Responsibly managing natural resources while facilitating the sustainable development of oil and gas resources is a way of life for those who work on the ConocoPhillips surface management team in the Permian Basin.
An aggregate of several ranches in the Permian Basin, Quail Ranch is situated where the Trans-Pecos, High Plains, and Edwards Plateau ecoregions converge, providing a diverse array of flora and fauna. The site of cattle drives in the late 1800s, the property has a storied history of agricultural production including cattle, sheep and goats, leading to large portions of the property suffering from the effects of chronic overgrazing. A fenced gravesite serving as the final resting place for a cowboy serves as a reminder that the land was once part of the storied wild west. Those who now work the land are armed with a focus on conservation and on minimizing the environmental impact of operations. The conservation efforts at Quail Ranch were honored with a 2022 award from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for exceptional land stewardship in the Trans-Pecos ecoregion​.
"We've been given the opportunity here to demonstrate that we're not only an exploration and production company but at the same time have a strong land ethic. We promote rangeland health, ecosystem health across the board and have a positive impact across the landscape,” noted Jesse Wood, Quail Ranch Director of Ecology and Sustainable Development for ConocoPhillips.
Today, Quail Ranch LLC now encompasses multiple surface properties acquired over time and includes 195,000 acres across Texas and New Mexico. So, there’s plenty of space for Wood and his team to develop and implement their comprehensive conservation plans​. They spend many of their days identifying and protecting sensitive habitat areas​ while collecting baseline data for wildlife species​. This information allows the group to implement practices that are beneficial to the land and associated wildlife species​ while preventing the spread of noxious and invasive plants and animals​. Quail Ranch LLC properties have customized comprehensive natural resource management plans (CNRMP) that guide these operations. Goals of CNRMP include:
- Actively managing owned surface land in a manner that allows for responsible development of oil and gas resources. This is accomplished by reviewing projects on a case-by-case basis through thorough site inspections prior to infrastructure development, and restoration of sites following construction activities. Efforts focus on minimizing habitat fragmentation.
- Collaborating with ConocoPhillips project planners and developers as well as multiple third parties across many spectrums including renewables, utilities and public roadways.
- Identifying and protecting sensitive habitat areas, such as desert washes and playa lakes; unique habitats where biodiversity is significant.
- Collecting survey and habitat evaluation data for selected game as well as non-game species including mule deer and white-tailed deer, scaled and bobwhite quail, wild turkeys, black-tailed prairie dogs and burrowing owls. Data is used to monitor population health and determine harvest recommendations for deer, quail and turkey.
- Implementing a water development and watershed management plan to ensure adequate distribution of water for wildlife across the ranch. Practices include maintenance of existing water wells, troughs, and pipelines, as well as installation of spreader dams, guzzlers, and new pipelines and troughs.
- Identifying areas of low plant species diversity and implementing range improvement practices to improve habitat for wildlife. These include chemical and mechanical brush management followed by range seeding. When available, locally adapted seed developed by the West Texas Native Seeds project will be used.
- Implementing brush management in a manner that improves and/or maintains habitat beneficial to black-tailed prairie dogs, burrowing owls and pronghorns.
- Preventing the spread of African rue and other invasive plants by systematically treating affected areas.
In 2022, 285 projects in the Permian were reviewed for ecological sensitivity, potential conflicts with ranch operations, and adherence to conservation agreements and best management practices in Texas and New Mexico. This included developments belonging to ConocoPhillips and third parties, across energy and other sectors. Sixty-nine dedicated wildlife surveys for six different species were conducted, with ongoing population monitoring via remote sensing.
“If you do not document outcomes of your efforts, it is difficult to evaluate success of a particular project. It is also difficult to convey what you have learned to others,” Wood offered.
Quail Ranch is collaborating with the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch (RPQRR) and the Borderlands Research Institute (BRI) to plan and execute a research program with a primary focus on scaled quail ecology. The cooperative research program with BRI is evaluating survival and recruitment across a gradient of energy development to provide a better understanding of what factors influence quail populations in the Permian Basin. Additionally, Quail Ranch provided over 100 native, wild caught scaled quail to RPQRR for release on ranches with historic populations of scaled quail to evaluate the efficacy of translocation to replace or supplement populations experiencing long-term declines. Transmitters on the quail allow researchers to monitor survival and reproduction rates as well as dispersal of the birds. Quail Ranch also provided harvested quail to BRI to assess parasite loads and perform crop analysis.
With collaboration as a cornerstone of their conservation efforts, the ranch team has also hosted volunteer events with the Stewards of the Wild (SOTW), Midland Chapter, to support hands-on wildlife management. During these events, volunteers modified net-wire fencing to allow pronghorn to easily pass underneath fences and participated in the construction of artificial burrows to enhance burrowing owl habitat. Attendees also learned about other species indigenous to the Permian Basin and enjoyed presentations about efforts to establish and preserve burrowing owl habitats. The restoration project involves removing mesquite, an invasive species of grassland habitats, installing artificial burrows, and reseeding the area using a native seed mix where mesquite was removed. The artificial nesting structures are created using buried irrigation valve boxes and corrugated pipe to simulate a natural burrow.
“I think the effort is one of our biggest successes and one of the things that I found very interesting. We went in and cleared about 370 acres and then reseeded that land. We were trying specifically to target burrowing owls, so we created artificial burrows,” said Jason Brooks, Wildlife Biologist and Field Project Coordinator for Quail Ranch.
“We've been able to see the owls actually move in and use those burrows. So, to be able to bring some life back and create some usable space for wildlife has been a real treat for us,” Wood added. Read more about the effort to restore Burrowing Owl habitat here.
Supporting native seeding
The team at the ranch collaborates with West Texas Native Seed (WTNS) in a project designed to produce locally adapted cultivars of grasses to increase the success of habitat restoration efforts.
“Staff with the Permian Basin - Panhandle Native Seeds Project and West Texas Native Seeds collect seeds of the same species from different populations within the region and evaluate them in a greenhouse. Top performers are then planted in plots outside of the greenhouse. Successful seeds are then sent to growers for commercial production. Anyone can buy these seeds – and should; locally adapted seeds perform better in restoration projects,” Wood said, noting that their model of sharing knowledge about native seeds has been replicated elsewhere.
Concho Resources began supporting the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute (CKWRI) in 2017, funding employment of an assistant director dedicated to the project as well as construction of the Texas Native Seeds Research Center in Alpine, Texas. ConocoPhillips continued support for WTNS after the 2021 acquisition of Concho Resources. Quail Ranch now offers education and outreach about the use of native seeds, which included installation of a demonstration plot in downtown Midland.
Restoring degraded rangelands to a healthy state and adopting and maintaining a brush management strategy at Quail Ranch LLC includes a project to assess management alternatives for naturalized Lehmann lovegrass. As part of this effort, in 2022, over 362 acres were planted with locally adapted native seeds. Brush management efforts include 2,248 acres of aerial treatment of mesquite, over 600 acres of aerial treatment for tarbush, and over 335 acres of mechanical control. Much of this land is beneficial to migratory bird species. By hosting field days to highlight these restoration and conservation efforts, the Quail Ranch team hopes to educate other land managers and oil and gas operators regarding best management practices.
Soil carbon sequestration research
Quail Ranch is also the home of a collaborative project aiming to understand and maximize potential for soil carbon sequestration benefits in semiarid rangeland. Researchers from Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Tarleton State University are investigating habitat enhancements that would increase storage of carbon.
“Part of what we're doing is trying to understand how we can manage our lands in a way to be able to put more carbon into the soil and have it stay there long term,” offered Bill Fox, Extension Range Specialist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.
“Degraded sites do not store carbon as effectively as restored sites, so we are helping to facilitate, through these restoration sites, more sequestration of carbon in the soil,” Wood added.
To determine current carbon stores, soil samples will be taken and analyzed. Soil core analysis, vegetation data and management history will serve as inputs for modeling estimated carbon sequestration rates. Results will yield current carbon stores, carbon sequestration estimates, and recommendations for assessing the soil carbon sequestration potential on company owned properties. Data will be shared with other parties in the Permian Basin to enhance knowledge of soil carbon sequestration potential in the region.
