Texas could gain millions in federal funding to help at-risk fish and wildlife

July 19, 2019
Legislature and Regulation

Texas could receive more than $50 million annually to pay for initiatives that support at-risk fish and wildlife populations under a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress. Known as the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), House Resolution 3742 would provide $1.3 billion every year to states and $97.5 million to tribes. The Texas Alliance for America’s Fish and Wildlife says the funding wouldn’t require new taxes. It would be supported by existing federal revenues. Under the Endangered Species Act, which Congress passed in 1973, species can be listed…

Why we are losing the night sky

July 19, 2019
Habitat Conservation Plans

It never gets dark anymore. Not REALLY dark, anyway. Not like it used to. Light pollution is not only making it more difficult to see the night sky, but it’s also affecting our health. For the past century and a half, since the dawn of electric light, we’ve been losing our connection to the night. We need artificial light for modern society, of course. The problem is, we need darkness for our health, and for the health of wildlife and…

Letter to the Editor: Get started now to save green space for the future

July 18, 2019
Land Stewardship

by Richard Bigelow, New Braunfels ETJ Resident Letter to the Editor of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung July 14, 2019 Citizens of New Braunfels and Comal County, help save our area’s natural beauty! I began looking for a place to move in 2007 and the beauty, parks, open spaces, and friendliness of Comal County and New Braunfels put this area at the top of the list. At the time, there were about 52,000 people in New Braunfels and 106,000 in Comal…

During a solar eclipse, what are plants doing?

July 15, 2019
News

As the total solar eclipse crosses South America on Tuesday, it won’t just be people oohing and ahhing as the sun is blotted out. Other living things will have their own responses, too — some of which we are just beginning to understand. As some scientists used the Great American Eclipse in August 2017 to watch how bees and birds dealt with sudden midday darkness, researchers in Wyoming investigated big sagebrush, a shaggy, aromatic desert shrub that grows throughout the…

Dry Comal Creek Greenway public session set July 10

July 10, 2019
Land Conservation and Stewardship

The city of New Braunfels and the National Park Service are hosting the final community meeting associated with revisions to the Dry Comal Creek Greenway Master Plan from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 10 at Columbus Club, 111 Landa Street in New Braunfels. All property owners on or near the Dry Comal Creek are encouraged to attend the session, which will feature presentations by the Texas Hill Country Alliance and San Marcos Greenbelt Alliance on available land conservation tools in Texas…

Proposed pipeline would cut through Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat

July 3, 2019
Habitat Conservation Plans

Every March, birders spill into the canyonlands outside of Austin, Texas, to search for Golden-cheeked Warblers. The tiny black-and-white songbird, with vibrant yellow splashed across its face, is the state’s sole endemic bird, and a federally protected species with an estimated population of 27,000. In early spring the birds migrate up from Central America to nest in the Hill Country, a region of limestone hills, caves, clear creeks, and swimming holes in Central Texas. There they construct deep cup nests, weaving strands of ash-juniper…

Letter to the Editor, Time to get past denial and start finding solutions

July 2, 2019
Habitat Conservation Plans

by Eva Silverfine Ott, Comal County Resident Letter to the Editor of the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung June 27, 2019 I want to applaud Chris Lykins for his editorial, “The Climate Change Conspiracy” (Herald-Zeitung, 6-16-19). The effects of greenhouse gases (82% of which is carbon dioxide; U.S. EPA 2017) have long been known. As Mr. Lykins points out, how we address the problem is open for debate, but the fundamental science is not. Doubt has been sowed by an industry and…

Letter to the Editor, Face the challenge of growth

July 1, 2019
Land Stewardship

By Jeri Porter, Fischer, TX Letter to the Editor of the New Braunfels Herald-Zietung June 27, 2019 Comal County is at a crossroads. We have options in the directions to take and your readers can help! The changes we see today in our landscape and wildlife are primarily a function of loss of habitat. Comal County is in the crosshairs of developers and we all should recognize the reason—beautiful rolling hills, clean air, lots of clear flowing water, all because we do still…

Texas parks are broke. But there’s good news: voters can rescue them.

June 26, 2019
Native Landscapes

Money intended for state parks and historic sites should actually be spent on state parks and historic sites, right? It took lawmakers a little more than a quarter century to reach that conclusion. Since 1993, sales tax collected from the purchase of sporting goods and outdoor gear was supposed to fund Texas’s system of much-loved yet perpetually cash-strapped state parks and historic sites. Buy a kayak in Texas? In theory, you’re a park benefactor. Same for the purchase of baseball…

New Edwards Aquifer facility designed to protect endangered species

June 20, 2019
Habitat Conservation Plans

A new facility to research and protect some endangered species that are native to central Texas opened Thursday. The new Edwards Aquifer habitat conservation plan buildings will house a handful of endangered species that include the San Marcos salamander, the comal springs riffle beetle, the foundation darter, and eve Texas wild rice–a grass native to the San Marcos River. Read more from Matthew Prendergast with KXAN here