Winter 2014

LIFESTYLE
BY LORIE WOODWARD CANTU
They come to Women of the Land (WOTL) from different places
bringing different backgrounds, different experiences, different expectations
and different goals. And, yet when the conversation begins to flow, the
women find themselves on firm common ground.
“The big thing about Women of the Land is the fellowship with other
women who share the same passions that I do,” said Lynita Kelldorf, who is
a nurse from Houston and owns 47 acres in Walker County near Huntsville.
“It’s not about our age, our jobs or our social status. It’s about the land. We
realize that land ownership is a gift and we have the responsibility to be
good stewards.”
WOTL started in 2005. Since then, 223 women have attended the eight regional and
two advanced programs. Some participants have enjoyed it so much that they’ve
attended several programs.
The next Advanced WOTL will be held in the spring of 2015 and the Regional WOTL is
slated for fall 2015. Exact dates, times and locations will be announced. Generally, there
is space for 25-35 attendees.
Registration, which includes food and lodging, for the weekend ranges from
$150–$200. The host ranches are equipped with comfortable guest accommodations,
so participants are not camping out or “roughing it.”
For more information about Women of the Land, call Clint Faas at the Texas Wildlife
Association, at (979) 541–9803 or email him at cfaas@texas-wildlife.org.
Kelldorf inherited her land from her mother who had inherited it
from her mother. The land has been in the family since her great great
grandfather’s wagon got stuck in Walker County in early 1900, preventing
him from reaching Galveston about the same time as the deadly hurricane.
News of the devastation reached him, prompting him to put down roots in
the same soil that mired his wagon. While Kelldorf’s mother owned the land,
she had never managed it. In fact, she would not allow any trees to be cut,
which in the Piney Woods means that land can become a tangled thicket.
A divorce at 50, prompted Kelldorf to question how she wanted to
approach the next phase of her life. She found the answer in her land.
“Bringing the land back to life and getting it in good shape, so my
children could enjoy it and someday care for it, seemed to be a good way to
direct my nurturing instinct,” Kelldorf, whose children are grown, said.
In the beginning, there were more questions than answers as Kelldorf
and her significant other, Jack Casey, began the task of managing the land. As
a member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Ranch and Wildlife
Committee, Kelldorf attended the group’s annual outdoor expo. There she
discovered WOTL and decided to attend.
Meanwhile, Kay Kelley, a housewife in Houston who owns land near
Carrizo Springs with her husband, Phil, also discovered WOTL. Over time, they
had acquired 1,200 acres in the heart of Texas’ Golden Triangle famous for
high-quality white-tailed deer. They used the ranch as a recreational hunting
property for their family, which included two young sons. Kay, who was
raised in Dallas, was a self-described city girl and, although her husband was
raised in a small Panhandle town and was an avid hunter, he didn’t have any
land management experience either. The couple was allowing their hunting
outfitter to manage their wildlife and their land. To their inexperienced eyes,
the habitat and the wildlife looked just fine.
Kelley just happened to run across an ad for WOTL in the Carrizo Springs
Javelin. She decided to go, thinking it was a field day for local women ranchers.
It seemed like a good way to meet the neighbors.
Approximately 200 miles north in Fayette County, between Flatonia
and Smithville, Jackie Harker, an energy industry professional, had already
attended her first WOTL. She and her husband, Steven, who live and work
in west Houston had searched for years before finding the perfect piece of
property. The couple bought 68 acres, in the gently rolling hills between
Flatonia and Smithville, with recreation and eventual retirement in mind.