Partnerships

The idea of a Ranching Heritage Center began in 1966 when Dr. Grover Murray, president of Texas Technological College, appointed a committee to determine if his idea of a ranching heritage exhibit would be feasible. By 1968, the college initially designated a 12 acre portion of the museum site for its location with efforts being made towards fundraising. In 1969, the Ranch Headquarters Association, later named the Ranching Heritage Association, was created as a non-profit member organization to assist in the development of the site. Christine DeVitt (daughter of founder David DeVitt Sr.) was approached to become the first major donor to the project. In December of 1968, Ms. DeVitt agreed to donate more than $200,000, a sum that she  eventually increased to more than one million dollars by the time the Ranching Heritage Center was opened in 1976. Her contributions greatly financed the building of the initial museum structure. She also stipulated that the museum building be named after her father and designed to resemble the original Mallet Ranch headquarter's homestead structure.

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Today, the museum site is now known as the National Ranching Heritage Center (NRHC), and is fast approaching it's 60th anniversary of its opening. Its mission of preservation of the ranching culture has resulted in the acquisition and placement of 55 structures on site, mostly from Texas, spanning the years 1753 to 1922. The NRHC is now considered one of the most unique historical preservation projects in our Country; all thanks to the very first generous donation of Christine DeVitt from the well spring of the Mallet Ranch itself.

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Visit their website here 

Our primary tie to Texas Parks and Wildlife (also known by the acronym TPWD) is our wildlife agreement with them to protect and foster prairie chicken ecosystems and survival. They have worked with the ranch to cost-share the treatment of thousands of acres to eradicate invasive plants that limit prairie chicken survival. This, in turn, has allowed for the increase in the ranch's population of prairie chickens. They have also assisted in the planning and recommendations when it comes to deploying prescribed fires.

Through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) we have gained maps of soil types, water sources, etc. As a free public service, the NRCS provides surveys of the ranch's acreage to help calculate stocking rates for cattle and a plan for rotational grazing. Like TPWD, they are also a resource of knowledge for the implementation of prescribed burns.

Texas Tech University is home to biologists, natural resource managers, and the like, all looking for opportunities to further their research and use grants to experiment with range management practices that improve the ecosystem and the creatures that depend on it. The ranch always welcomes anyone who can expand its presence in the collegiate system and provide funds and ideas for improvements, but also welcomes any opportunity to use the ranch to expand knowledge that would preserve healthy rangelands in West Texas and across the planet. Some partners include pollinator specialists who use grant money to help the ranch recover acreage lost to the oil and gas extraction process, and cattle management researchers who provide new technology to direct our herds for balanced grazing. Researchers have also accessed the ranch to include the study of bats, frogs, fire ecology, and more.