Wildlife Management Plan for Oldham County, Texas

Oldham County covers 1,500 square miles of the High Plains, a substantial section of short-grass prairie and playa lake systems. Buffalo grass, blue grama, and sideoats grama once covered millions of acres, grazed by bison and pronghorn. 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.