Characterization of the Study Site: Ft. Hood, TX

Photointerpreted polygons

There are no significant Federal parks or reserves in the Texas Hill Country. Opportunities for large-scale conservation management are limited. One exception is the largest Army installation in the United States, Fort Hood, covering 88,500 acres in Bell and Coryell Counties (Figure on the right). Fort Hood, the home to two U.S. Army divisions, has the advantage of being under a single management authority and operates under the auspices of the Endangered Species Act. Fort Hood was originally established on privately held ranchland, consisting of 65 percent perennial grassland and 30 percent forest/woodlands (Hayden and others 2001). A full range of military training operations is conducted at Fort Hood, including large-scale troop and vehicle movements, live-fire weapons exercises on extensive training ranges, and realistic air attack and air transport missions. Also, there are large expanses of cattle grazing under lease through cattlemen’s associations. Sections of Fort Hood are available for public recreation, including water sports, hunting leases, mountain biking, off-road vehicles, and hiking. Soil compaction, vegetation damage, and erosion are just a few of the disturbances having an impact on the fragile Fort Hood topography (Chenault 2005). Land management activities at Fort Hood are conducted under plans designed to protect and mitigate the habitats of a number of endangered species while repairing rangeland and adapting sites for military training activities. These multiple land use objectives often conflict, providing an ideal location for studying the consequences of controlling oak wilt within endangered species habitat.