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Switching Texas ag land to wildlife management: how it works

Wildlife management keeps your land's ag valuation without cattle. It just has to be set up the right way.

Checked against the Texas Tax Code, the Comptroller, and Texas Parks and Wildlife. Updated October 2026.

Who can switch

Land qualifies for wildlife management valuation if it was appraised as ag (1-d-1) or timber land the year before and is now used to manage a breeding population of native wildlife (Tax Code §23.51(7)). You can't take bare land with no valuation straight to wildlife.

Timing matters. If your cows are leaving, set up wildlife management while the land still has ag valuation. Once the valuation is gone, you have to rebuild the history first.

The 3-of-7 rule

You must do at least 3 of these 7 activities each year, to the standard in Texas Parks and Wildlife's guidelines for your region:

  1. Habitat control
  2. Erosion control
  3. Predator control
  4. Supplemental water
  5. Supplemental food
  6. Shelter
  7. Census counts

In the Pineywoods, the easiest to prove on most tracts are predator control (hog trapping), supplemental food, shelter (brush piles, nest boxes), and census (game cameras or spotlight counts).

What you file

  • A new 1-d-1 application (Form 50-129) to your appraisal district.
  • A wildlife management plan on TPWD Form PWD-885, attached to the application. It goes to the appraisal district, not to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The deadline is April 30, the same as any ag application.

The yearly report

Texas Parks and Wildlife says the yearly report (PWD-888) is not automatically required. Districts that want it send it to landowners. Some East Texas districts ask every year, so check with yours, and keep records all year either way: receipts, photos, dates, and counts.

Did your tract get smaller?

A minimum size rule only applies if the tract was reduced from the size it was the year before (34 TAC §9.2005). If your acreage didn't change, this doesn't apply to you.

Free help from the state

Texas Parks and Wildlife biologists give landowners technical guidance on wildlife plans. Each of our county pages lists the biologist for that county.

Your county

Each county's appraisal district has its own address and local expectations:

Polk CountySan Jacinto CountyTrinity CountyTyler CountyWalker CountyAngelina County

General information, not legal or tax advice. Your appraisal district makes the final call.