Great Springs Project proposes a network of trails from Austin to San Antonio

January 14, 2021
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Conservation Easements, Land Conservation and Stewardship, Land Stewardship, Low Impact & Sustainable Development, Native Landscapes, News, Planning and Development, Public Lands, Regional Planning, Scenic Beauty, Texas Hill Country Conservation Network

Can one of the fastest-developing regions in the country prioritize conservation? That's the hope of the ambitious Great Springs Project, which has inched a little closer to realizing its goal of a national parklike trail connecting two of Texas' most populous cities. On Dec. 8, the National Park Service selected the Great Springs Project to receive backing in the form of "community planning and technical assistance" for their endeavor to build a network of multiuse trails from Austin to San…

Laurels Ranch

October 30, 2020
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Conservation Easements, Land Conservation and Stewardship, Land Stewardship, Local, Sustainable Agriculture, Native Landscapes, News, Planning and Development, Scenic Beauty, Wildlife

David K. Langford loves the Texas Hill Country land that his family has cherished for five generations. His passion for the land has informed his career as a professional photographer, and he has been a tireless advocate for working lands conservation and private property rights his entire adult life. He was among a small group of private landowners who got their heads together in the 1980s to form the Texas Wildlife Association (TWA) to raise the profile of private land…

Hill Country Conservancy is now accepting pre-applications for financing of stewardship projects through the Hill Country Headwaters Conservation Initiative

The Hill Country Headwaters Conservation Initiative (HCHCI), a program of Hill Country Conservancy, the Texas Hill Country Conservation Network and 18 partner organizations, is now accepting pre-applications from landowners located within specified critical river basins, for stewardship projects aimed at enhancing soil cover, water quality, and native biodiversity. The Hill Country Headwaters Conservation Initiative is accepting pre-applications now through October 30, 2020. To be considered for financial assistance, landowners must take this first step in the application process by the…

Manager of the SA River Authority to step down, lead The Nature Conservancy in Texas

September 8, 2020
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Conservation Easements, Land Conservation and Stewardship, Land Stewardship, Native Landscapes, News, Planning and Development, Scenic Beauty, Water Conservation, Water Planning, Water Resources

Suzanne Scott, the longtime general manager of the San Antonio River Authority, is planning to step down at the end of October to take over as the The Nature Conservancy’s state director in Texas, according to news releases. Scott worked for the river authority for more than two decades, of which 13 years she spent running the agency as general manager, according to a news release from the agency. Read more from Marina Starleaf Riker with San Antonio Express-News here.

San Antonio aquifer, trail advocates lament sales tax vote

Environmental advocates were dismayed Thursday after City Council set up a shift of sales tax funding away from the Edwards Aquifer and San Antonio’s trail network, with some saying they plan to focus on ensuring replacement funding. San Antonio City Council voted 9-2 Thursday to put a measure on the November ballot to devote a one-eight-cent sales tax to workforce development for four years before shifting to VIA Metropolitan Transit. The tax currently funds the City’s trails and aquifer protection…

Springs that form Headwaters of San Antonio River protected forever

The springs that form the headwaters of the San Antonio river will be forever protected from development, thanks to an agreement involving the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word and Green Spaces Alliance. On Friday, leaders of the Headwaters Preserve at Incarnate Word told the Rivard Report they had placed the 53-acre preserve north of downtown under a conservation easement. A conservation easement is a restrictive covenant that permanently bars construction, paving over natural surfaces, mining, or drilling on…

The Hill Country Alliance is preserving our beautiful land in Central Texas

July 13, 2020
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Conservation Easements, Habitat Conservation Plans, HCA in the News, Land Conservation and Stewardship, Land Stewardship, Landowner Alliances, News, Scenic Beauty, Water Resources, Wildlife

The non-profit environmental organization, The Hill Country Alliance plays a vital role in preserving the beauty of the hill country of Texas. Their mission is: “The mission of the Hill Country Alliance is to bring together an ever-expanding alliance of groups throughout a multi- county region of Central Texas with the long-term objective of preserving open spaces, water supply, water quality and the unique character of the Texas Hill Country.” Our guest on Shades of Green is Daniel Oppenheimer, Land…

Great Springs Project envisions a network of trails from Austin to San Antonio

Twenty-seven years ago, Deborah Morin watched as the hills, streams, caves, and springs of the Hill Country outside of Austin were being gobbled up by construction... Almost three decades later, Morin, a San Antonio native, is at the head of a nonprofit working to do just that, but on a much larger scale. She’s president of the board of the Great Springs Project, an initiative to preserve land and stitch together a network of hike and bike trails that will…

What’s at stake when we pave over, fragment and otherwise fail to protect Texas farmland from the disruptions of development?

Millions of acres of America’s agricultural land were developed or converted to uses that threaten farming between 2001 and 2016, according to “Farms Under Threat: The State of the States,” a new report by American Farmland Trust. The report’s Agricultural Land Protection Scorecard is the first-ever state-by-state analysis of policies that respond to the development threats to farmland and ranchland, showing that every state can, and must, do more to protect their irreplaceable agricultural resources... The report found that Texas was the most threatened state in the nation due to…

Hays County Parks & Open Space Advisory Commission call for projects

The Hays County Parks and Open Space Advisory Commission (POSAC) is now accepting project ideas for parks, open space and natural areas from cities, nonprofit organizations, homeowner associations, and other groups or individuals who see specific needs for their communities and for the county as a whole. In February 2020 the Hays County Commissioners Court recognized the need for additional public park lands and conservation spaces in Hays County and established the POSAC to provide a democratic, public process to…