Joe Simpson, his son and a ranch hand use this front-end loader and two other pieces of heavy equipment to push brush on his San Saba ranch.

Ask Joe Simpson about the toughest of the invasive plants on his 1,507-acre ranch in San Saba County and he'll think for a while.

Mesquite is everywhere and comes in a variety of tough-to-control sizes. Some have grown into trees. Many others form thorny, scraggly bushes.

Then there's juniper. It sinks a subterranean root ball that can leave a giant crater when pulled out with a backhoe.

You can't forget the prickly pear cactus. Once you dislodge it from the ground you need to carefully collect every leaf to keep it from sprouting anew -- all while avoiding its sharp thorns.

And the patches of bee brush form a grayish blue, four-foot deep sea that creeps up to and under all the other plants. It's formidable because of its sheer magnitude.

Editor's note: This is one of a series on landowners who are tapping an LCRA program to implement best management land conservation practices. OTHER STORIES: Transplanted South Texas landowner taps program, local experts to make soil improvements on new Burnet County property Land conservation practices paying off for Blanco County landowner

But Simpson figures the persimmon is about the toughest. Its roots make it especially tough to fight. They work their way down into the shallow soil, make a 90 degree turn and anchor themselves in the rocks. There's just no easy way to dislodge it.

Since buying the Hilltop Ranch in 1998, Simpson has become an expert in the battle against brush.

"We're probably spending about three days a week on clearing," Simpson said while maneuvering a yellow four-wheeled drive vehicle over his ranch's rough, rocky trails.

The brush battle can be traced to an invention widely credited for helping tame the west: barbed wire. The fencing provided a way for landowners to contain their herds of cattle and goats, and to keep their livestock from destroying the crops that they had planted. But the confined cattle would often overgraze and the ground was left bare - and vulnerable. Ashe juniper, also called cedar, and mesquite began to encroach.

Joe and Pat Simpson bought the 1,507-acre Hilltop Ranch in 1998.

Today, throughout much of San Saba County and the rest of Central Texas, cedar and other brush species such as prickly pear and mesquite, are abundant. Underneath this brush, the bare ground has become susceptible to heavy soil erosion and rapid rainfall runoff, contributing to sedimentation in nearby waterways. Many of those run into the lower Colorado River.

That leaves ranchers like Simpson working to rid his property of the intrusive plant life. But he's not fighting that battle alone.

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and local soil and water conservation districts are administering an anti-erosion effort by tapping a federal Clean Water Act program designed to control pollution caused by rainwater runoff. LCRA received a three-year, $500,000 grant from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The funding supports LCRA's Creekside Conservation Program, a 15-year-old effort to help farmers and ranchers in Central Texas reduce soil erosion and keep topsoil from washing into the waterways of the lower Colorado River basin. The program helps carry out LCRA's responsibilities as a steward of the basin's water resources.

Landowners who participate can receive a 50 percent reimbursement for such land conservation projects.

Mike Shomette of the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service helped the Simpsons identify areas on which to focus. He's also returned to the ranch to help monitor the Simpson's ample progress.

Simpson said that much the reimbursement for his work will go to pay for the diesel fuel for the three primary pieces of equipment used to clear his land by him, his son Mike and a ranch hand.

The three men "push brush" shrub by shrub, section by section from different areas of the ranch.

"I tell you what takes as much time as anything -- trying to dispose of the cactus," Simpson said. "If we didn't go back through and pick up all of the cactus, every place that there's one of these leaves, it would grow right back up."

In areas cleared as recently as this past summer, grass has sprouted and spread over the cleared land. In other areas cleared more recently, the bare soil is punctuated by piles of cut brush. Eventually, the Simpsons will burn or shred the piles.

The clearing of the brush allows for Simpson to increase the number of cattle he now runs on the ranch because there will be more grass.

Not all of the ranch will be cleared. The Simpsons leave patches of brush and trees that Bobby Humphrey, an LCRA employee who administers the Creekside Conservation Program, calls "wildlife corridors." The corridors give animals a refuge.

"Deer don't like to head out into a great big open place," Simpson said. "If you have a place like this with brush and trees they'll stay in there and then they'll move to the next area with brush and trees. They just feel a little safer that way."

Deer are just some of the residents of Hilltop Ranch. Boar, badgers, quail and turkey are common. Simpson even once found the remains of a young deer that had been carried up into a raised perch. That's a sign of a large cat, possibly a mountain lion. Simpson said animals provide the motivation for much of his work.

"I wanted primarily to grow and perpetuate the wildlife on this place," he said. "That's the idea behind all of this."

For more information on the land conservation program, contact Bobby Humphrey, LCRA Conservation Services, at 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 7155.

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