Record Breaking Attendance at Texas State Parks’ Annual First Day Hikes

January 18, 2017
News

This past New Year’s Day, nearly 4,000 park visitors statewide walked, biked, swam and paddled their way into 2017 as part of Texas State Parks’ annual First Day Hikes events. First Day Hikes events are a national initiative to get park visitors to start their year on the right foot and enjoy the natural, historical, cultural and recreational opportunities at state parks. Nationwide, more than 1,300 First Day Hikes were offered in all 50 states from Alaska to Florida with…

Western Travis County PUA fined for treated wastewater spill

January 17, 2017
News

As a consequence for discharging millions of gallons of treated effluent water toward the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality charged the Western Travis County Public Utility Agency $8,001. The TCEQ investigation into the effluent spill and its environmental consequences is ongoing. The WTCPUA announced in May that they would be performing a controlled spill from two of their effluent retention ponds due to the precariously high level of effluent stored. Effluent water is wastewater that has…

Exciting new leadership within HCA board to start 2017

January 16, 2017
News

The Hill Country Alliance (HCA) announced the appointment of a new member to its board of directors, Dr. Francine S. Romero. HCA also announced the appointment of Judge Garry Merritt of Real County as board president, taking over for Dr. Leo Tynan of Fredericksburg who served as board president for two years. Romero brings expertise in planning and conservation to HCA Board Romero is the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Faculty and Community Engagement for the College of Public Policy…

Hill Country workshop provides landowners with information on conservation easements

January 13, 2017
Conservation Easements

The Hill Country Alliance (HCA) is hosting a landowner workshop from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, February 10, 2017, at the Kerr Wildlife Management Area, Bass Conference Facility, 138 Kerr WMA Rd W, Hunt, TX 78024. This workshop will focus on conservation easements—a tool available to help landowners steward and protect their land investment in the long term. Conservation easements are one of the most flexible and effective means to protect private property. A conservation easement is a voluntary…

The stars at night… Commissioners approve night skies resolution

January 12, 2017
News

Jennifer Reiley | The Kerrville Daily Times | Kerr County commissioners are in support of protecting the night skies of the Hill Country from light pollution. Local Realtor Jim Wills and his wife, Kadi, came back to commissioners court Monday with a revised resolution regarding an initiative to help protect the night skies in Kerr County. Commissioners approved the resolution, which is a non-binding show of support. Commissioner Tom Moser asked about the wording of part to the resolution, which…

Steve Nelle: What is Land Stewardship?

January 9, 2017
Land Stewardship

The subject of land stewardship has gained a great deal of positive attention in the last decade, but although the term is commonly used, it has seldom been clearly defined. When a phrase comes into such popular use, there is a danger of it becoming merely an overused buzzword, obscuring some of its true meaning. This lesson will offer a definition of land stewardship based on the ideas of Aldo Leopold and examples from Texas Landowners… Read more from Texas…

Elected officials share their thoughts on upcoming Legislature

January 9, 2017
Legislature and Regulation

Jennifer Reiley | Kerrville Daily Times | A new Texas legislative session launches Tuesday, and Kerr County will have new and returning representation in the 85th Legislature. Dawn Buckingham, an opthamologist from Lakeway, is the newly elected senator representing District 24, which includes Kerr County. She will be sworn in for the first time Tuesday. “I am so excited,” she said. “Really, for the first time, it seems real — that it’s actually going to happen.” Buckingham said her general…

Stuck Behind The Wheel: Amtrak Studying San Antonio-Austin Commuter Service

January 8, 2017
News

When the Lone Star Rail project fell apart last year, communities along I-35 were left looking for a new plan that would reduce travel time between San Antonio and Austin. Now, they think they’ve found one. It’s still about rail, but the vision is bigger than San Antonio to Austin. And drivers who are “Stuck Behind the Wheel” hope it works. There are a lot of strong words that could describe the 80 mile trip along I-35 between San Antonio…

For Millennials, Hays County Is One of the Priciest Places to Rent

January 8, 2017
News

You’ve probably heard many reports on how expensive it is to live in Austin, but a new report finds that Hays County is one of the country’s least affordable rental markets for millennials. Hays County follows the trend playing out in most major U.S. markets – it’s still more affordable to buy a home than it is to rent. That’s one of the findings of a report out today from ATTOM Data Solutions. Researchers looked at the rental affordability of…

Stargazing under Texas’ Dark Skies

January 4, 2017
News

In fall 2015, Hill Country Alliance asked the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture to conduct a study and offer recommendations to keep the stars in the Lone Star sky truly big and bright. At the time, the population of the Hill Country was 3.4 million, which represented a 25 percent increase from 2000-10. By 2050, the population is estimated to double and then some. Those relocating to the 17-county Hill Country region look forward to such countrified…