Freeman Center Grazeable Land Area and Geodatabase Contributions Sara Dunlap Project Manager David Szpakowski Assistant Manager Natalie Bowman GIS Analyst

The F—reeman Center requested that we determine the amount of grazeable land available. In Fall 2013, GeoTrek, through Texas State built a geodatabase of the Freeman Center. We have worked to expand on what they created.

Our primary objective to identify all areas of Freeman Ranch that can be grazed. Although the ranch is large, much of the area cannot support cattle for a variety of reasons. Freeman Center has also requested an 3D Model and an aspect map.

The Freeman Center is made of 4,200 acres maintained by Texas State University.

Determine the total potential grazing area and the total accessible grazing area.

Develop a 3D model of the Freeman Center.

Create an aspect map of the Freeman Center.

Data TypeSource Elevation Texas Natural Resource Information System (TNRIS) VegetationCapital Area Council of Governments Water SourcesFreeman Ranch Geodatabase BoundariesFreeman Ranch Geodatbase

We examined each of our variables and assigned them a value according to their ability to support cattle. Percent slope Percent Reduction in Use 0 – – >60100 Variables: Heavy and moderate vegetation, rock cover, open area and slope.

Objective: Cattle suitability modeling Process: Pass/Fail analysis as well as a Select by Location for determining accessibility.

Using aerial photography available in the Freeman Center’s Geodatabase, we were able to classify areas by ground cover.

We combined the separate variables in a pass/fail model to determine total potential grazing area.

To determine accessibility we included roads, trails, and fences. We divided the total potential area by pasture, and extracted the areas that had paths to water sources.

Aspect Map: Created using a digital elevation model (DEM).

3D Model: Created by building a triangular irregular network (TIN) from contour lines.

 Freeman Center will be able to better understanding it’s ranching capabilities.  Aid in future sustainable ranching practices. New data for ranch management Updating of older data (Roads)

 —Detailed Maps  —Updated Freeman Center Geodatabase Improved data quality of pre-existing layers  —Atlas (CD) containing GIS data, project proposal, reports, and presentations  —Instructions on how to use the atlas (“readme” file)

We found that dense vegetation not only lessened the amount of space for useful grasses, and also blocked access to areas with adequate vegetation. Further research could be done to determine areas where trail improvement or brush clearing could maximize access to other grazing locations.