Three state-owned (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department) wildlife management areas in South Texas are under intensive management programs, where natural resource conservation is the focus. These wildlife management areas, Chaparral, James E. Daughtrey, and Las Palomas WMA, are used as demonstration sites, where the benefits of active management are witnessed, leaving a positive impact on a larger scale.

Results from research conducted on the wildlife management areas, particularly the Chaparral and Daughtrey WMAs, overwhelmingly indicate that a holistic approach to wildlife management is exceedingly beneficial to the ecosystem. These areas implement rotational grazing systems, prescribed burning, mechanical brush treatments, and controlled hunting to develop and maintain healthy ecosystems.

Following are the primary goals of South Texas Management Areas:

• To develop and manage wildlife habitats and populations of indigenous wildlife species.
  
• To provide a site where research of wildlife populations and habitat can be conducted under controlled conditions.
  
• To provide areas to demonstrate habitat development and wildlife management practices to landowners and other interested groups.
  
• To provide natural environments for use by educational groups, naturalists, and other professional biological investigators.
  
• To protect populations of endangered, threatened, or migratory wildlife and protected plant species and related habitats.
  
• To provide public hunting and appreciative use of wildlife in a manner compatible with the resource.
  

JAMES E DAUGHTREY WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA

CHAPARRAL WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA

LAS PALOMAS WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA