Written by Michael Hawkins, The Comfort News – republished with permission.
The Summit has become a must-attend event for Deborah and I because of its unwavering focus on what people and organizations are getting right in the work they’re doing to preserve the Texas Hill Country and its amazing natural treasures. The theme this year was “Cultivating a Community of Stewardship” and the day-long event was packed full of information from individual speakers and panel-members. More than 270 people were registered for the event, either as in-person or online attendees.
The first presentation was by Stephen Hummel with the McDonald Observatory. Hummel, who was instrumental in establishing the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve, spoke to his experiences working with communities and businesses while seeking their buy-in on what is now the largest area in the world to be certified by DarkSky International. In his work with large oil and gas producers in the region he was able to show that by reducing light pollution they could not only preserve the dark skies, but increase worker safety and save money at the same time.
Planting Seeds for Community Stewardship was the subject of the panel following Hummel. Their focus, on training and empowering the young people of today to become the environmental stewards of tomorrow, spoke to the recognition of the need for a long-game. The population growth in the Hill Country is forecast to increase for the foreseeable future. As we’re all well aware this growth creates demand-pressures for natural resources that are already diminished and growing scarcer. The next generation of leaders in the ongoing work to preserve the Hill Country must be ready for the task. Many organizations are stepping up to help prepare those next leaders.
Two long-time conservationists were honored this year with the Heart of the Hill Country Award. Steve Nelle, who has been working with Texas landowners for more than 50 years helping them better manage their natural resources, was one of the honorees. Brent Evans, who with his wife Carolyn founded the Cibolo Nature Center, was the other honoree. Evans served as the executive director of the Cibolo Conservancy Land Trust for 22 years.
After lunch a keynote address followed by a panel discussion focused on how small towns in the Hill Country can overcome stagnation and decline. The panel focused on revitalization efforts in Sabinal where community members have been working for the last year to “bring back Main Street.” “Building for a water-scarce future,” was the subject of the next panel. They pointed out that achieving water-use efficiency is possible through technology in facility design whether we’re talking about a single building or a neighborhood development project.
The “Lighting Round” was a fast-paced opportunity for six speakers to spend five minutes a piece sharing their “Conservation Wins through Storytelling.” Topics included Comal County’s First Parks Plan, Private Dams on Public Waters: A South Llano River Story, Fighting Water Woes with a Kayak and a Camera and more. It’s worth the ticket to the Summit just to hear these information-packed mini -presentations. The final speaker of the day was Katherine Romans, executive director of the Hill Country Alliance, which is celebrating its 20th year.
Romans took a look back at the Alliance’s 20-year past and how it got to where it is today. She also spoke to the years ahead – the challenges and the growing swell of energy and purpose that drives the Alliance and its many partners.
It’s hard to summarize an idea-packed day into a few paragraphs, especially when it’s a day of positive and uplifting stories about people doing important work that often receives little to no attention unless there’s conflict involved. If it sounds like the Alliance and what it does, is something you’d like to know more about check out hillcountryalliance.org. Perhaps the Summit will become a must-attend event for you, as it has for us.
Click here to view a PDF of the original piece, courtesy of The Comfort News.