News
Born to rewild: why now is the perfect time to make your lawn an eco-paradise
Chances are, your lawn isn’t natural, environmentally healthy, or necessary – but it is part of a prevalent national standard. Americans spend an estimated $36bn on lawn care annually, and the amount of lawns we maintain could roughly cover the state of Florida....
Expanding efforts to keep ‘cows over condos’ are protecting land across the West
Across the West, a growing number of ranchers and farmers are seeking such “conservation easements” to stave off the big-box stores, self-storage complexes and residential construction consuming millions of acres of fertile open space. From Montana’s sagebrush steppe...
April’s International Dark Sky Week urges homebound families to “look up together”
Press Release: International Dark-Sky Association - For Immediate Release: April 9, 2020 During International Dark Sky Week, April 19-26, the International Dark-Sky Association invites you and your family to engage with dynamic authors, educators, artists, and...
Director’s Notes – April 2020: Community resilience
Dear Hill Country Neighbors, If there is one thing that the past several weeks have taught us, it is the power and importance of resiliency. Whether we’re talking about our region’s ability to weather cycles of drought and intense rain, or our ability to adapt to an...
Supporting local Hill Country food banks
Across the state, food banks are seeing more faces than ever before. Whether you are in a place of need or a place of plenty, don't forget your local food banks. A recent article from The Texas Standard stated that “the need for food bank services in [Central Texas]...
Monarch butterfly gets protection in ‘historic’ deal
The Fish and Wildlife Service today unveiled a sweeping, multistate plan to protect the monarch butterfly without adding it to the Endangered Species Act list. A long time in the making, the plan called, in part, a "candidate conservation" agreement unites state and...
TESPA issues notice of intent to sue Permian Highway Pipeline for contamination of an underground source of drinking water
Press Release: Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association & Wimberley Valley Watershed Association - For Immediate Release: April 8, 2020 Attorneys acting on behalf of the Trinity Edwards Springs Protection Association (TESPA) today issued a notice of intent...
Texas State Parks temporarily close to the public
Press Release: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - For Immediate Release: April 7, 2020 At the direction of Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas State Parks will be closed to the public effective at the close of business Tuesday, April 7 in order to maintain the safest...
Inside the story of how HEB planned for the pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has transformed the country in just a handful of weeks. As Americans focus on the essentials—feeding our families and ensuring we have the necessary supplies to keep our households clean and safe—grocery stores and pharmacies have demonstrated...
TCEQ loosens enforcement amid COVID-19
While environmental regulations are not being set aside, the chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said Monday that enforcing those rules may be eased for violations "that were unavoidable due to the (coronavirus) pandemic." The agency has "not...
Texas food banks asking for help to support surge of people in need
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, food banks across the country are tasked with serving those in need from every socioeconomic level. Many people are using food bank services for the first time. Food banks in Texas are doing their part, but they face many...
The pandemic is turning the natural world upside down
From inside her living room in London, Paula Koelemeijer can feel the world around her growing quieter. Koelemeijer, a seismologist, has a miniature seismometer sitting on a concrete slab at the base of her first-floor fireplace. The apparatus, though smaller than a...
The Trailist guide to getting outside during the pandemic
For obvious reasons, this can’t be a normal Trailist column. I’m sitting here in my apartment, listening to the rain pour down for the third straight day, trying to think of ways to recommend getting outdoors during these tough and ever-changing times. Here’s the...
National parks — your Rx for good health
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, visitation to national parks is surging. As more parks close to protect visitors and staff, we can expect another influx when they reopen. In times of crisis and times of calm, national parks are America’s go-to places. Visitation...
Essential Austin nonprofit finding new ways to nourish community amid COVID-19
Tune into the Urban Roots Instagram feed and you’ll find a new series of videos featuring executive director Max Elliott teaching viewers how to plant peppers; showcasing his ready crop of kale and the helpful, aphid-eating ladybug larvae that live on the leaves; or...
2020 Hill Country Night Sky Song Contest announced
Press Release: Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky - For Immediate Release: April 6, 2020 The Blanco County Friends of the Night Sky (BCFNS) has announced the 2020 Hill Country Night Sky Songwriting Contest. This year’s contest, open to songwriters of any genre or...
As Texans are exposed to dangerous pesticides, lawmakers aren’t doing anything
In the interim between legislative sessions, Texas lawmakers on the House Agriculture Committee will have an opportunity to examine an important but under-the-radar problem that’s making people sick in farming communities across the state. Then again, their attention...
Well water tests underway after pipeline crew hits Karst feature
Discolored water from wells near the Kinder Morgan Permian Highway Pipeline is causing distress. Test results on the water, taken where the pipeline is about to cross the Blanco River, are expected soon from a Lower Colorado River Authority laboratory. Once the...
Newly detected moth threatens prickly pear in Texas
Texas is now the front line of an ecological battle pitting a devastating invasive moth against the state’s ubiquitous prickly pear cactus. Already, the South American cactus moth has laid waste to the cactus population in Florida, having come ashore there roughly 30...
Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District delays drought cutbacks
Press Release: Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District - For Immediate Release: April 3, 2020 At the April 2 Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District Board meeting, District Directors voted to delay an order that would put the Jacobs Well Groundwater...
Huge feral hogs invading Canada, building ‘pigloos’ as they go
Feral swine, the offspring of wild boars and domestic pigs, are spreading through Canada into areas where many didn’t think they could survive. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, some Canadian farmers imported wild boars from Europe to raise for meat. But as wild...
The COVID-19 crisis and our water: Part 1
As people stocked up on food and essential items for their time at home to help slow the spread of the COVID-19, I saw shopping carts full of bottled water. Television shots and videos on social media of shoppers often showed the same thing. It seems that over the...
Environmental group calls for ‘thorough investigation’ as residents report contaminated water near pipeline construction
The Sierra Club has called for a “thorough investigation” after residents in Blanco County reported brown tap water on Wednesday they believe came from a leak at the Permian Highway Pipeline construction site. On Wednesday afternoon, KVUE received reports Blanco...
An ode to tributaries
We have a tendency to think about the water in our cup as a direct product of the local, mainstem river we presume it came from. But drinking water’s journey is rarely that straight forward. Because beer and rivers go so well together, it might be more accurate to...
Pipeline construction halted while ‘fluid loss’ incident investigated
Residents in Blanco County a mile or so upstream of where the Kinder Morgans Permian Highway Pipeline (PHP) crossed the Blanco River are reporting brown tap water coming from their wells. One of them, who lives off FM 165 about a mile from the Chimney Valley Road...
Helper, Utah certified as International Dark Sky Community
Helper City and the International Dark-Sky Association are pleased to announce Helper as an International Dark Sky Community, a place recognized for its quality night skies and a commitment to protecting and sharing natural darkness. The local area Dark Sky Observers...
Riverdance – Water is too precious for quarries
Having nearly exhausted its exploitation of the Guadalupe River quarries from Comfort to Center Point in Kerr County, the sand, gravel and aggregate industry (APOs) is actively pursuing possible sites in the floodplain areas of Kendall County. Largely...
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – An important update for our visitors
Our thoughts are with you and our entire Texas family during this uncertain time. Texas State Parks are doing our best to provide a healthy way for you to get outdoors. Our dedicated teams across the state are working diligently to keep these special places open and...
HOAs slow to accept native plant landscaping
San Antonio Water System (SAWS) has long offered incentives to homeowners to replace non-native grass lawns with drought-resistant native plants. But the city’s many homeowner associations (HOAs) continue to favor water-thirsty, non-native turf grasses and resist...
Group to keep eye on the sky
A week after the county adopted a resolution to protect the night skies, a local group is forming with the intent of educating residents about how they can help protect one of the Hill Country's greatest assets -- a starlit night sky. Cliff Kaplan, program manager...