Sycamore Canyon Ranch

Ruthie Russell began taking her sons camping on the family’s ranches before they were old enough to walk. Today, William, 30, and McLean, 24, are both committed outdoorsmen and part of the decision-making team that enacted a conservation easement on the family’s Sycamore Canyon Ranch in Val Verde County. Situated on the northern border of the Devil’s River State Natural Area, the almost 7,700-acre ranch contains both Sycamore Springs and three miles of Devil’s River frontage. Together, the properties create a land holding that is large enough to be ecologically significant.

“The Devil’s River is too perfect to leave its fate to chance,” said Ruthie Russell, who was the initial driving force behind the conservation easement on the Sycamore Canyon Ranch. “The conservation easement formalized our commitment to keeping the river and the land pristine and wild. My sons, who now own the ranch, share my pride in our stewardship. There are few things better than conserving unique, important land for the future.”

Ruthie chose to enact a conservation easement because of the growing pressure of land fragmentation, which is hitting the Trans-Pecos particularly hard. According to the Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, the region lost a total of 10 percent of its farms and ranches greater than 2,000 acres between 1997 and 2007.

“Although this region is considered to be remote, it is not immune to the march of subdivisions and ranchettes,” Ruthie said. “Ranchettes make it difficult to conserve land on the scale necessary to keep habitat intact and ecological systems functioning. My ultimate goal was to pass the ranch along to the boys intact, so it would continue to make an ecological difference.”

The ranch lies at the juncture of the Tamaulipan, Balconian and Chihuahuan desert ecoregions, meaning that the plant community is diverse, changing from canyon to canyon, and ranging from giant live oaks and pecan trees to desert cactus and ocotillos. The diverse habitat, combined with the phenomenon of water in the desert, attracts abundant wildlife including white-tailed deer, Rio Grande turkey, javelina, scaled quail, waterfowl and white-wing and mourning doves as well rare species such Black-capped vireos, Golden Eagles, Peregrine falcons and the Devil’s River minnow.

“The water here is turquoise and crystal clear,” Ruthie said. “As my sister said when she saw it for the first time, ‘It looks just like the Mediterranean.’ Water in the desert is rare and special under any circumstances, but this is spectacular.” In addition to Sycamore Springs, the ranch is home to three additional springs, each has its own unique character, she said.

Originally, Sycamore Canyon Ranch was part of a larger ranch founded in 1885 by pioneer rancher E.W. Fawcett, who brought the sheep industry to far West Texas. Relics of his early settlement efforts including a rock shepherd’s cabin and hand-mortared sheep watering troughs are still evident on the ranch today.

“My family believes in the importance of productive, open space land for both agriculture and the environment,” Ruthie said. “It’s a lesson that we learned from my grandparents who began acquiring our family land in the 1930s. My grandmother always said, ‘It’s our job to leave the land better than we found it.’ And then she’d take us out adventuring to see the splendor of nature first-hand.”

To that end, the family has worked with recognized naturalist David Bamberger to increase the number of rare Texas snowbells on the ranch and have created a partnership with Texas State University to offer on-site Outdoor Classes for its students. The first class, led by Dr. Timothy Bonner, a noted expert in riparian systems, allowed 14 students to study the microenvironment of the Devil’s River and gain an appreciation of the natural world.

“While my family is committed to doing its part to conserve land, we recognize that we can’t do it alone,” she said. “Young people from all walks of life have to be exposed to the miracle of the land, if they are going to understand it and value it.”

She continued, “Open space land nourishes the soul. Unfortunately, I’m afraid people won’t realize how land sustains them, until it’s gone. Imagine getting in your car, driving for 200 miles and seeing nothing but houses and strip malls. We would all die of sadness.”

TALT’s recognition of the importance of keeping open space ecologically and agriculturally productive is what led the Russell family to the organization.

“Thank goodness for TALT,” Ruthie said. “They understand that land stewards have to have the ability to manage the land to make a difference. While they provided first-rate information as we were going through the conservation easement process, they also respected our experience as landowners and land managers and allow us the leeway to do what we think is best for our land, now and in the future.”

Photography by Wyman Meinzer

Thank goodness for TALT. They understand that land stewards have to have the ability to manage the land to make a difference. While they provided first-rate information as we were going through the conservation easement process, they also respected our experience as landowners and land managers and allow us the leeway to do what we think is best for our land, now and in the future.
Ruthie Russell
The Anderson Family Ranch
Prairie Dog River Ranch
Menu