News
Aquifer district names new general manager
The Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District is pleased to announce Vanessa Escobar has been named General Manager. As a water resource professional in Texas, she has focused her work over the last 15 years in water conservation, water resources planning,...
Texas needs to tackle water scarcity before it gets worse
Texas is no stranger to water scarcity. In every decade of the twentieth century, Texas has experienced a serious drought. However, Texas’ ability to outmaneuver its water crisis has a limit. A deepening drought is now affecting a large part of Texas. On Thursday,...
Today, 30th anniversary of the Pale Blue Dot
February 14, 1990. Today is the 30th anniversary of an iconic image of Earth, seen from Saturn, taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft. It turned out to be one of the most memorable images ever taken from space. The image came to be known as the Pale Blue Dot, and to be...
Preserving the night sky in Austin
Most evenings in Central Texas, the sky transforms into the legendary violet crown before falling into darkness. Although humans wait for the beauty of the sunset, it is the darkness that animals need, according to Cliff Kaplan of the Hill Country Alliance. “All of...
Resilience along a river
It’s a crisp November after-noon and landowner Suzanne Davis is admiring native bald cypress seedlings while cutting back invasive Brazilian verbena along her stretch of the Blanco River. Davis and her husband, Edward, live in Wimberley, where, four years ago, the...
Taking on wildlife disease
The Pennsylvania Wildlife Futures Program, a collaboration between the School of Veterinary Medicine and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, will leverage Penn Vet’s expertise to address wildlife health problems. When wildlife biologist Matthew Schnupp began his career,...
Taking a look at trends for our land
It should be no surprise that our growing population has put pressure on the land in Comal County. As the second fastest growing county in the nation, we have witnessed the conversion of many acres from open land to developed land. Our experience has been put into the...
Texas Can’t Quit the Aoudad
Allen Smith decided long ago what to do about the aoudads that wander onto his family’s land. “The first four I saw, I shot,” he tells me. From 5,000 feet up, in Smith’s Cessna Skymaster, the choices other Texans have made for their land roll out below—the network of...
NRI publishes Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 1997-2017
The new Texas Land Trends report Status Update and Trends of Texas Working Lands 1997–2017, produced by NRI, has now been published. Land-trends reports have informed private and public landowners and decision-makers for more than two decades. “With this report, we...
Report: Austin and San Antonio best in Texas for fighting water pollution with nature-based infrastructure
Amid ongoing problems with water pollution and flooding, cities across Texas are turning to nature-based infrastructure. San Antonio and Austin lead the way, followed closely by Harris County, according to a new report by Environment Texas Research and Policy Center,...
Fireflies have a mating problem: The lights are always on
These are tough times for fireflies. Like a lot of other insects, they face increasing threats from habitat loss, pesticides and pollution. But they also have a problem that’s unique to luminous bugs: It’s getting harder for them to reproduce because light pollution...
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...