News
Boerne workshop will provide landowners with information on conservation easements
The Cibolo Conservancy Land Trust, in partnership with the Hill Country Alliance, is hosting a landowner workshop from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, August 25, 2017, at the Cibolo Nature Center Auditorium, 140 City Park Road, Boerne, TX 78006. This workshop will focus on...
Safeguards for night skies contemplated in Bandera
The beauty of the region’s nighttime skies was the featured attraction of a presentation sponsored by Bandera City Councilwoman Rebeca Gibson last week in preparation for the development of controls designed to keep light pollution from possibly taking that celestial...
CEMEX to partner in county wildlife conservation plan
Will Wright | Herald-Zeitung | Comal County Commissioners recently approved steps to formalize an agreement between the county’s Regional Habitat Conservation Plan and CEMEX Construction Materials South, which will establish wildlife protection for endangered species...
Best rivers in Texas: Llano River
Checking into our Junction motel, we asked the desk clerk about fun things to do in town. She quipped, “When you find out, let me know.”True, for a student at Texas Tech University-Junction like her, this old Edwards Plateau ranching town offers little social life....
Why Some Western Water Agencies Are Writing 100-Year Water Plans
Climate change is causing water managers to think long term about their resources. Several western agencies are planning a century in advance, but that’s not without its headaches. IN FEBRUARY OF this year, the largest water district in a state with little water...
The Most Overvalued Housing Markets In America Are In Texas
In a city with rising incomes and declining unemployment, it stands to reason that home prices would go up as well. Such is the case in San Antonio. Incomes in the Texas city grew 4.5% between the first quarters of 2016 and 2017, nearly a percentage point more than...
The Wall (of Reeds) that the Border Patrol Would Like to Tear Down
Someone wandering along the banks of the Rio Grande, on the American side, in the summer of 2009 might have been startled by a small cardboard box plummeting to the ground. Neatly sealed with blue packing tape, its paper wrapping crisp and clean, the box would have...
Collapse Feature on Cypress Creek in the Wimberley Valley Causes Water Quality Concerns in Immediate Area
Read an update from hydrologists at the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment about a collapse feature that has developed along Cypress Creek in the Woodcreek Subdivision. A dye test conducted by the Meadows Center shows the extent of the connectivity between...
Volunteers Work to Protect Native Trees Along South Llano River
On Sunday, July 9th, volunteers from the Texas Master Naturalist Program joined staff from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Llano River Watershed Alliance, Hill Country Alliance, and Texas Tech University Field Station at the South Llano River State Park in...
Gregg Ranch First Corporate Supporter of Hill Country Beautification Project
The Gregg Ranch development leads the way as the first major corporate sponsor of the Gateway to the Hill Country Beautification Project. Located at US Highway 281 and Texas Highway 71, the Project will feature native Texas wildflowers on 56 acres of grassy median,...
Johnson City Library Program Teaches Residents How They Can Protect Rivers and Streams
Residents can do their part to protect local rivers and streams with simple tasks, even if they don’t live near water. That’s the message Daniel Oppenheimer, land manager of the Hill Country Alliance, will be presenting during his talk “Restoring Creekside Habitat by...
July 2017 Director’s Notes: Hill Country Summers
Last weekend I had the privilege of attending a ranch wedding along the Nueces River in Uvalde. Nothing says ‘Hill Country’ like looking out across a pasture to watch the full moon rise over a distant hill, just as a band strikes up the first lines of a classic...
Hill Country Dark Skies
"You don't have to tell me about it." This was the start of a conversation with a prominent Fredericksburg resident. "My neighbor has two floodlights on his garage that light up my windows all night." Another well-established Fredericksburg businessman said it this...
Trump taps Susan Combs for Interior Department post
Former Texas Comptroller Susan Combs is joining the Trump administration as an assistant secretary of the interior for policy, management and budget. The nomination of Combs — subject to U.S. Senate confirmation — was announced by the White House Monday evening. If...
Towns sell their public water systems — and come to regret it
This hard-luck town just south of Chicago is weighing a decision confronting many small and midsize cities with shrinking populations and chronic budget deficits: whether to sell the public water system to a for-profit corporation. Lake Station desperately needs the...
Heavy sprinkler use causes boil advisory in neighborhood near New Braunfels
Residents of a gated community northwest of New Braunfels are under a boil water notice because of heavy sprinkler use, according to New Braunfels Utilities. People in the Copper Ridge subdivision off of Texas 46 must boil water until further notice before drinking,...
Owners of 100-year-old farm worry about new highway route
The Texas Department of Transportation has recommended a new route for State Highway 29 in Williamson County after a two year study. After studying an area surrounding the current route from Southwestern Boulevard to SH 95, TxDOT said the area often floods, there are...
Hill Top Cafe targeted by TCEQ
The Hill Top Café, the popular eatery located 10 miles northwest of Fredericksburg, has faced a series of violations from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) over the past four years. Johnny Nicholas, who purchased the venue with his late wife,...
Abbott signs hot air balloon hog hunting bill in spite of warning that it could be a “catastrophe”
Wild hogs and hot air balloons aren't a good mix, wrote one Republican lawmaker to Gov. Greg Abbott in May, trying to convince the governor to veto a bill he said could create a "future catastrophe." The request seemingly fell on deaf ears; Abbott signed the...
Glass-bottom boats in San Marcos being restored for future tours
The ecosystem that lives in the clear waters of Spring Lake in San Marcos is magical but can be hard to see if you’re just standing by the shore. At the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, glass-bottom boats can give you the experience of seeing what happens...
Invasive Zebra mussels found in Lake Travis, Texas wildlife officials say
Zebra mussels, which have seriously affected the economy, environment and recreation on Texas reservoirs and rivers, have been found in Lake Travis, state wildlife officials said Tuesday. Biologists from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Lower Colorado...
2,500-acre Veramendi development will bring 5,000 new homes to New Braunfels
New Braunfels has been changing for years. Now, that change will be coming in earnest with a massive new proposed development north of Loop 337. On Friday, members of the team of developers of the sprawling Veramendi project detailed many ways the project will alter...
Texas parks won’t get promised funds
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department won’t see $36 million in promised state money over the next two years even as the agency grapples with millions of dollars in backlogged park maintenance. In 2015, state lawmakers passed a law to dedicate 94 percent of sporting...
Despite “Texas miracle,” affordable housing difficult for many urban dwellers
A new Harvard study found that Americans — especially poorer ones — are having a harder time find a suitable place to call home. Texas lawmakers, experts and development industry leaders say there are plenty of reasons why that's true here, too. It’s becoming harder...
Volunteers and Partners Work to Control Invasive Chinaberry Trees Along Llano River
On Monday, June 12th, volunteers joined staff from the Hill Country Alliance and Native American Seed at the Texas Tech University (TTU) Llano River Field Station in Junction, Texas. There, they set fort an ambitious goal: control the more than 100 Chinaberry trees...
Climate disaster maps shows Texas is clearly the most apocalyptic state in the nation
U.S. climate officials recently released a series of maps that show just how terrible the Lone Star State's weather is. The heat maps were created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and used in a study that examines billion-dollar weather and...
Spicewood company fills niche in Central Texas rainwater harvesting needs
Zak Crosby, owner and operator of Tall Drink Rainwater Harvesting, said once the public uses rainwater, it will never want to use well water or city water again. “Rainwater tastes better than any water you can get,” he said. “And once you bathe in it, taste it, wash...
Will Texas lawmakers ax tree ordinances in more than 50 cities?
Dozens of cities and towns in Texas have ordinances aimed at protecting trees. During the special legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott wants to change that. Last month, when Dallas resident Cindy Beatty drove to a nearby Home Depot to buy some plants for her home,...
Dripping Springs P&Z greenlights 189-acre Heritage development
An ordinance and several agreements allowing for a development to begin in the 189-acre Heritage subdivision passed a substantial hurdle. The Dripping Springs Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of a Planned Development District (PDD) ordinance, as...
Zebra Mussels Discovered in Canyon Lake
Invasive zebra mussels have now been positively identified in the Guadalupe River Basin in what is now the state’s southernmost affected lake. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) fisheries biologists and game wardens confirmed the presence of zebra mussels at...