Texas Land Use 2007

At 92.6 million acres, native rangeland continues to be the prevailing general category of land use in Texas. Since 1997, the accumulated localized losses of native rangeland have exceeded 4.8 million acres. In addition the statewide area in dry (non-irrigated) cropland has declined by 1.57 million acres.
One of the most notable trends continues to be the conversion of native rangelands and croplands to non-native pastures. Non-native pastures now account for over 11 million acres and are the third largest land use category in the state.
A more recent trend in land use is a shift to “wildlife management” use following state legislation in 1996 that created the official land use category for tax appraisal purposes. Since then, lands classified as being in wildlife management have increased to 2.37 million acres. Some of the local decline in native rangelands can be attributed to this shift to wildlife management use.