THE REAL STORY
It all started more than 35 years ago in a tiny café in Alamo, Texas. A group of five Valley residents responded to an URGENT NEED to protect a tract of pristine native brush south of Weslaco destined to be bulldozed. They joined forces to preserve the property and thus began The Valley Land Fund.
THE VLF MISSION
The mission of The Valley Land Fund is to preserve, expand, and enhance the native wildlife habitat of the Deep South Texas through education, land ownership, and the creation of economic incentives.
CONSERVATION
The Valley Land Fund assists with conservation of native habitat through the protection of land in the southernmost counties of deep South Texas – the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Click here to read more about a few of our land conservation projects and partnerships.
EDUCATION
The Valley Land Fund is committed to educating the public about the importance of land conservation and protection of our natural resources. We use a number of tools for outreach and education purposes, with the most popular being our annual wildlife photo contests. The use of photography to educate the citizens of our area is one of the most important aspects of our approach to wildlife conservation. Through the use of award-winning images, we are able to make individuals, young and old, aware of our wonderful natural heritage and the existence of every species of plant and animal that is in jeopardy.
WILDLIFE PHOTO CONTEST
Our wildlife photo contests and the photography books that the Valley Land Fund has produced from the images of those contests have been wildly successful tools in our goal to promote native wildlife habitat conservation. The Valley Land Fund celebrates, endorses, and recognizes the power of wildlife photography and its importance to conservation.
PRIVATE LANDOWNERS
Private landowners play a crucial role in the conservation of wildlife in America today. Without their participation in conservation, entire ecosystems will be lost, never to be appreciated by future generations. The Valley Land Fund believes that wildlife conservation can best be promoted through sound economic incentives for private landowners to protect and enhance the diversity of habitats. For more information about how you can help, please contact us at (956) 686-6429.
WHAT WE DO
The Valley Land Fund focuses on the following areas:
PEOPLE OF VLF
Meet the people that are involved with the Valley Land Fund.
BOARD OFFICERS
Jesse Barba Jr., President
Bryan Duffy, Vice President
Gene Vaughan, Secretary
Dennis Burleson, Treasurer
STAFF
Debralee Rodriguez, Executive Director
BOARD MEMBERS
Ashley C. Dickerson
Dustin Dickerson
Matthew Dubrule
Bruce Kroeker
Drew Lentz
Mark Limon
Mark Moseley
Victor Rodriguez
Sheila Wallace