MANUEL
DE LEON
MAKING CONVERSATION A BEST PRACTICE IN AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION
Page 26 | Landmarks 2007
STORY: LAURA GUTSCHKE
PHOTO: ARTIE LIMMER
E
ARLY IN MANUEL DE LEON’S
(‘93 B.S., wildlife management; ‘96
master of wildlife science) professional career, mending fences was
one of his many responsibilities as
a wildlife biologist on a small national wildlife
refuge in Utah. Today, he’s building bridges
with Panhandle farmers and ranches as a soil
conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Since April 2002, De Leon has worked for the
NRCS, a federal agency that encourages public
and private landowners and users to conserve soil,
water and other natural resources. Rolled into
the title of “soil conservationist” are several other
titles: scientist, teacher, public speaker, advocate,
manager, project planner and government liaison.
De Leon started in the Muleshoe field office before transferring to the Pampa office in October
2005. Discussing land issues with farmers and
ranchers—in his office, in group gatherings or in
the field—is a common day-to-day responsibility.
“I provide technical assistance to farmers and
ranchers and help them access government assistance programs that dovetail with our conservation initiatives,” said De Leon.
In Muleshoe, De Leon often helped farmers
plan and implement more efficient irrigation systems and other practices that improved production while also protecting environmental resources. He worked with Wes-Tex Feed Yard to plan and
install sprinkler systems that address particulate
emissions (or dust) both on and off the site.
He processed Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) contracts, which help defray some of the costs of installing or implementing new conservation practices, and assisted producers with developing plans required under the
Food Security Act.
In the Pampa area, De Leon was promoted to
resource team leader to manage and direct operations in Gray, Roberts and Hemphill counties
and supervise three staff members. He tackles
more ranching-related projects but some irrigated and dryland croplands are in his service area.
Some of the conservation practices applied
in De Leon’s area include deferred grazing, livestock wells, pumping plants, cross fences, watering facilities, brush management and center pivot irrigation conversions.
“Manuel has done an excellent job working
with farmers and ranchers and directing our
field office operations on a day-to-day basis for
soil and water conservation needs,” said Mickey
Black, NRCS assistant state conservationist.
RECORD WILDFIRES
The raging wildfires in March 2006 that consumed 726,000 acres across the Panhandle also
have presented new challenges for De Leon. The
wildfires were the largest in Texas history, causing 12 deaths, killing thousands of livestock,
destroying 2,000 miles of fencing, wiping out
hay and other crops for the season, and forcing
ranchers to sell their cattle early because of the
higher costs of feeding them.
I COULD
SMELL SMOKE
IN THE AIR
De Leon had been in the Pampa area only a
few months when the wildfires started.
“I was at home that Sunday evening watching
TV. It was real windy, and there was a lot of dust
in the air, so we couldn’t work outside. I could
smell smoke in the air,” said De Leon. “When the
sun went down, you could see orange glow and
fire in all directions in the distance.”
In the months since the fire, De Leon has been
helping farmers process EQIP applications that
would help pay for new cross fencing and the
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“Even to this day he still works. He’s 72, and
he’s still on the same farm,” said De Leon.
Childhood pastimes of fishing and bird hunting became vocations while De Leon was at Texas
Tech. He worked as a fisheries technician through
CASNR during three different school years.
THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK
OUTDOORS IS WHAT FIRST
ATTRACTED DE LEON TO
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
cost of prescribed grazing, which means a rancher agrees to delay cattle grazing on his land to
give vegetation time to regrow.
“This is a good time for people to reevaluate
their operations and maybe put their cross fences
in areas that are better than where they were before,” said De Leon.
“Manuel was a tremendous asset this spring
when the wildfires created so much damage and
Page 28 | Landmarks 2007
devastation to the High Plains region. He put in
countless hours assisting ranchers in Gray, Roberts and Hemphill counties,” said Black.
OUTDOOR ENTHUSIAST
The opportunity to work outdoors is what first
attracted De Leon to wildlife management. He
was one of seven children raised near New Home.
He would tag along with his father when the elder
De Leon tackled his chores as a farm hand.
“In school, volunteering was one of the things
that opened doors for me,” said De Leon. “Folks
took me seriously when I did that on top of my
classes. People would take notice of me, plus that
gave me experience—experience that you can’t
get out of a textbook.”
In addition, he was a student trainee for US
Fish and Wildlife Service, working one summer
at Alamosa/Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado, one summer at Red Rock Lakes
National Wildlife Refuge in Montana and for two
field seasons for graduate school that coincided
with shorebird migration at Des Lacs National
Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota.
After completing graduate school, De Leon
joined USF&WS full-time in August 1996 as a
wildlife biologist assigned to Aransas National
Wildlife Refuge in Austwell on the Texas coast.
His wife, Jennifer, who was a student trainee
with USF&WS, also was assigned to the station.
The refuge’s wide-ranging ecosystem of wetlands, grasslands and woodlands made for diverse projects that De Leon enjoyed. Some of his
projects included monitoring the populations of
whooping cranes and other waterfowl, executing
prescribed burns, eradicating invasive weeds to
help restore native prairie vegetation and conducting tours and workshops.
In September 1998, De Leon was named as
wildlife biologist at Ouray National Wildlife Refuge in Randlett, Utah. Jennifer worked at the
refuge as an outdoor recreation planner. The
change in ecosystems was dramatic, but some of
the projects remained the same: weed control,
public tours, bird surveys and enforcing state and
national hunting and fishing laws. In addition,
he operated a Monitoring Avian Productivity and
Survivorship (MAPS) banding station, a program
FACT FILE
Family: Married Jennifer Lynn Saldana
(BS, Biology and master of wildlife management, 1995) She is a teacher at Lamar Elementary in Pampa. The couple has three children : B’anca, Nikolas and Madelynn Rocio.
Free time: Manuel and Jennifer stay busy
with their children’s activities, which include
4-H, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, basketball,
football and karate. They also are members
of St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church.
Awards: Four Certificates of Merit for
technical assistance to the Blackwater Valley
and Cochran Soil and Water Conservation
Districts, Meritorious Achievement Commendation for Distinguished and Dedicated
Service following the Terrorists Attacks on
September 11, 2001, from the Secretary of
Interior, 2002 Award for contributions to
Fulfilling the Promise from the Chief, National Wildlife Refuge System, 2002.
of the Institute for Bird Populations to measure
the characteristics, population and migratory
trends of various birds.
Working in conjunction with United States
Geological Survey and Bureau of Reclamation
agencies De Leon also helped map the 12,000acre refuge according to vegetation classification
standards, which will allow researchers to track
changes over time.
“Another big challenge at the time was all the
refuges were having to make a report to map out
plans for the next 15 years, such as our goals and
objectives. We had some deficiencies in inventory and we were able to get money to do some
new projects,” said De Leon.
RETURNING TO TEXAS
De Leon joined the USDA in 2002 because of
an opportunity to return to West Texas and be
closer to family.
“I went from spending a lot of time on my own
on the refuge to interacting on a daily basis with
farmers and ranchers,” said De Leon. “I was coming from another government agency, so I knew
the paperwork part of the process.”
With the NRCS, De Leon tries to be a source of
information for landowners, using persuasion to
advocate for conservation practices. He constantly
monitors the latest research and attends workshops
to stay on top of best practices in agriculture.
“We’re making recommendations, but in the
end, they (the farmers and ranchers) have to foot
the bill,” said De Leon. “That’s why I try to be as
technically accurate as possible. The challenge is
to stay on top of the government programs. I try
to be as thorough as I can.”
The reward comes when he drives around the
counties he serves and sees conservation measures in practice.
“It’s rewarding to drive around and look at a
place that replaced its old leaky irrigation system
with a new one and know that I had a hand in
that. Or, in seeing a new cross-section fence go
up, or a windmill working,” said De Leon.
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