Wildlife Tax Exemption (Valuation) in Grimes County Texas
Landowner: My wife and I purchased 75 acres in Grimes County last year and the property was part of a larger ranch of about 300 acres. It already had a wildlife exemption on the whole property and the county tax appraisal district grandfathered us in for last year. We have to reapply for the wildlife tax valuation this year and I am not sure exactly what management practices that the owner of the larger tract was implementing. I have seen some bird nesting boxes on my property and an open bird feeder on the adjacent property.
We have read quite a lot of the wildlife exemption material out there, but are still not quite sure what will pass the county appraisal district as far as enough effort. We are looking to get a wildlife management plan together for our land that will allow us to maintain wildlife management. We purchased our land to take care of the plants and animals found on it, so we want to assure that the things we are doing also give us credit for maintaining the wildlife exemption. Any help would be much appreciated.
Wildlife Exemptions in Grimes County
WildlifeExemption.com: It sounds like you and your wife are “going wildlife” for all the right reasons. The wildlife tax valuation is intended for landowners that are serious about managing the plants and animals found on their property. This means different things to different people, but for the sake of the wildlife exemption, as it is commonly referred to, that landowners must commit to performing at least three out of seven approved wildlife management practices.
The previous landowner may have been managing for songbird species. Nesting boxes are a common way to provide supplemental shelter for wildlife. It also sounds like supplemental feeding may have been another of the wildlife management practices. You can choose to implement this practice or not. It would not hurt to put supplemental feeding in your management plan, as well as supplemental shelter through nest boxes, but we would still need to write in at least one more qualifying management practices into the plan as well.
Other Management Practice Options
Another great choice would be supplemental water. All wildlife species need food, cover, water and some amount of space, so a supplemental water station or two would complete the management trifecta. If you are ready to move forward do not hesitate to contact. We charge a $349 fee for customized wildlife management plans that will allow your property to qualify for the wildlife tax valuation.
We have a good working knowledge of most parts of the state so we do not necessarily need to make site visits if you can provide us with the information we need for your management plan; Most landowners can and this saves them a lot of time and money. The deadline for filing a management plan with the Grimes County appraisal district is April 30th of each year.
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