Wildlife Management Plan for Andrews County, Texas

Andrews County's 1,501 square miles contain 27,865 documented oil and gas wells alongside short-grass prairie and playa lake systems, creating a landscape where industrial infrastructure and ecological management coexist at close range. Today, much of the region has been converted to irrigated cotton, grain sorghum, and wheat, with remaining native rangeland fragmented by center-pivot irrigation circles and wind energy development. Playa lakes are the defining wildlife feature. These shallow, seasonal wetlands provide the only reliable wildlife water and waterfowl habitat across millions of acres of short-grass prairie and irrigated cropland.

Wildlife management on the High Plains centers on playa lake conservation, CRP grassland management, and rangeland restoration. Playa lakes are the primary recharge mechanism for the Ogallala Aquifer and the single most important wildlife habitat feature in the region. Protecting playas from sedimentation caused by tillage on surrounding cropland, maintaining native grass buffers around playa margins, and managing water levels through careful grazing are essential practices. On CRP contracts converting to wildlife management valuation, landowners should maintain the established grass cover, introduce prescribed fire or patch burning to create structural diversity, and install wildlife-friendly fencing that allows pronghorn passage. Mesquite and prickly pear encroachment on native rangeland requires periodic mechanical treatment followed by targeted herbicide application.