Trans-Pecos

Desert Bighorn Sheep

If there is one word that would describe Texas wild lands today, it would be exotic. Texans has an affinity for exotic animals, especially deer and antelope, that are not native to the state. From 1963 to 1994, the exotic population in Texas grew from about 14,000 animals of 13 species to more than 195,000 animals and 71 species. 

The chart below lists six exotic animals now roaming free in the state in such numbers that they must be considered permanent additions to the mammal fauna according to The Mammals of Texas by David J. Schmidly. According to the chart, Texas' record for preserving exotic species seems to lean toward those least in need of help. None of the species fall within the two categories most vulnerable to extinction: (1) critically endangered and (2) endangered. Only one is included within the third most concerned category: vulnerable.

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There are cases where ranchers have benefited endangered animals from elsewhere. The price, however, has been hunting, which the ranchers say is necessary to pay for the upkeep of the rest of the animals. This has been controversial. 

Envisioned Wilderness

 

Addax Antelope

This wilderness, envisioned as located in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas and a portion of New Mexico, would be populated with antelope and other animals that can thrive in this hot and dry climate.

The satellite view Above shows the proposed wilderness area with orienting geographic features and cities. Prospective wildlife corridors are also indicated. The wilderness would be connected to other natural areas such as Mexico's Sierra Madre, the Canyonlands, High Plains, and the Edwards Plateau via these wildlife corridors.

Mountain Nyala Antelope

Emphasis would be on species that are truely endangered and will not out-compete native species. Predators that can cull out weaker creatures and keep numbers within the capacity of the natural environment would also be included.

Animals proposed for inclusion in this wilderness are indicated in the chart below. Exotic species (not either native, previous occupants of area, or naturalized) are in italics and a darker gray background, with their endangered status indicated. All the exotic animals are in one of the four most endangered categories (CR, EN, VU & LR) or are extinct in the wild (EW) according to the IUCN.

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Pantanal Wilderness

The Pantanal is one of the largest and most spectacular freshwater ecosystems in the world, with an exceptionally high biodiversity. It is located south of the Amazon basin, at the crossroads of Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. It covers an estimated area of 175,000 square kilometers, about half the size of California. Numerous distinct ecological systems exist within its confines. 

Tributaries of the Paraguay River flood and recede every year, rhythmically transforming the region from floodplains to grassy savannahs. In addition to critical habitats for a diverse and highly concentrated array of vegetation and wildlife, the Pantanal’s hydrological system supports and provides certain invaluable ecosystem services to local communities, such as water purification, nutrient storage, sediment trapping, flood control, storm protection, and climate stabilization.

Located in the center of South America, the Pantanal forms a link between the biomes of the Amazon, the Cerrito savannah and the Chacos of Bolivia and Paraguay. The region lies at an altitude of less than 150 meters and the landscape is virtually flat. During the rainy season up to 80% of the territory is inundated, forcing out most of the local population, who temporarily migrate to the surrounding towns and villages. Beyond rivers and various forests, the Pantanal is a complex system of marshlands, floodplains, lagoons and interconnected drainage channels.

Brazilian Tapir

There is a fear that the Pantanal wetland may disappear by 2050. According to Conservation International, deforestation in the Brazilian Pantanal has quadrupled in recent years. Already,17 percent of the original vegetation has been lost in the region.

The envisioned wilderness would encompass most of this marsh land as well as some adjoining uplands. The proposed Pantanal Wilderness is shown below in a satellite view of the earth. The location of the Bolivian Altiplano and the cities of Santa Cruz, Cuiaba and Campo Grande provide for orientation of the viewer. Wildlife corridors would connect it to the Amazon jungle to the north, the Cerrado of Brazil to the northeast, and the dryer Chacos to the south and west. The Andes Mountains and the Altiplano would overlook the wilderness region from the west.

Sitatunga Antelope

The Pantanal Megafauna Chart below lists prospective wildlife inhabitants, current and envisioned (such as the Sitatunga Antelope from Africa on the left), that would most probably thrive in the Pantanal wetland. Those with a darker gray background are proposed new inhabitants not native or naturalized to South America. Where endangered, the categories are indicated; (CR, EN, VU & LR) or extinct in the wild (EW) according to the IUCN.

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California Wilderness

The California Wilderness is envisioned as encompassing the wildest and least populated California lands of a within the Mediterranean climatic zone. As illustrated below, it would stretch south from the San Francisco Bay Area to the mountains just north of Los Angeles. East to west it would extend from the Central Valley to the Pacific Coast at Big Sur.

One of the best places today to examine the ancient Pleistocene life of Southern California is the La Brea Tar Pits. This video demonstrates the Pleistocene environment in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Grizzly Bear - Its return to California is a goal of many

The rebirth of the future California Pleistocene landscape began in the late 1970s with the relocation of tule elk into the Diablo Range in the northern wilderness reaches. This successful move was followed by the reintroduction of pronghorn antelope and tule elk to the Carrizo Plain in the central lands east of the Big Sur.

Beside wildlife currently extant in these lands, the wilderness would include representatives or relatives of animals once inhabiting California. 

The California Megafauna Chart below lists potential wildlife inhabitants in the ultimate wilderness. 

African Elephant

One example would be the African Elephant to represent the place of the Columbian Mammoth in the reconstituted pleistocene landscape. 

Most symbolic of the animals is the grizzly bear, whose only current residence in California is on the state flag. Its closest American relatives are found in the Yellowstone region of the Rocky Mountains south of the Canadian border.

The California Wilderness would be linked by wildlife corridors to the Mohave Desert and the Sierra Nevada Wildernesses. The Mohave corridor would cross the Tehachapi Mountains that enclose the south end of the Central Valley. 

Pronghorn Antelope

The Sierra corridor would cross the Central Valley, connecting across former oil fields to the Kern River Valley as it emerges from the Sierras. This corridor would pass through the north end of the City of Bakersfield where oil facilities currently are occupied. 200 years in the future this area would be ripe for cleanup and rebirth as a corridor for wildlife migrating across the Central Valley grasslands between the Coast Range and the Sierra Mountains. 

The major Highway 5 north/south arterial would most likely tunnel underneath the Mohave/Tehachapi corridor and bridge the Central Valley/Sierra corridor.

A corridor in the north would connect the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta with the northernmost extension of the California Wilderness. Given the potential increase in sea level over the coming 200 years, the 'Delta' may embrace a greatly increased expanse of open water and marshland.

Click chart below and expand to make readable.