News & Updates
Program aims to keep local skies bright with stars, not lights
Members of Keep Utopia Beautiful recently joined Hill Country Alliance program director Cliff Kaplan to encourage Uvalde County Commissioners to support the preservation of dark skies in the area by reducing light pollution. Kaplan, along with Claudia Rogers and...
Eminent Domain and the Landscapes of Texas
A new study looks at the role of eminent domain and condemnation in the changing landscapes of Texas and the Hill Country. Are private companies taking advantage of loose regulations on the use of eminent domain to abuse private property rights? The Texas Hill Country...
Say goodbye to El Niño and hello to La Niña
This year’s monstrous El Nino, nicknamed Godzilla by NASA, is dead. It heated up the globe, ended the Central Texas drought, but didn’t quite end California’s four-year drought. El Niño delivered the promised rains to Central Texas, resulting in periods of deadly...
Commission rules against pipeline in condemnation case
Jeanne Simpson sits before a foot-wide section of 42-inch diameter green pipe, a sample of what is likely to be buried on her property. A fourth-generation landowner, Simpson co-owns and manages the Barreno Ranch southwest of Marfa, a more than 6,000-acre property her...
Aquifer District Director Precincts Extended to Annexed Area
New Director precinct boundaries that extend representation into the Shared Territory annexed in response to House Bill 3405 were finalized at the May 26, 2016 Board meeting after extensive research, a public hearing, consideration of numerous public comments, and...
Lawyers Say Ruling Bad For Landowners
Agriculture and landowner groups recently heralded a Texas Supreme Court ruling favoring a South Plains ranch as a major win for private property rights, but some lawyers and conservationists are painting the decision as more of a win for developers and water...
Wind turbine farms coming to Kimble?
James Murr | The Junction Eagle | Wind turbine farms are not strangers to the residents of Texas. According to the State Energy Conservation Office, “wind resource areas in the Texas Panhandle, along the Gulf Coast south of Galveston, and in the mountain passes and...
Understanding Water Risks Drives Global Investors
Just like homeowners who do not think twice about water supply when they turn on the tap, financial advisors considering investing in companies or new products took water for granted. The same went for governments and multi-lateral finance institutions, like the World...
Golden-cheeked warbler to remain on endangered list
Rejecting a bid by former state Comptroller Susan Combs and others to remove special habitat protections for the golden-cheeked warbler, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is set to announce their petition “did not present substantial information that delisting is...