Barry Austin Oral History Transcript

Our interviewee is Barry Austin, a private landowner who cooperated with the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program in Texas. He worked principally with Mike McCollum, who was the State and Regional Private Lands Coordinator in Region 2 for over 20 years. Barry describes his ranch, which is located on the Trinity River southeast of Dallas, and the types of projects he did with the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to restore and enhance wetlands and wildlife habitat. He also enrolled over 1,900 acres of land in permanent easements through the Wetland Reserve Program. Barry describes his excellent working relationship with the Partners staff in Texas and extols the value of the program to him, his family and to wildlife.