2015 Bennett Trust Land Stewardship Women’s Conference, Oct. 5-6 in Fredericksburg

2015 Bennett Trust Land Stewardship Women’s Conference, Oct. 5-6 in Fredericksburg

A conference devoted to helping women manage natural resources in the Edwards Plateau will take place in Fredericksburg Oct. 5-6, 2015 at the Inn on Barons Creek. The 2015 Women’s Natural Resource Management Conference is funded by the Ruth and Eskel Bennett Endowment, said Dr. Larry Redmon, co-chair and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Bennett Trust specialist. The women’s conference is an extension of the Bennett Trust Land Stewardship Conference, which has been held twice in Kerrville, Redmon said. “More…

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Millennials Favor Walkable Communities, Says New NAR Poll

Millennials Favor Walkable Communities, Says New NAR Poll

  • August 24, 2015
  • News

Millennials prefer walking over driving by a substantially wider margin than any other generation, according to a new poll conducted by the National Association of Realtors® and the Transportation Research and Education Center at Portland State University. The 2015 National Community and Transportation Preference Survey found that millennials, those aged 18–34, prefer walking as a mode of transportation by 12 percentage points over driving. Millennials are also shown to prefer living in attached housing, living within walking distance of shops…

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Bob Ayres honored by Travis Audubon

Bob Ayres honored by Travis Audubon

  • August 24, 2015
  • News

“Bob Ayres and his family are devoted stewards of the land. In 1998, they placed nearly all of the 6,800-acre Shield Ranch, located in the heart of the Barton Creek watershed, under conservation easement with The Nature Conservancy and the City of Austin.” Travis Audubon will honor Bob at their 6th Annual Victor Emanuel Luncheon, October 17th. Tickets are now available

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A World Without Rivers

A World Without Rivers

  • August 24, 2015
  • News

We hardly take notice of the drying of our rivers until they are entirely gone. How many of the residents of Austin, Texas know that the Colorado that flows through the heart of their city is in summer now only a tenth of what it once was? Tragically, the list of heavily-depleted rivers is growing; fully one-third of all rivers on our planet are now regularly or occasionally diverted to near-dryness for human use.   A World Without Rivers National…

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Green Home Tour Sept. 19 in Fredericksburg

Green Home Tour Sept. 19 in Fredericksburg

  • August 24, 2015
  • News

Fredericksburg SHINES will host their 3rd Annual Green Home Tour on Saturday, September 19. The 2015 tour of homes will spotlight local examples of sustainable-living practices at 10 homes. Sustainable practices to be showcased on the tour will include solar applications for electricity generation (main roof, garage roof, and ground mount applications), water heating, attic cooling, and solar tubes as interior light sources. For those interested in water applications, there will be examples of water-wise landscaping (including xeriscaping) and rainwater collection…

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First six miles of the Violet Crown Trail opens in Austin

First six miles of the Violet Crown Trail opens in Austin

  • August 19, 2015
  • News

The Hill Country Conservancy (HCC)  recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the first six mile segment of the Violet Crown Trail. HCC Executive Director George Coffer, Sunset Valley Mayor Rose Cardona, and Council Member Ellen Troxclair spoke at the event, which was picked up by most major Austin news outlets. The day of the ceremony also kicked off voting for REI’s Every Trail Connects Campaign. The Violet Crown Trail placed third in the nation, receiving nearly 15,000 votes before the voting…

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Teacher Celebration at the Wildflower Center, Sept. 3

Teacher Celebration at the Wildflower Center, Sept. 3

The Children in Nature Collaborative of Austin is holding a Teacher Celebration September 3rd at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Stroll through the gardens at the Wildflower Center and visit with CiNCA member organizations and learn about the variety of school field trip programming and resources available. Light snacks, beer, and wine will be served. Admission is free for teachers. RSVP here

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The best time to plan for drought is when we aren’t in one

The best time to plan for drought is when we aren’t in one

Drought is nothing new to Texans; it is frequent and inevitable. Across much of Texas the end of the current drought is being declared—soil moisture levels are nearing normal and ephemeral rivers are flowing again—while other portions of the state are already on the verge of slipping back into drought conditions despite recent rains. This reprieve from drought is a most welcome relief, yet we can be certain there is another drought around the corner. Drought, unlike a hurricane or…

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The Safety Valve

The Safety Valve

“Water transfers may play a role in Texas’ water future, but as we explore in The Safety Valve, there is plenty of reason to believe they won’t solve the problem of fresh groundwater depletion on their own. Only regulation can do that, and as we see in visits to West Texas and the High Plains, our current system of local control is far from sustaining our groundwater…”   “I’ve always been kind of a Don Quixote, and I saw this…

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