Landowner of the Year 2010 - Jim Wolfe
Red River Ranch
Tillman Co. landowner Jim Wolfe was recently awarded
the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s Landowner of
the Year Award.
Through the Landowner of the Year program, the
Wildlife Department selects a landowner who has gone above and
beyond to improve their property for wildlife habitat.
Wolfe owns the Red River Ranch, about 1,000 acres
bordering the Red River in Tillman County characterized by
rolling sandhills and thoughtful management efforts.
Wolfe received his award at the July meeting of the
Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission. By his side as he
received the award was Red River Ranch manager Lloyd Kelly, who
plays a vital role in management project completion on the
ranch.
After purchasing his ranch, Wolfe sought technical
advice from a range of conservation agencies to help him improve
his property for wildlife.
“With 95 percent of Oklahoma in private ownership,
it’s vital that our landowners be a part of the wildlife
equation,” said Mike Sams, private lands senior biologist for
the Wildlife Department.
Wolfe has taken advantage of several programs
including the Department’s Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program,
Deer Management Assistance Program and the Federal Wildlife
Habitat Incentive Program. Wolfe has installed fencing to
protect riparian areas, including more than a mile-long stretch
of creek important to hundreds of wild turkeys. The creek
portion of Wolfe’s property is critical winter habitat for the
local turkey population, providing winter roosting to an
estimated 400 turkeys.
Wolfe has managed cattle grazing on his property to
complement his wildlife management goals. He has installed wood
duck boxes, created clearings and restored roost sites for
turkeys and worked to increase forage on his ranch through soil
disturbance, among other efforts.
Because of its southwest location in the state, the
property has the distinction of being one of the few properties
in Oklahoma to document the presence of javelinas, also called
peccaries.
“This is an important recognition that we give to
landowners, and Jim is very deserving,” Sams said.
To learn more about wildlife conservation and
landowner programs operated by the Wildlife Department, log on
to wildlifedepartment.com.
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Photo Caption: Tillman Co. landowner Jim Wolfe (center) accepts Oklahoma
Department of Wildlife Conservation’s Landowner of the Year Award from Alan
Peoples, chief of wildlife for the Wildlife Department (left) alongside ranch
manager Lloyd Kelly (right). Wolfe has taken advantage of several programs and
management techniques to make his Red River Ranch an example of good habitat
management in Oklahoma.
