Hale Oliver Schaleben

Hale Schaleben was a petroleum landman who sold property in Hidalgo County to the Nature Conservancy in Texas, which in turn transferred the parcel to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The tract is a rare example of untouched, native Tamaulipan thornscrub habitat, containing dense granjeno, huisache, Texas ebony, cenizo, palo verde and mesquite, together with arroyos and natural depressions. It is known as a home to the endangered ocelot and possibly the jaguarundi. It is now part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.