Location
Caesar Kleberg
Topics
Description
Caesar Kleberg, a rancher and conservationist, contributed to wildlife protection and restoration in many ways.
His efforts included imposing strict hunting regulations on King Ranch properties in 1912, allowing white-tailed deer, wild turkey and quail to rebound, and eventually designating 414,000 acres of the Ranch as a state game preserve. He also introduced habitat restoration through creating brush shelters for quail, controlling predators such as coyotes and bobcats, clearing encroaching brush, and drilling wells for supplemental water. In roughly 1945, he persuaded Ranch management to hire Val Lehmann, the first wildlife biologist active on a working Texas cattle ranch.
Kleberg was also active statewide, on a policy level. He served for 20 years on the Texas Game, Fish and Oyster Commission beginning in 1917, and was also a member of the Texas Livestock Sanitary Commission which led Texas fever tick eradication in the state.
One of his greatest legacies was carried out in his will, in which he created the Caesar Kleberg Foundation for Wildlife Conservation. The Foundation has provided millions of dollars for wildlife research and protection, and was the initial 1981 benefactor of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University – Kingsville.
In view of Kleberg’s many contributions, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation recognized him as a Texas Legend in 2006, and the Texas House passed Concurrent Resolution 118 in 2009 for “his commitment to the conservation and management of the state’s natural resources”.
Location Notes
Mr. Kleberg was closely involved in managing the King Ranch's Norias Division, so a marker could be put at the entrance to that part of the Ranch, if the family and the Commission were supportive.
Files
Bibliography
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David Hewitt, Executive Director, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute. Oral history interview. Useful Wild Plants of Texas.
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Larry D. Hodge. “The King’s Birthday”, Texas Parks and Wildlife. Vol. 61, NO. 10, October 2003.
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Tio Kleberg, Trustee, Caesar Kleberg Foundation for Wildlife Conservation. Oral history interview. Useful Wild Plants of Texas.
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Duane Leach, Caesar Kleberg and the King Ranch (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2017).
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Eileen Mattei, “King of Conservation: Caesar Kleberg”, Texas Parks and Wildlife. May 2010.