquite brush and Texas wintergrass-dominated rangelands, a white-tailed deer browse nutritive study and an evaluation of e-DNA sampling and movement study for semi-aquatic turtles.