For Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith, conservation has always been a family affair. Long before she joined Stewards of the Wild, Smith watched her father, Allen Smith, devote countless hours to restoring one of Texas’ most iconic native species, the desert bighorn sheep.
For over five decades, generations of the Smith family, starting with Lizzie’s grandfather and great uncle, have partnered with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to restore bighorn sheep in the Trans-Pecos, helping expand habitat, improve wildlife management and protect the rugged landscape where the animals now roam. Reagan Canyon Ranch and the family’s adjoining Big Canyon lease have played an important role in one of Texas’ most remarkable wildlife restoration efforts. While decades of work helped rebuild the state’s desert bighorn sheep population, recent deadly disease outbreaks have underscored just how fragile that success remains.
For the Smith family, the outdoors was simply part of life. Allen Smith taught his daughters to hunt, fish and appreciate the responsibility that comes with caring for the land. As a child, Lizzie simply knew she loved being outside, but it wasn’t until her senior year at the University of Texas that she fully understood the significance of her family’s conservation work.
For decades, the Smith family’s commitment to restoring desert bighorn sheep has earned them a place among the few Texas landowners entrusted with one of the state’s coveted desert bighorn sheep tags. Each year, a limited number of tags are issued based on herd surveys and years of habitat stewardship. When it was Lizzie’s turn, she became the first woman in her family to receive the opportunity.
That fall before the hunt, she and her father trained together every Sunday, preparing for the demanding hunt that awaited them in the rugged canyons of West Texas. When the hunt finally arrived, it was about much more than harvesting a desert bighorn sheep. That hunt transformed a lifelong love of the outdoors into a commitment to conservation.
“Forty years ago, this wasn’t possible,” Smith recalled. “Now we have a stable herd because the state had worked so hard toward it, and my family had worked so hard toward it. At that point, I thought, ‘How do I get involved? How do I put my foot forward and continue this for another generation?'”
After moving to Houston, Smith wanted more than opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. She wanted to find others who shared her passion for conservation. In 2024, she joined Stewards of the Wild. Just weeks later, she signed up for the group’s first Statewide Conservation Committee retreat at Caldwell Ranch in West Texas.
“I wasn’t going to know a single soul,” she said. “But I really thought it was worth it.” The weekend confirmed she had found her people. Today, Smith serves as co-chair of the Private Lands Subcommittee for the Statewide Conservation Committee, helping create educational opportunities that introduce Stewards members to the critical role private landowners play in conserving Texas’ natural resources.
Smith knows she grew up with opportunities many Texans never experience. Through Stewards, she hopes to help others discover that conservation isn’t limited to those who own land.
“I’ve had the benefit and education of growing up around private lands,” she said. “Now conservation can look like so many different things. If you don’t build that community, it’s easy for people to think, ‘Those people can do conservation. I can’t.’ Stewards of the Wild builds a really wonderful bridge.”
Looking back, Smith considers her desert bighorn sheep hunt one of the defining moments of her life. Not because she harvested one of Texas’ most sought-after game animals, but because she witnessed firsthand both the promise and the responsibility of conservation.
The work that made her hunt possible continues today as TPWD, TPWF, private landowners and conservation partners work together to restore healthy desert bighorn sheep populations across West Texas.
“Stewards of the Wild is a connecting point for like-minded individuals who care about our state and our resources,” Smith said. “Through all the fun, the connection and the activities, it really tries to hone in on what’s the point. That’s what I really value in Stewards and what it brings to the table.”
