News
Rare Central Texas songbird to fly off endangered species list
The population of the black-capped vireo, a rare Texas songbird, has recovered to such an extent that it will be moved off the endangered species list, U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials are expected to announce today. The lifting of habitat protections for the...
Blanco River Flood Mitigation Project San Marcos Community Meeting To Be Held
City Engineers will host a public meeting on Wednesday, April 18 in Room 2 of the San Marcos Activity Center, 501 E. Hopkins, at 6 p.m. to gather comments on proposed infrastructure projects that are being considered for flood mitigation on the Blanco River. “The goal...
Securing Texas’ water future, one lawn at a time
Texas’ frequent and inescapable droughts haven’t seemed to slow its growth. As people flock to our state, it follows that more of our limited water will be used on lawns. Studies have found that homeowners tend to overwater their lawns by two to three times the needed...
What happens to Texas when water is more valuable than oil?
Only a state as big as Texas could have to deal with the simultaneous crises of both rampant floods and devastating drought. The destruction of Hurricane Harvey and the massive infrastructure needs that it exposed along the Gulf Coast soaked up most of our attention...
Can ‘Localism’ Restore Sanity to U.S. Politics?
Our mayor is liberal. He drives around town with an Obama ’08 bumper sticker on his car. I am a conservative, pro-life Christian; in 2016, I voted for Evan McMullin for president. But our partisan political differences mean nothing when it comes to caring for this...
Austin named best place to live in America for second year in a row
It’s another good day to live in Austin, Texas. Last year, Austin knocked Denver from the No. 1 spot on U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Places to Live in the U.S.” And this year, it didn’t budge. As in years past, the publication ranked the 125 largest cities in...
PEC District 1 incumbent not running, 3 candidates vying for spot
As the candidate nomination process for the Pedernales Electric Cooperative board of directors deadline came to a close, the eligible list revealed that the incumbent from District 1 has chosen not to run for re-election. Three challengers will face off for the...
Texas Master Naturalists Hill Country Chapter accepting applications for class of 2018
Texas Master Naturalists (TXMN) is a corps of trained volunteers who provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of the natural resources and natural areas of Texas. The organization is sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife...
Fungus that causes deadly bat disease spreads to Central Texas
The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats, detected for the first time in Texas in early 2017 in the Panhandle, has now spread into Central Texas. Though no bat deaths have been attributed to WNS in Texas, the syndrome has killed millions of bats in the...
Groundbreaking held for Gay Ruby Dahlstrom Preserve
Hays County joined Dahlstrom Family members in officially breaking ground today at the Gay Ruby Dahlstrom Nature Preserve, a 340.1 acre part of the Dahlstrom Family Ranch that will be available for passive nature activities when opened to the public later in 2018. “We...
Leadership at all stages of the urban water cycle, including your home
I learned in grade school that, in the water cycle, water evaporates from the ocean, condenses into clouds, falls as rain, runs into rivers, and flows back into the sea. However, we humans have intervened and significantly modified this natural cycle. In many of our...
Zebra mussels spotted in Lady Bird Lake; Lake Austin now ‘infested’
Zebra mussels have been spotted in Lady Bird Lake, and Texas wildlife officials now consider Lake Austin to be “infested” with the invasive species. Lady Bird Lake was upgraded to “suspect” status because mussels or their larvae have been found at least once after the...
Latino Rights Group, SAWS File Update in Long-Running Water Case
A national Latino rights advocacy group and San Antonio’s water utility submitted a filing this week in a long-quiet federal court case concerning whether Latinos are adequately represented in the entity that manages the Edwards Aquifer. It’s been six years since...
March Director’s Notes
Supporters and Friends, Spring is the perfect time to see the Texas Hill Country in all its glory! The warmer weather brings with it the beginning of many days spent swimming in our spring-fed rivers and streams. During this time of year, I am reminded why the Hill...
Burnet workhop provides landowners with information on conservation easements
The Hill Country Conservancy and the Hill Country Alliance are joining forces to host a landowner workshop from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, April 20, 2018, at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office, 607 N. Vandeveer, Burnet, TX 78611. This workshop will focus...
US National Park Rangers Look to the Stars with Skywatching Training Program
The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) has partnered with the McDonald Observatoryto create training programs for park rangers and improve skywatching events. The observatory, which is run by the University of Texas at Austin, will offer two workshops for national park...
Pioneers Taking on “Dark Sky” Project
In Mason, the students of the Pioneers Youth Leadership program have taken on Dark Sky Preservation as a focus for sharpening their leadership skills in their community. Working with their teacher Megan Bierschwale, Hill Country Alliance (HCA) Night Sky Program...
Coke, Nestle Near Ownership of World’s Second Largest Aquifer
A concerted push is underway in South America that could see one of the world’s largest reserves of fresh water soon fall into the hands of transnational corporations such as Coca-Cola and Nestle. According to reports, talks to privatize the Guarani Aquifer – a vast...
GBRA To Host Clean Rivers Program Steering Committee Meeting
The annual Clean Rivers Program Steering Committee meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 29, 2018, at the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) River Annex building, 905 Nolan Street, Seguin, Texas. The meeting, which is open to the public and sponsored by...
Decline In Hunters Threatens How U.S. Pays For Conservation
Tom Wrasse is at his hunting shack alone. Light pours into the small room from a window framed by antlers, harvested from the surrounding central Wisconsin woods. On the opposite wall is a collage of fading photos, showing how big the hunting parties out here used to...
Census estimates show another year of rapid growth for Texas suburbs
Home to burgeoning suburban communities, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area was behind more than a third of the state's population growth from 2016 to 2017. Picking up 146,000 new residents, the Dallas metro area once again experienced the largest population growth...
US national park rangers look to the stars with skywatching training program
The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) has partnered with the McDonald Observatoryto create training programs for park rangers and improve skywatching events. The observatory, which is run by the University of Texas at Austin, will offer two workshops for national...
Comal County resolution on quarry decried as too little, too late
Comal County commissioners’ adoption Thursday of a resolution expressing concerns about a rock quarry proposed by Vulcan Materials west of town was decried as too little, too late by opponents of the project. The measure calls on the Texas Commission on Environmental...
San Antonio Uses Water To Influence How Kendall County Land Is Developed
Behind the white metal gates on Corley Road south of Boerne lie 375 acres of gentle pastures, Texas live oaks, and an old ranch house visible from the fence line. In the near future, this ranch could look a lot more like a suburban neighborhood less than a mile away,...
San Antonio’s Edwards Aquifer Protection Program: Overview and Analysis
"The City of San Antonio’s Edwards Aquifer Protection Program utilizes land and conservation easement acquisitions to protect the quality and quantity of Edwards Aquifer recharge. Overall, the analysis concludes that the program has been well adapted to the city’s...
Major Texas industrial facilities rank first nationally in illegal water pollution
About half of Texas’ major industrial facilities released illegal levels of pollution into rivers, lakes and other waterways over a 21-month period ending September 2017, according to a new report by Environment Texas and California-based think tank Frontier Group....
Pioneers Taking on “Dark Sky” Project
In Mason, the students of the Pioneers Youth Leadership program have taken on Dark Sky Preservation as a focus for sharpening their leadership skills in their community. Working with their teacher Megan Bierschwale, Hill Country Alliance (HCA) Night Sky Program...
HCA’s 12th annual photo contest has begun
The Texas Hill Country is a unique region of scenic beauty, diverse wildlife, star-filled skies, and historic towns. With a rapidly growing population and increasing development coming to the region, many of these special qualities are at risk of being lost forever....
Boy Scouts selling historic El Rancho Cima
You wouldn’t know it looking at the serene landscape now, but the 2015 Memorial Day weekend flood that devastated Wimberley also dealt a deathblow to the nearby historic Boy Scout camp, El Rancho Cima. Sweeping away entire structures along the banks of the Blanco...
Valley’s first Night Sky Friendly businesses awarded
The Wimberley Valley’s first ever Night Sky Friendly Business Awards have been presented to Byron Eckols - State Farm and to the Leaning Pear Restaurant. The awards are sponsored by the Wimberley Valley Chamber of Commerce, endorsed by the Hill Country Alliance and...