News
TPW Commission Approves Rule Changes to Assist with Growth of Managed Lands Deer Program
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has approved changes to the Managed Lands Deer Program (MLDP), which provides landowners and land managers with additional flexibility to manage deer populations, improve habitats, and provide greater hunting opportunities under...
Petition circulates against relief route
A petition to stop the Texas Department of Transportation’s technically preferred route around Fredericksburg is being distributed. Citizens for an Informed Relief Route (CIRR), a local group that has been active in relief route conversations, created this petition...
Comal workshop to provide landowners with information on conservation programs that create a family land legacy
On Friday, February 21, the Comal County Conservation Alliance and partners will host a landowner workshop from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Anhalt Dance Hall, 2390 Anhalt Road, Spring Branch, TX 78070. The one-day workshop will highlight conservation easements and...
Regional impacts of free-range axis deer
In September, Gillespie County AgriLife Extension and the Hill Country Alliance launched the Axis Deer Control Project, with a goal to raise awareness about the impacts of free-ranging Axis deer, support research that will improve management, and recognize land...
Oil companies are building pipelines wherever they want in Texas
Just southwest of Austin, TX sits a 14,000 square-mile region known as the Hill Country. To those unfamiliar, picture it as a Texas version of California Wine Country. Each year, the region draws an estimated 30 million visitors with its natural beauty or the drinking...
New Texas conservation area boasts hundreds of springs
The Nature Conservancy has acquired a conservation easement on 1,640 acres owned by landowner Gary Krause, preserving its unique natural features for future generations, according to a news release. The easement was funded in part by the Agricultural Conservation...
‘When, not if it happens’: Factors favor possible Austin megawildfire event
All it will take for Central Texas to become the next area engulfed by catastrophic wildfires like those seen in Australia is a dry spring and summer, an errant flame and sustained winds. Travis County fire officials say the likelihood of such a megafire event is just...
Texas was the second most popular state for relocation activity in 2018; Californians moving to Texas increased 36.4%
Texas ranked second in the nation for relocation activity in 2018, according to the 2020 edition of the Texas Relocation Report released today by Texas Realtors, which analyzes the latest migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau and U-Haul. "For the sixth year in a...
Commentary: San Antonio should vote on aquifer protection, greenway trails
Since 2000, San Antonians have voted every five years to dedicate a portion of our sales taxes to the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program, or EAPP. Residents are rightfully proud of a program recognized internationally as an elegant solution to protecting our primary...
Ecopsychology: How immersion in nature benefits your health
A growing body of research points to the beneficial effects that exposure to the natural world has on health, reducing stress and promoting healing. Now, policymakers, employers, and healthcare providers are increasingly considering the human need for nature in how...
Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District will be plaintiff in Permian Highway Pipeline lawsuit
The Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District will sign on as a plaintiff in the anticipated endangered species lawsuit over the Permian Highway Pipeline, the organization announced Jan. 17. Citing its commitment to protect local aquifers, the BSEACD board...
Local family dedicates Hill Country ranch to conservation
Jason and Ashley Roberts partnered with Colorado River Land Trust to protect their family ranch from future development in the rapidly growing area of San Marcos, Texas. Riding horseback across the wide-open spaces of the Hill Country is one of the most iconic images...
As drought persists, Texas ranchers take stock
Cattle ranchers in the Texas Hill Country are facing a tough decision after months of drought. “You have to decide where’s your quitting point in terms of buying feed, buying hay and feeding your animals,” says Jamie Osbourn, an agent with the Texas A&M Agrilife...
San Antonio mayor navigating troubled waters over plan to reroute aquifer protection tax funding
A plan to improve public transit by rerouting money from a popular program aimed at protecting the Edwards Aquifer has hit rough waters. Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff want to redirect $40 million a year from a 1/8-cent sales tax that pays for...
Council may pump $100K into Permian pipeline legal battle
Austin City Council members will vote on a resolution Thursday earmarking as much as $100,000 to the city manager to participate in civil litigation against the Permian Highway Pipeline. The 42-inch, 430-mile buried natural gas pipeline would run from just north of...
Hill Country Conservancy is now accepting pre-applications for funding of conservation easements 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...
Is Central Texas prepared for another major wildfire?
The deadly wildfires in Australia are bringing a lot of attention to fire dangers – even here at home. Right now, Central Texas is in a drought and the big question is: Are we prepared for a big wildfire? This area has seen big fires before, like the one in Bastrop...
Texas Comptroller’s Office Partners with the University of Houston – Clear Lake to Perform Western Chicken Turtle Surveys
The Texas Comptroller's Natural Resources program has contracted with the University of Houston - Clear Lake (UHCL) to conduct range-wide surveys in East Texas for the western chicken turtle. The partnership will inform an upcoming Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing...
Money for San Antonio aquifer protection would likely be cut under SAWS’ purview
Money for a city program that protects the Edwards Aquifer would be cut in half if the San Antonio Water System took on the responsibility, preliminary figures released Tuesday show. Mayor Ron Nirenberg has pushed the city-owned utility to assume control of the...
Energy company develops ultrasonic device to keep bats away from Texas windfarms
An energy company is taking steps to protect bats from windmills. Research shows hundreds of thousands are killed every year. There's new technology to keep this from happening. The Mexican free-tailed bats fly in the millions at their peak. They’re the state's...
Kinder Morgan mobilizes for pipeline construction in Central Texas; opponents prepare to sue
After more than a year of community meetings, negotiations, resolutions and legal action, the pipeline company Kinder Morgan is getting ready to begin construction on the Permian Highway Pipeline in Central Texas—at least if legal challenges do not stop it. Work has...
Record-breaking vote shows consensus and need for more Texas state parks
To my wife’s dismay, I was going to cook the Thanksgiving turkey over a campfire at Tyler State Park with the guidance of my son’s most recent Boy’s Life magazine. We have a big map of Texas on the wall of our family room. We’re on a mission to visit all 90 or so...
Urban sprawl making its way toward slower growing parts of the Hill Country
Cities up and down the I-35 corridor have experienced explosive growth over the last decade, but the counties adjacent to them have largely escaped the surge of people. That all appears to be over, with the urban expansion beginning to head their way. “We have three...
As aquifer protection debate continues, Nirenberg offers funding details
Mayor Ron Nirenberg plans to propose using future borrowing to help preserve land over the Edwards Aquifer while shifting the sales tax that currently funds that preservation over to San Antonio’s transit system. In an interview Thursday, Nirenberg laid out more...
In a first, researchers find CWD prions in deer semen
For the first time, researchers have documented chronic wasting disease prions in semen from white-tailed deer at U.S. deer farms, according to a recently-published paper. While further work is needed to determine if the prion-containing semen could infect another...
A river worth saving: Who will protect the unheralded Llano?
The Llano River is an ecological gem in Texas Hill Country, supporting dozens of native and rare plants and animals. But due to weak state environmental protections, the Llano — along with other waterways in Texas — is increasingly facing pressure from industry and...
Smart home experiment may change how we conserve water, build and live
On the banks of the Llano River, just south of Junction, Texas, amongst the cactus and mesquite trees sits a house that researchers hope will change the face of conservation. Atmospheric scientist Brian Ancell walked along the edge of this mesquite field. He walked...
TCEQ adopts new wastewater rules
In December, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) adopted new rules for the disposal of treated wastewater effluent by land application. In 2016, Austin petitioned the TCEQ to consider rule changes that would encourage beneficial use of treated...
San Marcos City Council weighs allocation of $24 million in disaster mitigation funding
City of San Marcos staff have developed a proposal for the use of $24,012,000 in Community Development Block Grant mitigation funding that the city received in 2019 to address flooding risks and prevention. Members of City Council received a presentation on the...
Water crisis puts Oregon community at a crossroads
In a desert far from any city, farmers use groundwater to grow lush green hay. The hay fattens livestock all over the world. But there's a big problem: The water is drying up. Now scientists warn it will take thousands of years for an aquifer in southeastern Oregon to...