Any of you familiar with the Texas Wildlife Tax Exemption? Our small tract of land is currently under Ag Exempt and have had cattle on the property for years but we're going to remove the cattle. Someone mentioned to a family member that he had a Wildlife Tax Exemption which helped him out with his taxes. I've never heard of it and not sure if it is something we could do at out 50 acre tract of land. Any info would be much appreciated.

Very simple to get and yes saves a load on taxes without having to have an at exemption. You WILL lose your sales tax exemption. Call your county or Google it for more info

I know a someone who has a Wildlife Tax Exemption. The appraisal district for your county may be able to tell you what is necessary.
The man I referred to has feeders for deer, hog trap, stocked pond with fish feeder, nesting boxes for birds, bat box. Probably has other provisions for wildlife.

How do you get a wildlife tax exemption in Texas?

"To maintain a wildlife tax exemption, landowners must conduct at least three of seven wildlife management practices each year.
These include habitat control, erosion control, predator control, supplemental water, supplemental food, supplemental shelter, and census counts."

Link: >>Tax valuation for wildlife management.

Link:>>Guidlines

I have a wildlife valuation. I feed protein (supplemental feed), hire cedar and mesquite pushed about once a year (habitat control), and kill pigs (predator control). I do an annual report with lots of pictures and receipts. I also try to improve water.

A neighbor piddles with blue bird boxes, but I think that's asking for the appraisal district to come out and inspect.

Yes you can do it go talk to the folks at your local appraisal district, might wait a little longer though this is still a busy time for them.

Much easier than running cows on the property, even if someone else is running them. Done this on three places. not
hard to do or to keep once you get it.

Have a wildlife exemption on our property (170 acres). Previously owners had an ag exemption.

Could have probably done it ourselves, but opted to use a service - https://landmarkwildlife.com/

Wasn't cheap, but pretty much guaranteed we'd get the exemption. Was a really neat experience having a biologist come visit the property for half a day. Learned a lot about the local wildlife/plants. Thought I knew a lot already having hunted for 30 years. Learned all sorts of cool stuff.

as others have said, it can be fairly easy ... I contacted the TPWD biologist for my county, he came out and walked all around and then gave recommendations on areas to focus and some DO's and DON"Ts. He highly recommended not listing deer as part of the improvements as that can have a whole lot of additional red tape (red flag) ... so mine is listed as song birds, turkey, small game, dove, etc. improvements. Mine lists habitat control (cutting cedar/juniper and putting in rows/piles for cover protection and dwellings), supplemental supplies of water (clearing juniper around the artesian springs to increase flow) and supplemental supplies of food (feeders with corn/milo, mineral blocks, food plots) ... that was the easiest option for my property (33 acres)

"To maintain a wildlife tax exemption, landowners must conduct at least three of seven wildlife management practices each year. These include habitat control, erosion control, predator control, supplemental water, supplemental food, supplemental shelter, and census counts."

you will need to get the proper paperwork / forms from the county appraisal district (reason I know this is I filled out all the paperwork that the TPWD biologist gave me, tax office wouldn't take that and about the only difference was the letter head). The main form is 1-D-1 Open Space Agricultural Valuation Wildlife Management Annual Report and you will need to have a cover letter showing your plan on what areas you will focus on improving.

once you get the plan approved, you will need to keep receipts, take before / after photos and provide annually by March 1 ... (used to be May 1)

I’ve been doing it for years. When it became available, I sold the cows and started feeding deer, birds, pigs, squirrels, etc.

I do an annual report with pictures, lots of pictures, from game cams and pics of kids hunting, fishing, and filling feeders. Also pics of food plots, bird feeders, and while I’m plowing and planting. Also pics of the food plots when mature.

Water is a category and I discuss rainfall, creek status, doctoring water with chemicals for fish health. Also pics of these.

Without an exemption, the tax makes the land unaffordable.

But, I have no idea whether they get read and analyzed or just filed. I’ve never had anything questioned. A couple of years ago a couple of women from the Montague County Tax Authority showed up to look things over. I asked if one of them wanted to join me on a 4 wheeler ride to see what I do. They declined so I figure it was a formality.

It is my understanding that Counties are different when it comes to enforcement.

Yeah in our county no in person visits like there is with ag exemptions. Just turn in decent paperwork every year (takes me 15 minutes) and you are good to go.

Thanks. Acreage is a little less than 50 acres in Webb County. The biggest issue I can see is coming up with a plan that would actually work on our tract of land. We use it for deer hunting only so would have to figure something out that would meet the requirements.

Look at the 1d1 application. It will basically tell you what you need to do. Pretty basic if it’s used for hunting now.

Review the requirements. Trapping, feeding wildlife, ——- plenty of options on your property. Don’t make it harder than it needs to be

Thanks fellas for all the advice. We will figure this out as soon as possible.

yep, it can vary between counties.

Webb CAD website forms

the first 3 forms should give you an idea ...

Is this the correct one?

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications...e_agric_valuation_wildlife_mgmt_plan.pdf

Thanks.

We used a service as well and well worth it even in the short run - saved more than the cost in the first year.

Agree with others, it is not difficult to get but requires annual plan updates be sent in for my county. Save receipts, game camera photos and pics of any food plots, dead hogs, other clearing, site or pond work. On average my CAD folks come out about every 3 years. More formality than “inspection”. Most people are probably already doing at least 3 of the 7 required management activities. Over the past 12 years of active management, we’ve seen major increases is almost all animal species. I think improving year round pond and water sources helped the most.

Start with a visit from a TXPWD biologist and build your plan from those recommendations. There are plenty of examples of detailed wildlife plans online. Anyone who can type and use a computer can manage this on their own and you’ll learn a lot in the process. Your land must already be Ag exempt to apply for wildlife management (last I checked).

Thanks fellas.