HRM of TX, Inc.
By Peggy Jones

What is it that has kept HRM of TX going strong for so many years? Texans have a reputation of being stubborn and fiercely independent, yet for a small organization (our paid membership rarely reaches 200) we have been able to accomplish a remarkable amount over the 15 years of our existence. Our success, in fact, is really about that very independence, tenacity and dedication to making a difference. It is also about coming together for camaraderie and soaking up new information, bringing in friends and neighbors, and handing the baton to fresh energies when we need to. Most of the original members were enlightened by Savory himself, while many of the newer members have never seen the man. All embrace the insights he brought to brittle environment ranching and the decision making model he painstakingly constructed for our use.

Del Rio accountant David Graf, one of the originating members of HRM of TX, remembers the beginnings. Several of his clients had asked him to accompany them in attending the Savory Schools offered by Allan Savory and Stan Parsons near San Angelo in the early eighties. They wanted him to understand that system when helping do their financial planning. Graf was eager to attend because he was also personally interested in the biology being taught. “When Savory set up the Center for HRM in Albuquerque, quite a few Texans were real involved,” Graf recalls. He remembers Clint Josey, Bob Steger, Charles Probandt and Claudia Ball were among those who worked to start a Texas Branch in 1986. Graf himself was placed on the board of directors at the first annual meeting, held in Junction.

“From the very beginning we had a stormy relationship with the Center,” Graf said. “We had a bunch of strong willed people not always inclined to follow the Center’s guidelines or run everything through the Center.”
The new branch for Texas & Oklahoma (the Oklahoma group got big enough for their own branch by 1992) made allowances for and actually embraced our often-criticized independent action. We wrote our own bylaws and incorporated in 1987 as Holistic Resource Management of Texas, Inc., a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit. We recognized that our rocky relationship with the Center had a positive result, as it caused us to use the HRM model based on our goal rather than their goal.

The new Articles of Incorporation defined our purpose, “to promote, organize and sponsor seminars on ecological land and resource management techniques; to demonstrate and conduct research concerning holistic resource management; to provide educational and scientific presentations; to provide consulting and advisory services to interested individuals in Texas, and generally to foster the development of holistic resource management.”

Our bylaws (amended in 1988, 1989, 1993 and 1996) now provide for 11 directors to serve 3-year terms with a three consecutive term limit. The directors are charged with raising and managing funds for the organization’s stated purpose. The board meets in open meetings roughly quarterly in different areas of the state. There is a general membership meeting annually where board members, having been nominated by the advisory board (established Jan. 94), are elected by the membership; and the Board then elects officers (President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer) to one-year terms (no limit).

Graf recollected, “We struggled with who we were, what the function of the organization should be and what we needed to do for the people of Texas. Everyone was doing it differently.” We came together for facilitated retreats to bond with each other and to sort out our common answers to these questions. We defined and redefined our mission from “halting desertification worldwide  through Holistic Resource Management” to “dedicated to forming a healthy ecosystem capable of supporting the people in it” to our current mission, “to provide encouragement and support of holistic management in Texas.” We formed a solid three-part goal, which has changed very little since 1992.

These valuable two-day retreats became the yearly Planning Sessions, where participants socialize in a relaxed setting, review the past year’s activities, revisit the goal and mission, and plan objectives for the coming year. Each objective is put through the model and examined for projected outcomes and weak links. If the project passes the testing guidelines and someone volunteers to chair the committee, it is added to the list. Interested parties volunteer to be on the committee and proceed as a team to implement the project. In addition, any member who feels so moved will set up conferences, seminars, field days, public relations opportunities, etc. on his own and on behalf of HRM of TX.

Yearly objectives changed little over the 15 years. While educating those new to HRM was a bigger focus at the beginning and support of those already practicing HRM is currently our objective, educational projects have continued to be a priority year after year. A professionally produced newsletter of theory, anecdotal experiences, research findings, advice from other practitioners, events and contact info has long topped our list. The annual meeting is another primary vehicle for educating and supporting new and existing practitioners. An HRM workshop of 1/2 to 3 days is typically connected to the one or two-day symposium that contains the annual business meeting, board meeting, lectures, tours and mini workshops. The theme and the location are different each year. Field days / ranch tours are the most popular with our membership and most years have seen 4 to 6 field days each. We have tried to offer enough short courses each year to meet the demand of new practitioners.  Each year we chose to work on our public image, seek a larger membership, seek outside funding, and build partnerships with other organizations.

The annual meeting of 1992 featured a panel of agencies, environmental organizations and landowner groups warring over the endangered species act. By demonstrating that the core values of all these groups are the same, facilitators Peggy Sechrist and Naseem Rakha were able to introduce the HRM process as a powerful consensus-building tool. The panel chose to further explore this avenue to resolve management conflicts for all of Texas. They expanded to become the PlanIt Texas coalition and, with the help of a generous grant from the Meadows Foundation, took on the management of a central Texas ranch to prove whether or not a property could be managed in accordance with all government regulations, satisfy all environmental organizations and still please the landowner with the condition and profitability of the land. The project was a huge success and the lessons learned were disseminated to the public through field days, videos and a landowner’s manual of techniques and resources.

In the early days we were mostly membership supported through dues, workshops, ranch tours and auctions at our annual meetings. Finances have always been a major worry for HRM of TX, but somehow members always seem to come up with support for whatever we want to do. Clint Josey, and later Blair Fitzsimons, used their savvy to seek grants and pledges so the branch could afford to hire an Executive Director. In June of 1989, Wanda Gillman was hired to set up an office with computerized records, mailing list and communications with the Center, as well as market HRM events and newsletter advertising.  When she left in October of 1990, the group reverted to volunteer action, supported by Clint Josey’s secretary, Janet Samford.

In early 1993, with Blair Fitzsimons as president, organization fundraisers had secured enough monies to be able to hire Peggy Sechrist as Executive Director. Peggy had been a big force in HRM since the beginning. She had been unavailable for this position in the past as she worked for Texas Dept. Agriculture, then the Center for HRM, but her drive, leadership and PR talents had long been a mainstay of HRM of TX.
Many HRM leaders felt strongly that if we can bridge the gap between HRM of TX and the TX A&M University system, get them to embrace the HRM philosophy and spread it through their extension network, much of our mission will be accomplished. As Peggy Sechrist became more involved in networking with other organizations such as S.A.R.E. (Sustainable Ag Research and Education), S.A.W.G. (Sustainable Ag Working Group) and various academic committees and task forces, our reputation for grounded, positive results began to grow. In 1995, HRM of TX and Texas A&M set up a forum to explore each others ideas, get to know each other personally as well as professionally, and accept what philosophical differences might exist while building a relationship on common ground.  While HRM’s approach to education is different—providing people with a value based decision making model to help them reach a holistic goal vs. A&M’s research driven development of tools to treat various problems and educating people to use the tools — the common ground lies in our values of a healthy ecosystem and sustainable practices to improve ecosystem health.

Since that date, we collaborate with A&M extension on many of our field days and annual meetings. We had always had a few rogue agency and academic representatives on our board, but lately the attitude has begun to change. Now HRM of TX is considered an alliance worth pursuing.

It was spring of 1994 when Peggy Sechrist stepped away from her staff position to work on her personal goals, while staying extremely active in HRM of TX. But HRM was once again without a staff person to provide the coordination, connections and continuity we had come to rely on. Once again Clint Josey hit the phones and drummed up member pledges so we could afford to hire Jane Moore as Executive Director in December 1997.

When her stint ended in the spring of 1999, HRM was eager not to let much time pass before contracting with another staff person, this time Peggy Jones as Executive Secretary, who still serves in that position. Email makes it possible to communicate with the directors, advisors and project leaders on a weekly basis. HRM staff is officially contract labor. The position has varied from half to three-quarter to full time with an administrative assistant or coordinator. The salary varies with the job and the times. Current philosophy on staff is not to go with what we can afford, but to decide what we need, then find the money to have it.

Member surveys in 1993 and 1999 have helped determine who the members are and what they want from HRM: primarily ag households with advanced degrees and an active participation in HRM events. They read the whole newsletter and are especially interested in the annual educational conferences and practitioner field days.

Although our membership is small, we always have good turnout at our events. Annual meetings and some field days average well over a hundred participants.

HRM of TX is preparing for our 16th year. We have decided to seek more grant funding and not pressure our membership so much to support our activities. We want to focus more on follow-up with new and old practitioners, find more creative ways to get people the training they need.

We have chosen to continue our annual meetings and to host the International Gathering in Texas next time. We were successful in seeking a National Fish & Wildlife Foundation grant to continue the newsletter, create a website, a member directory and introduction to HRM booklet, a new brochure, a demonstration project at the Reed Ranch and ecosystem education for urban sixth graders at the Hornsby Bend water treatment facility near Austin. We will continue with work on the LaCopita demonstration ranch in south Texas, a three-day educational conference in the Rio Grande valley and our usual slate of field days, workshops and board meetings. Our Advisory Board will host its yearly symposium and the PlanIt Texas Coalition will wrap up its outreach phase and disband. Sounds like another typically busy year for HRM of TX.