The Jack R. and Loris J. Welhausen Experimental Station serves as an outdoor laboratory for semiarid land research for the CSALE. The Station is located between Freer, and Laredo, Texas and was given to the Texas A&I University Foundation (now Texas A&M University Foundation) in 19?? through the will of Loris J. Welhausen. The Station consists of 5,280 acres of native shrubland dominated by honey mesquite. Dominant wildlife species include white-tailed deer, scaled quail, and javelinas. The experimental station is operated as a working ranch by a local ranching family.

A weather station is maintained on the ranch to continually record air and soil temperatures, rainfall, and relative humidity. Currently, Drs. Jennifer Wren and Kim Jones, from the Department of Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M-Kingsville, are conducting research on the Welhausen Ranch to look at hydraulic processes in south Texas rangelands. A Ph.D. student research project was conducted on the Welhausen Ranch during 2001 to 2005 aimed at determining the effects of different browsing intensities on shrubs which are important as browse for white-tailed deer. Water conservation and habitat improvement will be the focus of future research projects.