Photo: Cattle retreating from the sun beneath mesquite, north Texas. © 2017 Delena Norris-Tull
Selah: Bamberger Ranch Preserve
Margaret Campbell Bamberger was a friend of mine, who I met when I lived in Central Texas in the 1970s through the 1980s. When my first husband, George Miller, and I wrote Wildflowers, Trees, & Shrubs of Texas, I asked Margaret to create the illustrations for the book. After I moved away from Texas in 1990, I only stayed in touch with her sporadically. But she went on to have an even more amazing life, when she married John David Bamberger, co-founder and chief executive of Church’s Fried Chicken, a successful restaurant chain. In 1969, David had purchased 3,020 acres of overgrazed ranchland near Johnson City, Texas. Over time, he added additional acres to eventually create a 5,500-acre ranch. When he first purchased the land, it had become overrun with Ashe juniper trees and prickly pear cacti, due to decades of overgrazing by sheep and goats, and the land had very little water access remaining, none of the water potable. David’s goal was to restore the land to a natural grassland.
The website, Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, provides details of the projects the Selah team used to restore the land.
Next Sections on Rangeland Restoration:
Selah: Bamberger Ranch Preserve
Margaret Campbell Bamberger was a friend of mine, who I met when I lived in Central Texas in the 1970s through the 1980s. When my first husband, George Miller, and I wrote Wildflowers, Trees, & Shrubs of Texas, I asked Margaret to create the illustrations for the book. After I moved away from Texas in 1990, I only stayed in touch with her sporadically. But she went on to have an even more amazing life, when she married John David Bamberger, co-founder and chief executive of Church’s Fried Chicken, a successful restaurant chain. In 1969, David had purchased 3,020 acres of overgrazed ranchland near Johnson City, Texas. Over time, he added additional acres to eventually create a 5,500-acre ranch. When he first purchased the land, it had become overrun with Ashe juniper trees and prickly pear cacti, due to decades of overgrazing by sheep and goats, and the land had very little water access remaining, none of the water potable. David’s goal was to restore the land to a natural grassland.
The website, Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, provides details of the projects the Selah team used to restore the land.
Next Sections on Rangeland Restoration: