In Profile: Texas Legacy Lands Owner Larry Butler
Environmentally 'green' long before it was a beltway buzzword, Larry Butler is an old school conservationist. The owner of Weatherford-based Texas Legacy Lands, a ranch and wildlife management service, honed his stewardship of the environment early as an undergraduate at Texas Tech University some three decades ago when where he was a member of what was the plant identification team.
Manage Habitat. Following in his grandfather's footsteps, Butler enrolled at Texas Tech with a career in electrical engineering in mind. But after a bit he found that the field "didn't interest me at all, so I changed majors to range and wildlife."
He soon found the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources program's emphasis on range management, habitat and animal biology particularly helpful. "If you want to manage animals, you have to manage their habitat," Butler said.
State Conservationist. Butler received his bachelor's degree in wildlife management from Texas Tech in 1974 and a master's degree in recreation and resources from Texas A&M in 1980. He earned a doctorate in range science from Utah State University in 1990.
Building on his academic and hands-on experiences at Tech, Butler went on to work in practically every facet of land management during the last three decades. Among his posts was stints as state conservationist for the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in Texas. He led the agency's natural resources conservation mission and was responsible for management, leadership and direction of all administrative and technical functions of the Texas NRCS.
Grazing Technology. Butler previously was the NRCS Grazing Lands Technology Institute Director, with national responsibility for development and transfer of grazing lands technology. He served as national coordinator for the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative and as regional range conservationist for 13 western states. Prior to those positions, he worked in Texas as range conservationist, biologist and district and area conservationist with NRCS in San Angelo, Del Rio, Bryan, San Antonio and Pecos.
He received the Society for Range Management's Outstanding Achievement Award in 2005 and was the Department of Natural Resources Management Outstanding Alumnus in 2005. In 2007, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources honored Butler with its Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Texas Legacy Lands. The award was established to recognize some of the college's most outstanding alumni for significant contributions to society. Honorees are also selected for the distinction their accomplishments and careers have brought to the college and to careers associated with agriculture or natural resources.
Butler retired from the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in 2007. He didn't stay retired long, though, launching Texas Legacy Lands that same year. "Some of my best memories in my 32-year career were helping individuals with their land, and I was ready to get back to working with landowners," he said.
Educational Process. "People are willing to pay for good information," Butler said about his current job. "I work with many people who've never owned land and need more technical advice than most traditional landowners. It's an educational process."
Looking back on his career, Butler noted the value of his Texas Tech education. "I use what I learned at Tech and over three decades in the field. I find what they have on their land, then I teach them about their resources so they're more prepared to reach their goals."
Written by Sean Cleveland
Departmental News
- Agricultural & Applied Economics
- Agricultural Education & Communications
- Animal & Food Sciences
- Landscape Architecture
- Natural Resources Management
- Plant & Soil Science
- Veterinary Science
Press Room
Editor: Norman Martin
Maps: Where to Find It
Davis College NewsCenter
-
Address
P.O. Box 42123, Lubbock, Texas 79409-2123, Dean's Office Location:Goddard Building, Room 108 -
Phone
(806)742-2808 -
Email
kris.allen@ttu.edu