Keep My Acres
San Jacinto County ag and wildlife valuation: what to file, and when
Everything goes to the San Jacinto County Appraisal District in Coldspring, between January 1 and April 30. Here's what applies to your land.
Checked against the Texas Tax Code, the Comptroller's county directory, and Texas Parks and Wildlife. Updated October 2026.
Running late? Ask San Jacinto CAD in writing before the 30th for up to 60 more days.
99 Slade St., Coldspring · (936) 653-1450
San Jacinto is listed as wanting hives on the land at least 7 months each year.
What's happening with your San Jacinto County land?
Bought land with ag valuation?
The old owner's approval usually ends at the sale. File your own application with San Jacinto CAD by April 30. If the same people keep using it the same way, you may have up to a year. How it works
Switching to wildlife?
Your land has to already be under ag or timber valuation. You file the wildlife plan and a new 1-d-1 application together. How it works
Keeping bees?
Bees qualify on 5 to 20 acres. San Jacinto is listed as wanting 6 hives on the first 5 acres, 1 more for every 2.5 acres after that, kept on the land 7 months a year. Confirm with the district.
Four questions to ask San Jacinto CAD
San Jacinto CAD doesn't post its own ag guidelines online, so the state rules are the starting point. Call before you file and ask these:
- What stocking rate do you expect for cattle on a tract my size?
- Do you require the yearly wildlife report (PWD-888), or only when you send a letter?
- Is the bee listing still current: 6 hives on 5 acres and 7 months a year?
- Can I email or mail the application, or should I bring it in?
Call (936) 653-1450. Write down who you talked to and the date.
Pineywoods rules, short version
San Jacinto County is in Texas Parks and Wildlife's Pineywoods region. The state requires at least 3 of 7 wildlife activities. On most tracts here, these four are the easiest to do and to prove.
Predator control
Hog trapping or shooting. Write down dates and counts.
Supplemental food
Feeders you already run, or a small food plot. Keep receipts.
Shelter
Brush piles from clearing, or nest boxes for bluebirds or wood ducks.
Census counts
A game-camera survey or a spotlight count, written down.
See all 7 activities and where the state's standards are
- Habitat control
- Erosion control
- Predator control
- Supplemental water
- Supplemental food
- Shelter
- Census counts
How much of each you have to do is set in Texas Parks and Wildlife's Pineywoods guidelines.
Missed April 30?
San Jacinto CAD can still accept a late application until its review board approves the year's records, with a penalty of 10% of that year's tax savings. If you bought land and the same people keep using it the same way, a 2026 law gives you until a year after closing, with no penalty.
Stopped running cattle? Read this first.
Selling off the whole herd can cost you more than the valuation. It can trigger rollback tax: the difference for the last 3 years. How rollback works and how to avoid it.
I bought near Lake Livingston. Does my lot qualify?
Only if the land already has ag or timber valuation and 5 years of ag use out of the last 7. Most subdivided lake lots don't. Look up your property on the district's site, or call (936) 653-1450 and ask if it carries 1-d-1 or timber valuation.
File with San Jacinto CAD by April 30.
Late filings get a 10% penalty, and once the records are approved they stop taking them.
Land across the county line?
Each county has its own appraisal district. File with the one where the land sits.