My parents bought a 250 acre retirement ranch outside Kerville back in the early 90s. First thing they did was have all the junipers hand cleared everywhere except the creek areas. The property has a spring fed creek. A year or so after clearing the spring heads were flowing probably 300-400% more than when they bought the land. And their water well is only about 20 ft deep. My mom, and amateur botanist and gardener the. Went back and replanted a lot of native trees and grasses like the bluestems and switchgrass. 30 years on the property looks a lot different from the surrounding ranches. It’s super easy to pick out on Google maps because it’s the only one without the thick green juniper cover.
the springs generally surge for a short while after deforesting an area, but long term removing the ancient junipers leads to diminished spring flow. man has become very arrogant thinking we are smarter than nature. there are 5 foot diameter junipers - google juniper growth and age estimates - these are hundreds and hundreds of years old. THINK THE CEDARS OF LEBANON
There are a lot of other people who say the same thing, that springs and water storage increased post removal. One of the most well known examples was on a place in Johnson City called Bamberger Ranch (www.bambergerranch.org) Great story, check out the website. Another study called the Leon River Restoration project studied water runoff pre and post removal had less conclusive results. Thanks for the comment, I bet that's an incredible place to visit in Kerville!
Causation/Correlation. Bamberger bought that ranch when a major drought was ending with the rainfall peaking in the 90s. The springs are dry there today. I know because I live just a few miles from there.
That's kerrville with two r's. The place has a history of being a retirement community with an abundance of elderly people, deer, and police officers. Lots of crazy murders happen there as well. Football players and venison are the main exports.
Yes, "cedars" were described by settlers as covering many hillsides (assuming you're talking about Mountain Cedars, not Eastern Red Cedars. They also almost completely the entire length of the Balscones Escarpment along with oaks and other native trees. So no, they did not just occur inside canyons. I have found plenty of limestone junipers growing in the open that are at least 250 years old. If fires happened every 3-5 years, they could not have established. The historical vegetation was described as being more of a patchy mosaic of forests, woodlands, thickets, and open grassy prairies due to the broken terrain and numerous natural fire breaks (according to Dr. Fred Smeins TAMU). There is zero evidence that fires were ever that frequent across the eastern Edwards Plateau where limestone junipers were always more abundant (except for when Comanches were battling the Lipan). Further west, around the San Saba headwaters and across the western Edwards Plateau, fires could have travelled more unbroken. Still the main reason why there was more tall, dense grass back then was the numerous herds of migratory megafauna. The grasses and soils were robust enough to keep woody plants at bnay without frequent fires. Instead, the fires would have been periodic, maybe every 20-30 years..
Hey Elizabeth, thanks for commenting. You’re comment sounds a bit argumentative although we’re saying the same thing. I’m certainly speaking about Blueberry Ashe Juniper (Juniperus ashei) as I mention that subspecies specifically in the first 30 seconds of the video. I never said they ONLY occur inside canyons, I say they were mostly confined to the canyonlands and steep hillsides, which is thought to be true. The BaIcones Canyonlands run the length of the Balcones Escarpment and even have an identically named wildlife refuge. I would not speak in absolutes as you’re indicating. Perhaps I should have better clarified though, that when I speak about the Texas Hill Country I’m speaking to a broad region of central Texas (which I showed on a map) composing of about 25 counties which together represent a number of varying ecological sites each of which respond differently to disturbance. Certainly, fire frequency would have varied across the entire area. I also mention this landscape as dynamic and I’m quite familiar with the work of Fred Smeins as he was my major professor in graduate school at Texas A&M where I studied “Cedar” encroachment on the Leon River Restoration Project. It is difficult to pack all of this information into a short video that’s digestible to the average viewer. I’m sure you can appreciate given you wrote a book about them. In hindsight, I can always look at ways I can improve how I communicate some of these facts so I appreciate your feedback. Although, I would argue that nothing is materially incorrect. I wish you the best and look forward to interacting with you again.
Sorry for sounding like I was attacking you--I should have started by saying this was a great video!! I just wanted to point out a few things and was caught between zoom meetings. The reason I mentioned ERC is people call all junipers in Texas and beyond "cedars." I keep trying to get people to use a more site specific common name. I've even decided to drop the word "cedar" and start calling junipers growing on limestone karst country ""limestone junipers." These can include Ashe Juniper, J. ovata, the J.asheixJ.ovata hybrid variations (more tree-like--doesn't start off as multi-trunk bush), and J. pinchotti. You said "cedar" was not documented to be part of those landscapes outside of those canyonlands back then. You said they were mostly confined to creeks and Canyonlands. You did not mention steep hillsides (that is unfortunate). BUT...by canyonlands, did you mean the entire eastern half of the EP? Or did you mean canyons? As for fire every 3-5 years...I strongly disagree. There is still no tangible evidence. I managed some land outside of Dripping springs about 20 years ago. There was a n area with healthy soils. The grass was all KR and being regularly grazed. We removed every woody plant growing up and added some compost amendments here and there. After 20 years of no grazing, fire, or mowing -- no woody plants have spread into this area, even though they srped everywhere else. Healthy soil with dense, tall grass, megafauna, microbes, etc.---that's what sustained grasslands and kept out woody plants for longer periods of time. With holistic grazing, I believe healthy grasslands on limestone can thrive for 20-30 years before fire is needed.
@@LandownerTV At 4:02 said Cedars were "not documented to be apart of landscapes outside of canyon lands". Yet there are many explorer notes which contradict your statement, many in the book Cedars Wanted Dead or Alive, a good read. I think another reason they are spreading so quickly is they are the only plants that can grow on our highly degraded soils.
@@elizabethmcgreevy Hey Elizabeth, you’re right, I should’ve said it wasn’t a major part of the landscape as opposed to not part of the landscapes. I try to make these videos as accurate as possible, but it can be difficult to get every phrase correct even when I script it properly. Especially when I’m still not very confident in front of the camera. As for fire frequency I appreciate the fact that you strongly disagree, in fact there is still argument in research circles about what the frequency fire was historically. There is no tangible evidence because there was no documentation from pre-European settlement. We can only look at how these landscapes react to fire now and compare them to the best documentation available from the time of the first Spanish and other European settlers, we can then try to deduce what frequency of fire could have contributed to what they saw. I’ve heard your book references some of these accounts so I look forward to reading it. I did say every 3-5 years and admittedly that would have been on the more open areas of the hill country and not the steep canyon lands. I specified that this was the frequency of rangelands not specifically any part of the hill country, I should have elaborated much more here. However, it is generally believed that “frequent” fires maintained the grasslands of the Edwards plateau. Early researchers did speculate that it occurred in 20-30 year intervals to prevent woody encroachment but later researchers put it at occurring at
Fire at whatever the frequency certainly played a role in keeping the brush at bay. The lack of fire now is allowing the brush including all species of cedar to be the dominate weed and in time will grow into a situation where Texas will be like California where we have massive uncontrollable fires causing much damage. This is already happening but I believe will be much worse in time. I also believe that when the large fires do happen that the landscape will be mostly bare as the cedars will be killed but there is not much else to take over so the process will repeat. This is a problem not limited to the hill country as it is a problem here in north Texas also.
One of the best, to the point discussion on cedar. My family has been in the Hill Country since the 1840's, and everything you described was right on point, from the early days of grass ranges, to farming and ranching and the explosion of cedars.
I was in the kerville hill country about 20 yrs ago, I found the perfect cedar branch for my walking stick, it's sure strong, love the color under the bark, it's my favorite walking staff !
I used to own a house that had a really large juniper tree on the side of the house. It was the neighbors tree and that lousy thing caused foundation problems for both houses. The tree would suck up every bit of moisture within a 30 foot radius of the trunk. Foundation repair work guarantee said that is was not valid if a Juniper is allowed to grow nearby.
You forgot a very important fact. Cedars are dominant pollinators. They put out so much pollen that they overwhelm other trees and prevent them from seeding. After a generation, all the trees in an area are replaced with cedars. This is why A&M recommends all orchards remove any cedars.
Interesting! I'm a native Texan with a ranch about 40 miles west of Waco. There are cedars everywhere bit I never thought much about why they are so prolific. Good stuff! Thanks!
I know what you mean, one of my studies in grad school (05-06) documented cedar encroachment across the hill country and central Texas using historic images starting in the 1960's. It was well documented as encroachment then and still continues. Thanks for the comment!
ive read about the grass in the days of the pioneers and often tried to imagine what it may have looked like. Interesting info. Thanks for the insight.
I do the same thing! It must have been quite a different site in many places in the Hill Country. South Texas has a similar story, while some areas were dominated by brush historically, many of the areas dominated by brush today were documented as grasslands with grass as high as the stirrups on a saddle. There is a unique area inside of Fort Hood called the impact zone that has little grazing pressure and a frequent fire regime. There are large hills covered only in grass and very few trees, quite a site. Also check out the Bamberger Ranch website, much of that ranch near Johnson City has been restored over time.
I grew up in northeast TX in a giant pine forest but went to school at UT and fell in love with the Hill Country and have always been fascinated by its history. You blew my mind when you said that it was once all rich grassland! Really interesting, thanks!
Shoal Creek is a fault line running north-south thru Travis County and Austin, specifically. Everything to the west of Shoal Creek has rocky soil with a lot of shelf-limestone plates. It's great for that hike & bike trail. But NW Hills and all those western neighborhoods must have a lot of good soil brought in for lawns. East of the Shoal Creek (basically Lamar Blvd), the soils are much better - black, rich and were fertile meadows for eons.
Good video. We have 80 acres in Oklahoma that my grandfather bought in 1924. When he was alive, he would burn portions of it every summer. This would keep the tree growth down. Since he has been gone for over 50 years now, this portion is now full of trees, some being a relative to the central Texas Cedar. Your explanation makes very good sense.
Thank you for the explanation. I’ve often wondered whether cedars were native trees. Being from Houston and traveling to Edwards County three to four times a year, I appreciate your lesson in the landscape of this beautiful land.
HYDRO-AXE! That is the best way to clear cedar (and huisache). It is the most economical, but it also turns the cedar into a thin layer of mulch. That mulch protects thin soils and allows native grasses to grow through. I have some areas that the cedars had turned into exposed limestone shelf with cedar brush. After the hydro-axe it turned to grass after one season! If you spread seed beforehand, I think it would work even better.
As a 4th generation native Texan, I implore you NOT to use your HYDRO-AXE!! our ground water (aquifers) are being drained by all of the fracking that's been going on (and causing more frequent and stronger earthquakes). As I was growing up in Central Texas, I never heard of earthquakes in Texas. They were that rare! The dirty fracking water is being pumped back into the ground, thus contaminating the aquifers. We need to conserve all of the ground water we can because if our aquifers run dry or become contaminated beyond use, we are in BIG trouble!
@@terrywall3287 Haha. It doesn’t use water. It’s hydraulic, they just call it Hydro-axe. It’s basically a big chipper on the front of a skid steer. In my experience the layers of mulch it creates helps recharge the aquifer.
@atomicsmith Pardon me for not knowing about different large machinery. It was a logical mistake given that the prefix of "hydro" routinely means water, i.e., "hydroelectric." BTW, I have seen high-pressure water systems that deliver water under such high pressure that it can cut wood, so it was a natural assumption on my part.
I grew up in Southeast Texas at the beginning of the Piney Woods. I went to college in Central Texas (Bell County) and never experienced such intense allergies and sinus infections due to the cedars. They’re pretty to look at, but my God, the pollen is terrible.
It's interesting how some people really react to it and some, such as myself, don't have issues. I'm surrounded by them my whole life and rarely have an allergy attack. Not that I can test it, but I'm curious about how much it would help to consume tea made from the nettles or to do a steam of them.
The same thing happened to me when I first moved to Austin. I had sinus infections, fever, sneezing, runny eyes for 2weeks and after that I never had it again because I got immune to it
@@bunnywhite6513 Then why don't you just shup up with your opinion on this disease of a plant. If you don't know the torture people go through every year because of this damn juniper pollen then you need to shut it. This disease of a tree is overgrown and out competes other native vegetation and trees because these scummy "land owner" corporations don't care about the land. When it is all disrupted this worthless tree outcompetes everything else and sucks up all the water. This is now an economic and public health issue. How much money is lost in productivity because people get sick over this poison tree? Just because it doesn't affect you and they are "pretty to look at it" doesn't mean they are not a problem.
I grew up in East Texas too. Right in the middle of the Piney Woods. I also have a Fungus growing in my lungs. You guessed it, Pinewood Fungus. I love east Texas. Ever hear of Weldon, Texas?
The state highway department is always selling great wood chipers, buy them. Replace the cedar with silverleaf mountain mahoganies in Texas can grow up to 15 feet tall and are fire resistant.
I grew up where Hackberry and the forks of the Nueces River start below the Edwards Plateau, on Dry Creek above Barksdale, below Rock Springs. There are a few old Cedars still standing but most were harvested around the west of Leakey and around Camp Wood during the 40's on. The cedars were used as blocks under frame houses as Cedar is not affected by termites. This was after the war when small frame houses were built. There was a railroad spur built to Camp Wood after WW2 to cut down the Cedar Forest on Hwy 55 and 337, and what I understand it was a very thick forest covering a lot of acres. Sadly the state paid people to harvest the cedar to make more room for Agriculture grass. There were mostly large Angora Goat ranches with cattle and a few sheep. When Gov. Brisco eradicated the Screw worm fly the ranching was better. 200 years ago there were small creeks everywhere on our property. Now you have dry arroyos where the creeks and springs ran. So sad to see the decline of the Hill Country due to the desert encroaching. The last major drought killed some of the older Cedars still standing. On Dry Creek there are a few 300 to 500 year old Live Oak and Cedar trees. This area was a Native American camping area. The Desert is slowly encroaching since I moved there in 1960. Huisache trees grew at Del Rio but not around the Nueces. Only Pecan, Cedar, Mesquite, Blue Oak, Spanish Oak and Live Oak. Now the Huisache are much more prevalent. The rivers and creeks are slowly drying up. There was always a spring and fall flood when the rivers and creeks would flood and clean out everything. Not anymore.
From what I’ve seen, huisache is mostly coming up on land that was cleared for pasture decades ago and has since been allowed to go ungrazed. One of the biggest mistakes some ranchers made was clearing pastures completely instead of leaving a few oak stands. The oaks play a vital role in the water cycle, and without them huisache is the only thing that can survive. Most land owners aren’t willing to invest the time and money to reestablish oaks…
That's a great historical perspective, thanks for sharing! I didn't know a lot of that but I was aware the vast sheep and goat operations operating in the hill country. I very much appreciate your comment!
Nice job! You nailed it. There were several studies going on at Freeman Ranch in San Marcos when I did my PhD fieldwork there. Exactly what I heard from those folks.
@@LandownerTV I'd have to do some digging to see what was published from them. I just remember talking to a few of the students working on them and their faculty advisors. They had several separate pastures in the study. Some were left completely alone. others they were doing controlled burns to replicate what would have been 100 years ago when grass fire weren't controlled. One of the faculty advisors had told me back then (100+ years ago) the ashe junipers were limited to the small canyons and creek beds and that natural fires would burn them out of everywhere else. The oaks and other trees could survive the grass fires. My PhD work involved using canopy texture patterns as an alternative method of land cover detection.
I was so ready to argue.... nobody ever gets it right.... but you did! GREAT video!!! I would add to this that the Junipers are in the hill country to hold the hills together (erosion control), and to build soil on top of the limestone- soil that was lost to the agricultural practices of the settlers in the area. It wasn't just "natural" fire that kept the Junipers at bay, either- the native folks in the area started fires every fall to keep the grasslands in early succession phases so they could see farther for hunting. Bull Creek was named after the last male bison killed in the Austin area... fire- suppressed, bison- gone... the ecosystem responded how it could. And we keep fighting the adaptation process. It's frustrating. Thank you for spreading good information!
I appreciate your comment! Also very good point about Cedar having a value in building and holding soil when herbaceous vegetation is gone. An interesting fact is that a couple of studies out of Texas A&M have found that cedar can build soil as fast or faster as grassland communities. Unfortunately, much can be washed away on slopes or areas with little to no ground cover.
Very true, in fact historic fire regimes invigorated grasslands by removing dead/detritus material and woody plants from rangelands. Fire keeps grasslands, grasslands.....
What an excellent overview of cedars. The Native Americans and some of the early pioneers actually burned up to twice per year. They still do it in Mexico. There is a bee that burrows into cedar limbs. It takes a lot of chopping to find one. I have seen references to grass that grew up to the saddle horn. Nice work.
I work for a company that grinds so called cedar into Fiber that is has multiple uses. It is used in the oil field for lost circulation. It is used for bedding for Show Cattle and Race Horses. The oil is extracted and has many uses and the most recent use is that it has been approved by the FDA for use in livestock feeds for sheep goats and cattle
That's interesting, I never knew it had so many uses. I bet that's a great business, people pay you to remove it and you can make money on the back end with products. Brilliant! Thanks for the comment.
There’s a hill off 35 heading to Austin it used to be just grass with one treee at the very top, now it’s 100% completely cover in cedar trees pretty cool to actually see a land mark change
I bought 30 acres a few weeks ago in Leakey at the headwaters of the Frio. I like the cedars but hate that all of them have a "skirt" of dead branches that make them hard to walk through. one by one I trim them up. Great video.
I live in the green area of north central Arkansas (ref your map at the 1:33 mark) where we have both cedar and the Ashe Juniper. Cedar fever is big here in Jan-Feb when my wife suffers, and the smell of the junipers can be quite pungent. I have 10+ acres here and most of what is not cleared is made up of those two species. The woods alway remind me of something from a fantasy novel where you might expect to see a dwarf or elf hiding amongst the strange junipers, some of which have 6-12 It is interesting that you won't see either tree much above the 1,000' elevation mark, and they do love the shelf rock and limestone so prevalent here.
You ldft out one thing---the cedar breaks offered a lot of opportunity for a large number of hispanic cedar cutters for fence posts....Remember them well--was raised for a time in Liberty Hill
They weren't all Hispanic either. Many cedar choppers in central Texas were Czech and German immigrants like my ancestors. For a time the term "cedar chopper" was a slur used to refer to country people with little education and few technical skills, kind of like you might use hillbilly, but it was a living for many back in those days.
Facinating stuff about the grasslands. I dont know which tree it is, mesquite or Cedar, but I love the smell of that region, especially once you get further west into San Antonio area and beyond.
The 2024 distribution of Juniperus ashei is very similar to that 50 year old map, because plants tend to favor a particular soil type, which is a function of geology.
I've lived inthe hill country forover 10 years and I've always been intrigued by the Ashe Junipur in my yard. I learned a lot from your presentation. A couple of things i noticed was that after a rain, the bark of the cedar will soak up the rain water so that it stays wet several days. Nothing as (far as I can tel)l eats the cedar foliage, that''s why the deer don't eat it. The cedar berries dont have a good flavour for humans. Once a limb dies, it doesnt grow back. The roots are very entangled underground and very hard to pull out even when it is small.
you actually can use juniper berries for food in a couple ways that I've found. If making gin isn't your thing (lol), you can wash and dry the berries and grind them up to flavor meats. Smoked or dried meat flavored with juniper is very tasty, I think. It's a potent flavor so it doesn't take much. I've also used the ground berries to flavor game stews. The dusty coating on the outside of the juniper berry is actually yeast bacteria! Which means that you can use them to make sourdough starter! Plop a few berries in a flour/water mixture like usual, feed it for a few days, and you've got yourself a potent sourdough starter.
We bought 28 acres in Fannin County in NE Texas several years ago covered in cedar. We were told that it had been a cotton farm, but left fallow for 40 years. In that time, it went from cleared farmland to a cedar forest.
Excellent! I read on one of those tourist plaques though, that there used to be a good commercial use for Ashe Juniper as fenceposts. There are lots of those on the lot I lease to put my horse on. BTW, I am looking for a small property to lease that will allow one horse and would love it to have utility hookups and allow a tiny home. I know it's a unicorn 🦄 but I'm looking.....😁 Tired of Austin prices and gas costs to commute to feed my horse.
It's western Red Juniper, but it looks like cedar and causes great agony for those of us that are allergic to it. Those of us, includes me, that are allergic to it, live on drugs from December 15th until the following March 1st. Normally it is done tossing pollen in the air by mid-February, but some years it continues until mid-March. It is as flammable as a kitchen match. It takes almost nothing to get it started. Call the Fire department first then leave for several days. If you are lucky, your house will still be there and livable when you get back.
In the DFW area during that time of year, they show a satellite view of the pollen blowing up here from the hill country for all the allergy sufferers locally during the weather broadcast portion of the news.
Great eyes, that is old baldy shown from Garner. I took that picture on a family trip. I wish I was related to the 2Morrow ranch but that’s just a coincidental name. It’s an amazing area and I bet it’s incredible to have a place out there. Thanks for the comment!
IN MY AREA OF NE KANSAS THE CEDARS, OSAGE ORANGE, (HEDGE) ,AND THE WALNUT TREE GROWTH HAS BEEN EXTENSIVE!! WITH THE LABOR OF THE SMALL FARMER FAMILIES GONE, AND WITH HEATING BEING DONE BY GAS AND ELECTRICITY NOWADAYS , A LOT LESS NATIVE FIREWOOD IS HARVESTED!!
I thought it was interesting how people can analyze the droppings of game on ranch land to get a good idea about their diets, and can supplement nutrition or even bring in native species to enhance the diets in the area. Ensuring healthier game and wildlife. Because the game fencing can isolate and deprive wildlife of a proper healthy diet.
Idk about all of this. My buddy’s ranch is now in its 8th generation of the same family owning it in central Texas. There were no cedars only a few generations ago and the property was primarily covered in oaks.
Thanks for the comment, That's a good point, I'm not speaking about every single area in Central Texas. Certainly there were areas covered in oaks all over the place.
Very informative and I enjoyed the content - thank you! One gripe: there's too much cutting in the video, it's very distracting when every 3-5 seconds there's a cut. Other than that it was great!
No, the Hill Country was not only comprised of grass and canyon lands. It was more mixed between savanna, forests, etc. All the tall grasses, including big bluestem, the varieties of switchgrass, indiangrass, gamagrass, etc. grow all above 6 feet. Besides stopping wildfires, soil erosion from overgrazing has probably contributed most to the increase in cedar populations in the Hill Country.
Overgrazing threatened the topsoil, which causes erosion. Heathy stands of grass will compete against cedar, supporting wildfires that help control the cedars;
@@timothykeith1367 Yes! Unfortunately most ranchers in the state of Texas know next to nothing about rangland ecology, at least where I'm from. Large parks in the state could be a valuable resource not only for native plants and wildlife but as a means of teaching and increasing awareness of the environment. Unfortunately, for as big as the state is, there are very few large of these natural preserves outside of the west. Most land is privately owned. That's part of the reason why most Texans see the land as just another resource to exploit, not to preserve or improve.
@@JurisNaturalism1776Yes, areas of old growth cedar differ greatly fron stands of young cedar. Anyother factor to consider is the drop in water tables and aquifers. Generally they have been much higher. The future of these water tables and aquifers in the Hill County is pretty grim. Hundreds of residential neighborhoods are being built around the hill country. Many by out of state and even foreigb developers. There is no assesent of the ecological impact or the impact on already existing communities. These are large, densely built neighborhoods with no access to municipal water so every house has a well and septic.
In wood county, my property and surrounding area was cattle till the late 70s. The whole are was let go. Currently covered in cider dotted with huge oaks. Im slowing getting my 20acres to a healthy balance. Mainly eliminating most of the cedars
I have many burned stumps on my place .the old nephew of the original owner said this was all grassland, good for cattle, he thinks the last fire was in the 1930s. Since then juniper/ cedar took over. He said his uncle would rent 2 bulldozer and connect with a chain and pull up the ceders so the cattle could get grass.
Climate alarmists are blaming range fires, forest fires etc in recent years on Climate Change. The change was made 100 - 150 years ago with suppression of fires. Thess same junipers grow in New Mexico and Colorado but are interspersed with Piñon Pine. I was surprised to not see Piñon when I first came to Hill Country. My grandparents in New Mexico used cedar for fence posts because it was readily available and strong and doesn't rot. My Grandpa made beautiful furniture from cedar. Utah and New Mexico and probably western Colorado cleared thousands of acres of cedar and piñon and planted browse for deer.
A "cedar wacker" was once a pejorative description of a Hill Country laborer who worked by clearing brush. I don't think it was appropriate as it is good honest work that should be appreciated.
There is no cedar in United States edit: I watched the video it's great, there is a very clear delineation to the range of Juniperus virginiana and J. ashei along the Balcones escarpment's edge. Basically if you're on the left side of I-35 it's all J. ashei (Ash Juniper) vs. the right side of I-35 where it's all J. virginiana (Eastern Red Cedar). The two don't overlap. Another case for not calling the tree a "cedar" especially if you live in hill country - it's a Juniper!
3:20 Birds sit on the fence and drop seeds. Is that why there are so many trees under electricity wires? I thought people just planted these huge trees under those wires. Now, I can blame the birds.
Great video! I have a contract grazing business with goats and I was wondering if you had a good resource to help guide land management decisions. We aim to improve the ecology of the land and I'm always looking to learn more!
Hey Zach! Thanks for the comment, I love hearing that you're looking to learn more about land management. There are a ton of great resources for grazing management online. Here are a few you can start with. agrilife.org/sanangelo/files/2017/08/Grazing-Systems-for-Goats-on-Small-Acreage-1of2-Jim-Muir-2.pdf texnat.tamu.edu/about/ranchers-reference-guide/grazing-management/ agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/educational-materials/ agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/about/district-offices-regional-centers/ - you can check here for local advice www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/landuse/rangepasture/ Here is a GREAT book on brush management. www.tamupress.com/book/9781585443550/brush-management/ Let me know if you have any more questions. Michael
Pretty much the same with W Texas and Mesquite trees. Once upon a time lots of grass, now, sand a little grass and lots of Mesquite trees. And Mesquite lays deep deep roots to get water.
I'm from central Oregon And there we call them juniper trees, And we cut down as many as possible And the federal government pays you to cut them down!
It’s my opinion that what parts of the southwest have done, and this extends to where Mexico City is located, is change drainage of rainwater in ways that limit the formation of lakes. California turned what used to be one of the largest lakes into dry farm land. The Spanish dried out what used to be a group of cities on a large lake, and Texas has done some of the same on a smaller scale. All of these areas used to be able to retain runoff that varied dramatically to maintain large freshwater bodies of water that would vary in depth dramatically depending on recent rain history. Many of these are just gone. The water table has lowered. And migrational grazers are no longer fertilizing and influencing plants as they have in the past. As for the claim that fires were uncommon on the eastern Edwards Plateau, I went to google scholar and searched and found a 2024 article on fire ecology in that very area that argues evidence suggests regular fires is what maintained the presence of oaks in the area
All I know is that from December to March, those fornicating junipers (1) see more action than I do, and (2) the sperm aka pollen, plays hell in a hand basket with my allergies and asthma. They do make fairly decent fence posts, though.
I own 22 acres in the hill country Uvalde county and all my property has cedar I don’t know what to use this wood for except cutting some size limbs for fencing other than that I just cut them en push the to a side for them to die and dry!
I call the Hill Country scrub country. Where you find any variety of cedar you also find broom sage. Both are indicators of poor soil. Left to grow, the soil will grow weaker and more barren and very subject to serious erosion .
The species is called Blueberry Ashe Juniper (Juniperus ashei), it is a juniper. Most people know it as cedar, that's why I refer to it that way in the title of the video.
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My parents bought a 250 acre retirement ranch outside Kerville back in the early 90s. First thing they did was have all the junipers hand cleared everywhere except the creek areas. The property has a spring fed creek. A year or so after clearing the spring heads were flowing probably 300-400% more than when they bought the land. And their water well is only about 20 ft deep.
My mom, and amateur botanist and gardener the. Went back and replanted a lot of native trees and grasses like the bluestems and switchgrass. 30 years on the property looks a lot different from the surrounding ranches. It’s super easy to pick out on Google maps because it’s the only one without the thick green juniper cover.
the springs generally surge for a short while after deforesting an area, but long term removing the ancient junipers leads to diminished spring flow.
man has become very arrogant thinking we are smarter than nature. there are 5 foot diameter junipers - google juniper growth and age estimates - these are hundreds and hundreds of years old. THINK THE CEDARS OF LEBANON
There are a lot of other people who say the same thing, that springs and water storage increased post removal. One of the most well known examples was on a place in Johnson City called Bamberger Ranch (www.bambergerranch.org) Great story, check out the website. Another study called the Leon River Restoration project studied water runoff pre and post removal had less conclusive results. Thanks for the comment, I bet that's an incredible place to visit in Kerville!
Causation/Correlation.
Bamberger bought that ranch when a major drought was ending with the rainfall peaking in the 90s. The springs are dry there today. I know because I live just a few miles from there.
That's kerrville with two r's.
The place has a history of being a retirement community with an abundance of elderly people, deer, and police officers.
Lots of crazy murders happen there as well.
Football players and venison are the main exports.
@@Aux1Dub, there is plenty of evidence to indicate that cedars do indeed decrease spring output
Yes, "cedars" were described by settlers as covering many hillsides (assuming you're talking about Mountain Cedars, not Eastern Red Cedars. They also almost completely the entire length of the Balscones Escarpment along with oaks and other native trees. So no, they did not just occur inside canyons. I have found plenty of limestone junipers growing in the open that are at least 250 years old. If fires happened every 3-5 years, they could not have established. The historical vegetation was described as being more of a patchy mosaic of forests, woodlands, thickets, and open grassy prairies due to the broken terrain and numerous natural fire breaks (according to Dr. Fred Smeins TAMU). There is zero evidence that fires were ever that frequent across the eastern Edwards Plateau where limestone junipers were always more abundant (except for when Comanches were battling the Lipan). Further west, around the San Saba headwaters and across the western Edwards Plateau, fires could have travelled more unbroken. Still the main reason why there was more tall, dense grass back then was the numerous herds of migratory megafauna. The grasses and soils were robust enough to keep woody plants at bnay without frequent fires. Instead, the fires would have been periodic, maybe every 20-30 years..
Hey Elizabeth, thanks for commenting. You’re comment sounds a bit argumentative although we’re saying the same thing. I’m certainly speaking about Blueberry Ashe Juniper (Juniperus ashei) as I mention that subspecies specifically in the first 30 seconds of the video. I never said they ONLY occur inside canyons, I say they were mostly confined to the canyonlands and steep hillsides, which is thought to be true. The BaIcones Canyonlands run the length of the Balcones Escarpment and even have an identically named wildlife refuge. I would not speak in absolutes as you’re indicating. Perhaps I should have better clarified though, that when I speak about the Texas Hill Country I’m speaking to a broad region of central Texas (which I showed on a map) composing of about 25 counties which together represent a number of varying ecological sites each of which respond differently to disturbance. Certainly, fire frequency would have varied across the entire area. I also mention this landscape as dynamic and I’m quite familiar with the work of Fred Smeins as he was my major professor in graduate school at Texas A&M where I studied “Cedar” encroachment on the Leon River Restoration Project. It is difficult to pack all of this information into a short video that’s digestible to the average viewer. I’m sure you can appreciate given you wrote a book about them. In hindsight, I can always look at ways I can improve how I communicate some of these facts so I appreciate your feedback. Although, I would argue that nothing is materially incorrect. I wish you the best and look forward to interacting with you again.
Sorry for sounding like I was attacking you--I should have started by saying this was a great video!! I just wanted to point out a few things and was caught between zoom meetings.
The reason I mentioned ERC is people call all junipers in Texas and beyond "cedars." I keep trying to get people to use a more site specific common name. I've even decided to drop the word "cedar" and start calling junipers growing on limestone karst country ""limestone junipers." These can include Ashe Juniper, J. ovata, the J.asheixJ.ovata hybrid variations (more tree-like--doesn't start off as multi-trunk bush), and J. pinchotti.
You said "cedar" was not documented to be part of those landscapes outside of those canyonlands back then. You said they were mostly confined to creeks and Canyonlands. You did not mention steep hillsides (that is unfortunate). BUT...by canyonlands, did you mean the entire eastern half of the EP? Or did you mean canyons?
As for fire every 3-5 years...I strongly disagree. There is still no tangible evidence. I managed some land outside of Dripping springs about 20 years ago. There was a n area with healthy soils. The grass was all KR and being regularly grazed. We removed every woody plant growing up and added some compost amendments here and there. After 20 years of no grazing, fire, or mowing -- no woody plants have spread into this area, even though they srped everywhere else. Healthy soil with dense, tall grass, megafauna, microbes, etc.---that's what sustained grasslands and kept out woody plants for longer periods of time. With holistic grazing, I believe healthy grasslands on limestone can thrive for 20-30 years before fire is needed.
@@LandownerTV At 4:02 said Cedars were "not documented to be apart of landscapes outside of canyon lands". Yet there are many explorer notes which contradict your statement, many in the book Cedars Wanted Dead or Alive, a good read. I think another reason they are spreading so quickly is they are the only plants that can grow on our highly degraded soils.
@@elizabethmcgreevy Hey Elizabeth, you’re right, I should’ve said it wasn’t a major part of the landscape as opposed to not part of the landscapes. I try to make these videos as accurate as possible, but it can be difficult to get every phrase correct even when I script it properly. Especially when I’m still not very confident in front of the camera.
As for fire frequency I appreciate the fact that you strongly disagree, in fact there is still argument in research circles about what the frequency fire was historically. There is no tangible evidence because there was no documentation from pre-European settlement. We can only look at how these landscapes react to fire now and compare them to the best documentation available from the time of the first Spanish and other European settlers, we can then try to deduce what frequency of fire could have contributed to what they saw. I’ve heard your book references some of these accounts so I look forward to reading it.
I did say every 3-5 years and admittedly that would have been on the more open areas of the hill country and not the steep canyon lands. I specified that this was the frequency of rangelands not specifically any part of the hill country, I should have elaborated much more here. However, it is generally believed that “frequent” fires maintained the grasslands of the Edwards plateau. Early researchers did speculate that it occurred in 20-30 year intervals to prevent woody encroachment but later researchers put it at occurring at
Fire at whatever the frequency certainly played a role in keeping the brush at bay. The lack of fire now is allowing the brush including all species of cedar to be the dominate weed and in time will grow into a situation where Texas will be like California where we have massive uncontrollable fires causing much damage. This is already happening but I believe will be much worse in time. I also believe that when the large fires do happen that the landscape will be mostly bare as the cedars will be killed but there is not much else to take over so the process will repeat. This is a problem not limited to the hill country as it is a problem here in north Texas also.
One of the best, to the point discussion on cedar. My family has been in the Hill Country since the 1840's, and everything you described was right on point, from the early days of grass ranges, to farming and ranching and the explosion of cedars.
Thanks for the kind comment! Great youtube handle!
I was in the kerville hill country about 20 yrs ago, I found the perfect cedar branch for my walking stick, it's sure strong, love the color under the bark, it's my favorite walking staff !
Cedar (Juniperus ashei) is great for a ton of things, walking sticks are no exception!
I used to own a house that had a really large juniper tree on the side of the house. It was the neighbors tree and that lousy thing caused foundation problems for both houses. The tree would suck up every bit of moisture within a 30 foot radius of the trunk. Foundation repair work guarantee said that is was not valid if a Juniper is allowed to grow nearby.
You forgot a very important fact. Cedars are dominant pollinators. They put out so much pollen that they overwhelm other trees and prevent them from seeding. After a generation, all the trees in an area are replaced with cedars. This is why A&M recommends all orchards remove any cedars.
Interesting! I'm a native Texan with a ranch about 40 miles west of Waco. There are cedars everywhere bit I never thought much about why they are so prolific. Good stuff! Thanks!
I appreciate the kind comment, so glad you found it interesting!
In the last 35 years I’ve watched the cedar grow from San Antonio to Stephenville.
I know what you mean, one of my studies in grad school (05-06) documented cedar encroachment across the hill country and central Texas using historic images starting in the 1960's. It was well documented as encroachment then and still continues. Thanks for the comment!
ive read about the grass in the days of the pioneers and often tried to imagine what it may have looked like.
Interesting info. Thanks for the insight.
I do the same thing! It must have been quite a different site in many places in the Hill Country. South Texas has a similar story, while some areas were dominated by brush historically, many of the areas dominated by brush today were documented as grasslands with grass as high as the stirrups on a saddle. There is a unique area inside of Fort Hood called the impact zone that has little grazing pressure and a frequent fire regime. There are large hills covered only in grass and very few trees, quite a site. Also check out the Bamberger Ranch website, much of that ranch near Johnson City has been restored over time.
I grew up in northeast TX in a giant pine forest but went to school at UT and fell in love with the Hill Country and have always been fascinated by its history. You blew my mind when you said that it was once all rich grassland! Really interesting, thanks!
Shoal Creek is a fault line running north-south thru Travis County and Austin, specifically. Everything to the west of Shoal Creek has rocky soil with a lot of shelf-limestone plates. It's great for that hike & bike trail. But NW Hills and all those western neighborhoods must have a lot of good soil brought in for lawns. East of the Shoal Creek (basically Lamar Blvd), the soils are much better - black, rich and were fertile meadows for eons.
Good video. We have 80 acres in Oklahoma that my grandfather bought in 1924. When he was alive, he would burn portions of it every summer. This would keep the tree growth down. Since he has been gone for over 50 years now, this portion is now full of trees, some being a relative to the central Texas Cedar. Your explanation makes very good sense.
Thank you for the explanation. I’ve often wondered whether cedars were native trees. Being from Houston and traveling to Edwards County three to four times a year, I appreciate your lesson in the landscape of this beautiful land.
It's one of my favorite places on earth, very beautiful I agree. I appreciate your comment!
Excellent! Comprehensive and accurate.
HYDRO-AXE! That is the best way to clear cedar (and huisache). It is the most economical, but it also turns the cedar into a thin layer of mulch. That mulch protects thin soils and allows native grasses to grow through. I have some areas that the cedars had turned into exposed limestone shelf with cedar brush. After the hydro-axe it turned to grass after one season! If you spread seed beforehand, I think it would work even better.
As a 4th generation native Texan, I implore you NOT to use your HYDRO-AXE!! our ground water (aquifers) are being drained by all of the fracking that's been going on (and causing more frequent and stronger earthquakes). As I was growing up in Central Texas, I never heard of earthquakes in Texas. They were that rare! The dirty fracking water is being pumped back into the ground, thus contaminating the aquifers. We need to conserve all of the ground water we can because if our aquifers run dry or become contaminated beyond use, we are in BIG trouble!
@@terrywall3287 Haha. It doesn’t use water. It’s hydraulic, they just call it Hydro-axe. It’s basically a big chipper on the front of a skid steer. In my experience the layers of mulch it creates helps recharge the aquifer.
@atomicsmith Pardon me for not knowing about different large machinery. It was a logical mistake given that the prefix of "hydro" routinely means water, i.e., "hydroelectric." BTW, I have seen high-pressure water systems that deliver water under such high pressure that it can cut wood, so it was a natural assumption on my part.
@@terrywall3287 You don't know shit about fracking, it doesn't contaminate aquifers.
@@bobbygetsbanned6049That’s right Bobby! And even if it did, man’s gotta make a liven! 😊
I grew up in Southeast Texas at the beginning of the Piney Woods. I went to college in Central Texas (Bell County) and never experienced such intense allergies and sinus infections due to the cedars. They’re pretty to look at, but my God, the pollen is terrible.
It's interesting how some people really react to it and some, such as myself, don't have issues. I'm surrounded by them my whole life and rarely have an allergy attack. Not that I can test it, but I'm curious about how much it would help to consume tea made from the nettles or to do a steam of them.
The same thing happened to me when I first moved to Austin. I had sinus infections, fever, sneezing, runny eyes for 2weeks and after that I never had it again because I got immune to it
@@bunnywhite6513 Then why don't you just shup up with your opinion on this disease of a plant. If you don't know the torture people go through every year because of this damn juniper pollen then you need to shut it. This disease of a tree is overgrown and out competes other native vegetation and trees because these scummy "land owner" corporations don't care about the land. When it is all disrupted this worthless tree outcompetes everything else and sucks up all the water. This is now an economic and public health issue. How much money is lost in productivity because people get sick over this poison tree? Just because it doesn't affect you and they are "pretty to look at it" doesn't mean they are not a problem.
I grew up in East Texas too. Right in the middle of the Piney Woods. I also have a Fungus growing in my lungs. You guessed it, Pinewood Fungus. I love east Texas. Ever hear of Weldon, Texas?
Have to agree. The pollen is capable of closing my throat !
Excellent explanation. 👍👍👍
Glad you think so!
The state highway department is always selling great wood chipers, buy them. Replace the cedar with silverleaf mountain mahoganies in Texas can grow up to 15 feet tall and are fire resistant.
I grew up where Hackberry and the forks of the Nueces River start below the Edwards Plateau, on Dry Creek above Barksdale, below Rock Springs. There are a few old Cedars still standing but most were harvested around the west of Leakey and around Camp Wood during the 40's on. The cedars were used as blocks under frame houses as Cedar is not affected by termites. This was after the war when small frame houses were built. There was a railroad spur built to Camp Wood after WW2 to cut down the Cedar Forest on Hwy 55 and 337, and what I understand it was a very thick forest covering a lot of acres. Sadly the state paid people to harvest the cedar to make more room for Agriculture grass. There were mostly large Angora Goat ranches with cattle and a few sheep. When Gov. Brisco eradicated the Screw worm fly the ranching was better. 200 years ago there were small creeks everywhere on our property. Now you have dry arroyos where the creeks and springs ran. So sad to see the decline of the Hill Country due to the desert encroaching.
The last major drought killed some of the older Cedars still standing. On Dry Creek there are a few 300 to 500 year old Live Oak and Cedar trees. This area was a Native American camping area.
The Desert is slowly encroaching since I moved there in 1960. Huisache trees grew at Del Rio but not around the Nueces. Only Pecan, Cedar, Mesquite, Blue Oak, Spanish Oak and Live Oak. Now the Huisache are much more prevalent. The rivers and creeks are slowly drying up. There was always a spring and fall flood when the rivers and creeks would flood and clean out everything. Not anymore.
From what I’ve seen, huisache is mostly coming up on land that was cleared for pasture decades ago and has since been allowed to go ungrazed. One of the biggest mistakes some ranchers made was clearing pastures completely instead of leaving a few oak stands. The oaks play a vital role in the water cycle, and without them huisache is the only thing that can survive. Most land owners aren’t willing to invest the time and money to reestablish oaks…
That's a great historical perspective, thanks for sharing! I didn't know a lot of that but I was aware the vast sheep and goat operations operating in the hill country. I very much appreciate your comment!
Nice job! You nailed it. There were several studies going on at Freeman Ranch in San Marcos when I did my PhD fieldwork there. Exactly what I heard from those folks.
Thanks for the kind comment! I'd love to hear more about those studies, feel free to link to them. What was your PhD work on?
@@LandownerTV I'd have to do some digging to see what was published from them. I just remember talking to a few of the students working on them and their faculty advisors. They had several separate pastures in the study. Some were left completely alone. others they were doing controlled burns to replicate what would have been 100 years ago when grass fire weren't controlled. One of the faculty advisors had told me back then (100+ years ago) the ashe junipers were limited to the small canyons and creek beds and that natural fires would burn them out of everywhere else. The oaks and other trees could survive the grass fires. My PhD work involved using canopy texture patterns as an alternative method of land cover detection.
I was so ready to argue.... nobody ever gets it right.... but you did! GREAT video!!!
I would add to this that the Junipers are in the hill country to hold the hills together (erosion control), and to build soil on top of the limestone- soil that was lost to the agricultural practices of the settlers in the area.
It wasn't just "natural" fire that kept the Junipers at bay, either- the native folks in the area started fires every fall to keep the grasslands in early succession phases so they could see farther for hunting.
Bull Creek was named after the last male bison killed in the Austin area... fire- suppressed, bison- gone... the ecosystem responded how it could. And we keep fighting the adaptation process. It's frustrating. Thank you for spreading good information!
I appreciate your comment! Also very good point about Cedar having a value in building and holding soil when herbaceous vegetation is gone. An interesting fact is that a couple of studies out of Texas A&M have found that cedar can build soil as fast or faster as grassland communities. Unfortunately, much can be washed away on slopes or areas with little to no ground cover.
Great content, keep it coming.
For those that may not know,the growing point of grasses is below ground level.Hence,not killed by fire!
Very true, in fact historic fire regimes invigorated grasslands by removing dead/detritus material and woody plants from rangelands. Fire keeps grasslands, grasslands.....
@@LandownerTVA PRIME CASE OF THIS IS IN THE KANSAS FLINT HILLS AREA!!
No by goats who ate the roots. Native Americans did agricultural burning to fertilize the grass which killed the cedar before it could grow.
What an excellent overview of cedars.
The Native Americans and some of the early pioneers
actually burned up to twice per year.
They still do it in Mexico.
There is a bee that burrows into cedar limbs.
It takes a lot of chopping to find one.
I have seen references to grass that grew up to the saddle horn.
Nice work.
Thank you for the kind comment!
I work for a company that grinds so called cedar into Fiber that is has multiple uses. It is used in the oil field for lost circulation. It is used for bedding for Show Cattle and Race Horses. The oil is extracted and has many uses and the most recent use is that it has been approved by the FDA for use in livestock feeds for sheep goats and cattle
That's interesting, I never knew it had so many uses. I bet that's a great business, people pay you to remove it and you can make money on the back end with products. Brilliant! Thanks for the comment.
Enjoyed your presentation.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I love hearing that!
There’s a hill off 35 heading to Austin it used to be just grass with one treee at the very top, now it’s 100% completely cover in cedar trees pretty cool to actually see a land mark change
I bought 30 acres a few weeks ago in Leakey at the headwaters of the Frio. I like the cedars but hate that all of them have a "skirt" of dead branches that make them hard to walk through. one by one I trim them up. Great video.
I live in the green area of north central Arkansas (ref your map at the 1:33 mark) where we have both cedar and the Ashe Juniper. Cedar fever is big here in Jan-Feb when my wife suffers, and the smell of the junipers can be quite pungent. I have 10+ acres here and most of what is not cleared is made up of those two species. The woods alway remind me of something from a fantasy novel where you might expect to see a dwarf or elf hiding amongst the strange junipers, some of which have 6-12 It is interesting that you won't see either tree much above the 1,000' elevation mark, and they do love the shelf rock and limestone so prevalent here.
Sounds incredible, I've traveled through that area a few times and can't wait to get back. Thanks for the comment!
You ldft out one thing---the cedar breaks offered a lot of opportunity for a large number of hispanic cedar cutters for fence posts....Remember them well--was raised for a time in Liberty Hill
They weren't all Hispanic either. Many cedar choppers in central Texas were Czech and German immigrants like my ancestors. For a time the term "cedar chopper" was a slur used to refer to country people with little education and few technical skills, kind of like you might use hillbilly, but it was a living for many back in those days.
Facinating stuff about the grasslands.
I dont know which tree it is, mesquite or Cedar, but I love the smell of that region, especially once you get further west into San Antonio area and beyond.
The 2024 distribution of Juniperus ashei is very similar to that 50 year old map, because plants tend to favor a particular soil type, which is a function of geology.
Very informative.👍
Thank you, so glad you got value from the video!
Great info sir..
I just feel blessed to live in Bosque county tx. among the canyons and cedars
You're lucky to be able to live out there, I'm jealous, that's a great area. Thanks for the comment!
I've lived inthe hill country forover 10 years and I've always been intrigued by the Ashe Junipur in my yard. I learned a lot from your presentation. A couple of things i noticed was that after a rain, the bark of the cedar will soak up the rain water so that it stays wet several days. Nothing as (far as I can tel)l eats the cedar foliage, that''s why the deer don't eat it. The cedar berries dont have a good flavour for humans. Once a limb dies, it doesnt grow back. The roots are very entangled underground and very hard to pull out even when it is small.
you actually can use juniper berries for food in a couple ways that I've found. If making gin isn't your thing (lol), you can wash and dry the berries and grind them up to flavor meats. Smoked or dried meat flavored with juniper is very tasty, I think. It's a potent flavor so it doesn't take much. I've also used the ground berries to flavor game stews.
The dusty coating on the outside of the juniper berry is actually yeast bacteria! Which means that you can use them to make sourdough starter! Plop a few berries in a flour/water mixture like usual, feed it for a few days, and you've got yourself a potent sourdough starter.
We bought 28 acres in Fannin County in NE Texas several years ago covered in cedar. We were told that it had been a cotton farm, but left fallow for 40 years. In that time, it went from cleared farmland to a cedar forest.
My family has cut cader since 1870 from Austin and junction and is still cutting the oil is what replaced whale oil for perfumes and high end candy's
You from the Simons or Cantrell clans?
@@curtisstewart3179 wallace
Please do a lecture on the Mesquite. They are taking over my land and have heard that they will take up the moisture in the soil also.
Interesting, our land is a few hours north of Garner and Lost Maples area but we also have tons of cedar and mesquite
That's a beautiful area what county are you in?
Excellent! I read on one of those tourist plaques though, that there used to be a good commercial use for Ashe Juniper as fenceposts. There are lots of those on the lot I lease to put my horse on.
BTW, I am looking for a small property to lease that will allow one horse and would love it to have utility hookups and allow a tiny home. I know it's a unicorn 🦄 but I'm looking.....😁 Tired of Austin prices and gas costs to commute to feed my horse.
Check out Lockhardt
It's western Red Juniper, but it looks like cedar and causes great agony for those of us that are allergic to it. Those of us, includes me, that are allergic to it, live on drugs from December 15th until the following March 1st. Normally it is done tossing pollen in the air by mid-February, but some years it continues until mid-March. It is as flammable as a kitchen match. It takes almost nothing to get it started. Call the Fire department first then leave for several days. If you are lucky, your house will still be there and livable when you get back.
In the DFW area during that time of year, they show a satellite view of the pollen blowing up here from the hill country for all the allergy sufferers locally during the weather broadcast portion of the news.
Excellent! Thank you.
You're welcome, I appreciate your comment!
The birds on fence upgraded; they’re watching YT videos now!
So true!
@@LandownerTV "reading their little newspapers..." made me LOL, however. Good topic well-delivered! 🐦⬛🦉
Evolution 😮
Up here in west Texas too.
I saw one picture that looked like Old Baldy in Garner SP. You related to the 2MORROW Ranch near Concan? We have a place near Leakey.
Great eyes, that is old baldy shown from Garner. I took that picture on a family trip. I wish I was related to the 2Morrow ranch but that’s just a coincidental name. It’s an amazing area and I bet it’s incredible to have a place out there. Thanks for the comment!
I have the good Cedar . Virginia Red Cedar . Sulphur Springs Area. Nice wood smells great , Many use it for interior walls ,
It’s really juniper. Well-suited for the environment.
We also have a bit of here in Wood County TX pretty much.
I enjoyed your interesting talk thankyou. 🇺🇸 🇦🇺
IN MY AREA OF NE KANSAS THE CEDARS, OSAGE ORANGE, (HEDGE) ,AND THE WALNUT TREE GROWTH HAS BEEN EXTENSIVE!!
WITH THE LABOR OF THE SMALL FARMER FAMILIES GONE, AND WITH HEATING BEING DONE BY GAS AND ELECTRICITY NOWADAYS , A LOT LESS NATIVE FIREWOOD IS HARVESTED!!
Great information. Thanks.
great presentation....
Thank you for commenting, very glad you enjoyed it!
Its a great video, very informative and entertaining! You are a real native texan arent You! Thanks for letting Us hear from You 🧡
I am a native Texan, you nailed that one. Thanks for your kind comment, I love hearing if people enjoyed the video!
I thought it was interesting how people can analyze the droppings of game on ranch land to get a good idea about their diets, and can supplement nutrition or even bring in native species to enhance the diets in the area. Ensuring healthier game and wildlife. Because the game fencing can isolate and deprive wildlife of a proper healthy diet.
Idk about all of this. My buddy’s ranch is now in its 8th generation of the same family owning it in central Texas. There were no cedars only a few generations ago and the property was primarily covered in oaks.
Thanks for the comment, That's a good point, I'm not speaking about every single area in Central Texas. Certainly there were areas covered in oaks all over the place.
How about those Hackberry trees along fences?
Very informative and I enjoyed the content - thank you! One gripe: there's too much cutting in the video, it's very distracting when every 3-5 seconds there's a cut. Other than that it was great!
No, the Hill Country was not only comprised of grass and canyon lands. It was more mixed between savanna, forests, etc.
All the tall grasses, including big bluestem, the varieties of switchgrass, indiangrass, gamagrass, etc. grow all above 6 feet.
Besides stopping wildfires, soil erosion from overgrazing has probably contributed most to the increase in cedar populations in the Hill Country.
Overgrazing threatened the topsoil, which causes erosion. Heathy stands of grass will compete against cedar, supporting wildfires that help control the cedars;
@@timothykeith1367 Yes!
Unfortunately most ranchers in the state of Texas know next to nothing about rangland ecology, at least where I'm from.
Large parks in the state could be a valuable resource not only for native plants and wildlife but as a means of teaching and increasing awareness of the environment. Unfortunately, for as big as the state is, there are very few large of these natural preserves outside of the west. Most land is privately owned.
That's part of the reason why most Texans see the land as just another resource to exploit, not to preserve or improve.
You're right, but the forests were small and not very dense generally.
@@JurisNaturalism1776Yes, areas of old growth cedar differ greatly fron stands of young cedar.
Anyother factor to consider is the drop in water tables and aquifers. Generally they have been much higher.
The future of these water tables and aquifers in the Hill County is pretty grim. Hundreds of residential neighborhoods are being built around the hill country. Many by out of state and even foreigb developers. There is no assesent of the ecological impact or the impact on already existing communities. These are large, densely built neighborhoods with no access to municipal water so every house has a well and septic.
Where did he say *only* grass and canyonlands?
From Kerrville but moved to Houston for work, thinking about home starts with Cedar and Cypress trees.
In wood county, my property and surrounding area was cattle till the late 70s. The whole are was let go. Currently covered in cider dotted with huge oaks. Im slowing getting my 20acres to a healthy balance. Mainly eliminating most of the cedars
I have many burned stumps on my place .the old nephew of the original owner said this was all grassland, good for cattle, he thinks the last fire was in the 1930s. Since then juniper/ cedar took over. He said his uncle would rent 2 bulldozer and connect with a chain and pull up the ceders so the cattle could get grass.
Climate alarmists are blaming range fires, forest fires etc in recent years on Climate Change. The change was made 100 - 150 years ago with suppression of fires.
Thess same junipers grow in New Mexico and Colorado but are interspersed with Piñon Pine. I was surprised to not see Piñon when I first came to Hill Country.
My grandparents in New Mexico used cedar for fence posts because it was readily available and strong and doesn't rot. My Grandpa made beautiful furniture from cedar.
Utah and New Mexico and probably western Colorado cleared thousands of acres of cedar and piñon and planted browse for deer.
I once read that juniper is re-acidifying the Central Texas landscape and that is ONE of the reason it is so prevalent.
Cedar dose grow back after being cut! You gotta up root it! I’m constantly cutting new growth cedar off of cedars cut down
If you cut them at the base, they don't grow back. I used to cut cedar.
There are 2 species of cedar. Redberry will grow back after being cut. Blueberry will not.
A "cedar wacker" was once a pejorative description of a Hill Country laborer who worked by clearing brush. I don't think it was appropriate as it is good honest work that should be appreciated.
Would love to learn about some land in the hill country
good one
Thank you! I appreciate the comment!
There is no cedar in United States
edit: I watched the video it's great, there is a very clear delineation to the range of Juniperus virginiana and J. ashei along the Balcones escarpment's edge. Basically if you're on the left side of I-35 it's all J. ashei (Ash Juniper) vs. the right side of I-35 where it's all J. virginiana (Eastern Red Cedar). The two don't overlap. Another case for not calling the tree a "cedar" especially if you live in hill country - it's a Juniper!
3:20 Birds sit on the fence and drop seeds. Is that why there are so many trees under electricity wires? I thought people just planted these huge trees under those wires. Now, I can blame the birds.
Awesome info thanks
Thanks for the comment, I'm so glad you found it helpful
Great video! I have a contract grazing business with goats and I was wondering if you had a good resource to help guide land management decisions. We aim to improve the ecology of the land and I'm always looking to learn more!
Hey Zach! Thanks for the comment, I love hearing that you're looking to learn more about land management. There are a ton of great resources for grazing management online. Here are a few you can start with.
agrilife.org/sanangelo/files/2017/08/Grazing-Systems-for-Goats-on-Small-Acreage-1of2-Jim-Muir-2.pdf
texnat.tamu.edu/about/ranchers-reference-guide/grazing-management/
agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/educational-materials/
agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/about/district-offices-regional-centers/ - you can check here for local advice
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/landuse/rangepasture/
Here is a GREAT book on brush management.
www.tamupress.com/book/9781585443550/brush-management/
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Michael
I wonder, are these the same cedar trees we have here in south west Kansas?
It was common in Palo Duro canyon in the 1950s.
Great video.
Very glad you enjoyed it!
That invasive tamarix salt cedar brush that chokes out creeks?
Salt cedar is another invasive plant seen in environments that are a bit dryer usually.
Pretty much the same with W Texas and Mesquite trees. Once upon a time lots of grass, now, sand a little grass and lots of Mesquite trees. And Mesquite lays deep deep roots to get water.
Dude, I have acreage in Santa Fe TX. I just cut down nearly 200. On 3 acres.
Great clip though.
I liked and subscribed to your channel
Loved your video. facinating.have your # thanks wb
Heat and lack of rain kills juniper, aka cedar, highland lakes area here and a lot of dead cedar after last summer.
I'm from central Oregon And there we call them juniper trees, And we cut down as many as possible And the federal government pays you to cut them down!
Correct well done
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Cedar is why so many people in texas have allergies. It sucks. Touching cedar makes me break out in painful hives.
It’s my opinion that what parts of the southwest have done, and this extends to where Mexico City is located, is change drainage of rainwater in ways that limit the formation of lakes. California turned what used to be one of the largest lakes into dry farm land. The Spanish dried out what used to be a group of cities on a large lake, and Texas has done some of the same on a smaller scale. All of these areas used to be able to retain runoff that varied dramatically to maintain large freshwater bodies of water that would vary in depth dramatically depending on recent rain history. Many of these are just gone. The water table has lowered. And migrational grazers are no longer fertilizing and influencing plants as they have in the past. As for the claim that fires were uncommon on the eastern Edwards Plateau, I went to google scholar and searched and found a 2024 article on fire ecology in that very area that argues evidence suggests regular fires is what maintained the presence of oaks in the area
All I know is that from December to March, those fornicating junipers (1) see more action than I do, and (2) the sperm aka pollen, plays hell in a hand basket with my allergies and asthma. They do make fairly decent fence posts, though.
Love cedar but allergic. Glad i live in hill country lol.
In f.b.g
I love the cedars.
I own 22 acres in the hill country Uvalde county and all my property has cedar I don’t know what to use this wood for except cutting some size limbs for fencing other than that I just cut them en push the to a side for them to die and dry!
Heh! You said "break that wind!"
Thought you were gonna say the deer stop and shit before jumping fences. jejeje
I have 30 acres in NE Arkansas. I have a bunch of cedar here.
The goats introduced by settlers stripped the native grassland down to rock. Perfect for cedar
Thank you...yes cedar...
I call the Hill Country scrub country. Where you find any variety of cedar you also find broom sage. Both are
indicators of poor soil. Left to grow, the soil will grow weaker and more barren and very subject to
serious erosion .
We done presentation.
*Cedar trees are okay, but they don't compare to the live oak.*🌳
Cedar ? Or Juniper? Which species of tree actually dominates the Hills around Western Central Texas ?
The species is called Blueberry Ashe Juniper (Juniperus ashei), it is a juniper. Most people know it as cedar, that's why I refer to it that way in the title of the video.
I've heard it described as an Ash Juniper.
I’m looking for a specific hill country property type. What’s your contact info?
Hey there J Sixx! I’d be happy to help you out. Feel free to shoot me an email at Michael@landassociation.org
I've seen photos of the hill country from the 1920s and it was grassland.
Over grazing caused Cedar and mesquite to become thicker.