Property tax wildlife exemption

We bought a place last month that the previous owners had a wildlife property tax exemption on. I just received the paperwork from the county to file for the exemption ourselves. I have never done this before and there are a lot of blanks to fill out that I am unsure on. Can anyone offer some pointers or point me to a website to assist in filling this out?

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0793.pdf

You should be able to get a copy of the form filled by the previous owner from the Tax Assessor. That would help.
I drew up a wildlife management plan the first year I bought my place. It previously had an agricultural exemption but I didn’t want to deal with leasing the land for planting or grazing. I included pictures and a narrative that described the practices that I was performing.
The DPW publication is a great place to familiarize yourself with the terminology and accepted practices.
Use the terminology that DPW uses when filling out the form.
You need to account for all your acreage. If you have a house or barn on the property they usually tax an acre of the property at the normal rate. A wildlife exemption does not qualify you for a sales tax exemption, that reserved for producers.

yes I filled out the paperwork sent them pictures of my feeders and water sources and the brush I cleared and wrote a small plan for managing whitetail deer and sent a map with feeder locations.

I did similar but after talking to the TPWD biologist, he recommended to NOT include whitetail deer as there were other things that were needed to be done (for that county anyway). I followed his lead and put it down for improvement for wild turkey, songbirds, cedar (juniper) removal forming piles & rows for small animal habitat, etc. I would strongly recommend you go to the county appraisal or request a copy of the previous owners wildlife improvement management plan where you can merely enhance going forward.

You have to do, I believe, 3 or 4 of the things that they have as options. I do a new one every year. Not hard. Without it, I would have to either go back to raising cattle or pay huge taxes.

For example:

\Water for wildlife: My stock tanks.

Cover for small animals to escape predation: Brush piles when I cut firewood or clean up the place. I do 4 or 5 and provide pics.

Supplemental food for wildlife. Hell, that's corn. But I also use protein blocks. I used to plant wheat but the hogs rooted up the 5 acres.

Predator or nuisance control: Shoot hogs and an occasional coyote.

I also include pictures of kids that I take fishing and hunting. Although not one of the options, everybody likes kids.

Spray prickly pear

Repair washed out areas.

Send me a PM with your real name and mailing address. I'll send you a copy of what works for me in Montague County.

put out Bird feeders
Erosion control - I put hay bales in wash out areas
stock fish
feed fish
trap coons, etc.
brush control
ducks on your pond - feed ducks

pretty simple stuff but worth a load of $$ saving on taxes

Remember that you have to file a report every year with pictures - not a one time thing

good point and pay close attention to what the deadline date is ... our county used to be by May 1 but a couple of years ago they changed to March 1 and I missed it ... fortunately I usually send it in mid March and that's when they alerted me of the change and be glad I got it in before they started the process to remove my exemption.

Completing the original paperwork is not too bad. Make a plan and then document activities. In our county, we had to target a specific native species, and not a general “wildlife” plan. Biggest pain is keeping good records and the annual updating required. After 5 years we converted back to ag usage and cattle.

What county is the property in?

The reason I ask, a Timber Exemption is much easier to obtain and maintain. Not all counties will allow it, though. All Ag / Timber / Wildlife exemptions save you the same amount, there is no cost advantage of one over the other.