Agenda Item No. 3
Presenter: Justin Dreibelbis

 

Briefing

Overview of the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program Grant Ranking Process

March 2, 2016

Per the schedule approved by the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Council at the January 28, 2016 meeting, grant applications received by the February 19, 2016 deadline have been reviewed and ranked in accordance with the selection criteria adopted by the Council. 12 applications were received, covering properties ranging in size from 144 to 9,992 acres and representing a diverse swath of Texas habitats and working lands, from the high grassland ranches of trans-Pecos to the crayfish farms of southeast Texas.

The Project Ranking Committee consists of:

  • Tim Birdsong, Inland Fisheries Division, Ecosystem/Habitat Assessment Chief
  • Justin Dreibelbis, Wildlife Division, Private Lands and Public Hunting Program Director
  • Ted Hollingsworth, Land Conservation Program Director
  • Corky Kuhlmann, Land Conservation Program Senior Project Manager
  • Jeff Raasch, Wildlife Division, Statewide Wetland Habitat Program Leader

The committee met on February 22, 2016 to review the applications. Each member was provided a score sheet for each of the 12 project applications listing each of the selection criteria. The application was projected on a screen and reviewed simultaneously by the committee members. Committee members with expertise on specific subjects related to the proposals, such as watershed conservation, adjacent or nearby conservation efforts, or Species of Greatest Conservation Need, shared their insights, while each member of the committee scored each project proposal independently. Once the scoring was completed, each member tallied their scores and ranked the project applications, and the committee compared rankings.

The committee was very pleased to find near-unanimous consensus in the ranking of the top six projects, and had no trouble identifying and agreeing on five projects that should be recommended to the Council for funding. While the committee was unanimous regarding the sixth project, available funding is not sufficient to cover the cost of that project. Details on these projects will be presented to the Council in agenda item #4.