Who are we?

The Western Navarro Bobwhite Recovery Initiative (WNBRI) was established in 2006 to provide a mechanism for private landowners to deliver native grassland restoration and management targeted towards improving habitat for the Northern bobwhite and associated grassland bird species.  The focal area of WNBRI is the western 1/3 of Navarro and Ellis Co., TX where isolated populations of bobwhites are known to still exist in isolated pockets of habitat.  Since it’s inception, WNBRI has maintained a membership of 35-40 landowners with a cumulative land base of over 30,000 acres.

Since becoming a 501c3 non-profit organization, WNBRI has developed partnerships with government agencies such as the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.  Additionally, partnerships with conservation organizations such as Trinity Waters, Park Cities Quail and the National Wild Turkey Federation have been critical to WNBRI’s success through grants and other assistance to help facilitate habitat restoration efforts for its members.  The partnerships with these organizations and government agencies have contributed to over 5,000 acres of native grassland habitat restoration and/or enhancement through it’s Habitat Enhancement Program (HEP) for land management practices such as range seeding, brush sculpting and cross-fencing. 

In addition to habitat enhancement programs, a very important aspect of WNBRI’s mission is to educate its members about habitat requirements and land management practices that benefit grassland birds so that their lands can become sustainable native grassland communities capable of supporting a diversity of grassland species.  WNBRI hosts 2 landowner workshops/field days annually, 1 in the spring and 1 in the fall, to update its members on current programs the organization is involved with, and the latest information covering a wide range of conservation topics to help them be the best stewards of their lands.  The workshops/field days are typically held at member ranches to showcase and demonstrate the habitat restoration and enhancement practices they have applied to their land.  This is also an excellent opportunity to get the members out into the field to teach the habitat requirements of a variety of grassland species and the land management practices that can be applied to optimize those habitat requirements.  Being in the field is critical to helping someone visualize what healthy native grassland should look like and know what steps they may need to take to get to that state and maintain it.

Going forward, through the above-mentioned partnerships, WNBRI members will have the benefit of being able to continue to enhance their land for grassland birds through its HEP as well as other conservation programs that may become available in the future.