JP Bach
Ranch Manager
JP Bach comes to Southwest Texas State University from
the Wildlife Habitat Council where he worked as a staff
biologist and Director of WHC's efforts in the Southwestern
Region. Before working for WHC, JP was employed at Texas
A&M University where he worked for 10 years as a
Research Scientist with the Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station (TAMU-TAES). He holds B.S. degrees in
Wildlife Ecology and Range Science from New Mexico
State University and a M.S. degree from Texas A&M
University in Natural Resource Economics. JP is currently
completing a Ph.D. in Rangeland Ecology and Management from
Texas A&M University. He is a published author, having
written or co-written four books and more than 40 technical
reports and journal articles.
JP is truly a habitat specialist. He has emphasized balancing and understanding multiple demands on land and water resources in order for them to provide a multiple array of products while conserving their infrastructure to ensure their survival. As a land manager, JP has focused on habitat manipulation, including the use of chemical and mechanical means as well as the use of fire. He has published articles and books on the effects of feral hogs and auodad sheep in Texas and New Mexico, been involved in research relating to agriculture's impacts on habitats and habitat management as well as how sustainable agriculture can facilitate conservation and preservation of wildlife habitats, and presented research at international meetings which questioned man's view of wealth in terms of natural resources.
JP's focus at the WHC was to use previous regional efforts to jump-start wildlife habitat programs in the Southwestern Region. The first project he undertook was restoration efforts in the Houston Ship Channel, where he built and facilitated corporate partnerships to improve understanding, perception, management and clean-up in the channel and surrounding areas. The creation of a Waterways for Wildlife project was not only for the Ship Channel, but for all areas of Houston and Galveston Bay with a plan to spread throughout the Gulf Coast Region. JP also worked to support existing wildlife and habitat management coalitions and their efforts in the region.
His work before joining the WHC focused on research for
TSSWCB to determine the costs and processes of brush
management planning in a 56 county area of Texas, working
with the TAMU-TAES, the Texas Agriculture Extension Service
(TAMU-TAEX), NRCS, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
(TPWD) and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts. He
also completed a six-year "rags to riches" conversion of a
bankrupt rural housing development back into a working
cattle ranch with emphasis on preservation of existing
habitats ranging from upland drainages to marshlands to
aquatic areas, including a 50-acre lake. While general
manager and foreman of that operation, he employed more than
10 students as land management interns.
JP, a native of Artesia, New Mexico, is an alumnus of Alpha Gamma Rho, a national agriculture fraternity. He is a member of both the Wildlife Society and the Society for Range Management, where he serves as Texas Section Liaison to the NRCS's Grazingland Conservation Initiative. He is owner of Buck's Diner, a private company which emphasizes wildlife habitat improvements by the balanced use of food plot establishment and supplemental feeding. His wife, Mikka, is a Texas A&M graduate, and is Assistant Manger of Tractor Supply Company in San Marcos, Texas. They enjoy working together to establish habitat improvements for multiple species and purposes, helping others with habitat improvements, and aiding those with questions relating to land management and wildlife habitat management. Both love the outdoors, fishing, boating, riding ATVs and sports of all kinds. Their son, Garrison, was born in 2005
