Black Gap Wildlife Management Area
Marathon, Brewster County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Black Gap, a natural cleft in the basalt ridge northeast of the Sierra del Carmen, frames the headquarters site of the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area. Established in 1948, the "Gap" contains approximately 100,000 acres representative of the rugged Big Bend Country -- the typical arid, mountainous Southwest. Owned by the people of Texas and operated by the Game and Fish Commission, the area is the scene of research and developmental work dedicated to the conservation and restoration of wildlife species indigenous to the region. Mule deer, javelina, prong-horned antelope and scaled quail are among the principal game species managed. Work is in process to restore the bighorn sheep which, by the 1960's, were all but eliminated from Texas. Scientific land use practices, designed to increases the yield of natural foods for wildlife, have been instituted by the Commission. Water retention and utilization is accomplished by the construction of water impoundments, diversion dams and "push ups" seeded with native vegetation. Research findings, through demonstrations and educational extension programs conducted on this federal-state cooperative project, are available to the surrounding landowners and others who are interested. Game surpluses produced on the Black Gap are harvested periodically by hunters under a controlled public hunt program.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in 1948 in the rugged Big Bend country near the Sierra del Carmen, the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area covers roughly 100,000 acres of arid Southwest terrain owned by the people of Texas. State wildlife officials used it as a living laboratory to manage mule deer, javelina, pronghorn, and quail, and to work toward restoring bighorn sheep that had nearly vanished from Texas by the 1960s. Water impoundments, scientific land-use practices, and public education programs made it a model of mid-century conservation.
Why it matters
It marks the rise of scientific wildlife conservation in twentieth-century America, when states began treating game and habitat as a public trust to be studied and restored rather than simply exploited.
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Themes & tags
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