News & Updates
Welcome to the River Recharge Natural Area
SMGA is happy to announce the addition of a seventh natural area to the San Marcos Greenbelt. Known for years simply as the Buie Tract, these roughly 94 acres have been renamed River Recharge Natural Area (RReNA), due to the many karst features on the property....
TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith announces retirement
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Executive Director Carter Smith announced today he will retire effective January 2023, ending a nearly 15-year tenure that strengthened private-lands stewardship, expanded state parks and wildlife management areas, bolstered...
Texas Water: Local group protests film studio development on aquifer
A new film studio coming to Central Texas is facing pushback amid locals concerned about the impact it could have on the water in the area. Earlier this month, the San Marcos City Council approved incentives “in the form of refunds of a percentage of real and personal...
Going with the flow: Guadalupe River down but not out as dry weather affects the ecosystem
The Guadalupe River is feeling the impact of scorching hot, dry weather in south central Texas, but river officials are not overly concerned about it yet. Stretching from Kerr County — northwest of San Antonio — to the Gulf of Mexico, the Guadalupe River is a popular...
‘Viva Texas Rivers!’ Celebrates Texas’ storied waterways
To know the geography of Texas, you must know its rivers. The book Viva Texas Rivers! Adventures, Misadventures, and Glimpses of Nirvana along Our Storied Waterways may be the most comprehensive effort to date to capture the charms, mythologies, and challenges of the...
Rethinking mountain cedar: habitat enhancing land management
“Standing inside one of those [cedar] brakes gave the feeling of being inside one of Nature’s cathedrals.” —Williedell Schawe, Wimberley’s Legacy, 1963 One question landowners ask when the HELM team pays them a visit is “What should I do about all this cedar?” We...
Potential for large wildfires in Fredericksburg and throughout Hill Country, Forest Service warns
Texas A&M Forest Service is warning Texans about the potential for wildfires Thursday and Friday. Texas A&M Forest Service fire resources have responded to four wildfires in portions of the Panhandle and West Texas so far this week. Those fires have burned...
Gunter Clean Air raising concerns after recent pollution report on nearby concrete batch plants
According to Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining, also known as TRAM, Gunter has 11 permitted concrete batch plants. They said at least one more is seeking a permit nearby, causing some residents concern about their health. “It’s not that we’re ever trying to shut...
Private lands are the next battleground in state conservation policy.
Since last year, staff members at the Land Trust of Virginia have fielded phone call after phone call from landowners seeking to set aside their property for conservation. “We’re getting calls like crazy,” said Sally Price, executive director of the nonprofit, which...