Habitat Conservation Plans

Habitat Conservation Plans
Native landscapes are the best way to protect wildlife habitat on your land – even if it’s just your backyard. On a regional level, Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) are effective tools for helping landowners comply with the Endangered Species Act. HCPs balance development and conservation needs and help protect water supply and the natural character of the Hill Country. These efforts are especially important where commercial and residential developments are depleting natural areas that birds, butterflies and wildlife depend on.
Habitat conservation planning is happening throughout the Hill Country. To learn more about efforts in your county, click on the links below or contact HCA. Ranchers, landowners and citizens can participate in habitat planning processes.
Learn more about habitat conservation planning in the following counties:
- Comal County
- Hays County
- Travis County
- Williamson County
- Southern Edwards Plateau: Bexar, Comal, Blanco, Kerr, Kendall, Bandera and Medina
Recent Habitat Conservation Plan News
One of Texas’ largest unbroken areas of urban wilderness will be preserved by Hays County
Over 1,000 acres of biodiverse habitat in the Texas Hill Country will be shielded from future development under a new conservation agreement that is part of a network of protected conservation lands. That network will be the state’s largest unbroken parcel of urban...
Residents in far north Bexar County fighting to protect endangered bird
A tiny bird is at the center of a growing battle over land development in far north Bexar County. Cibolo Canyons is home to the endangered golden-cheeked warbler, a bird native to Central Texas. A proposed land swap in is raising questions for neighbors. Read more...
Welcome to the River Recharge Natural Area
SMGA is happy to announce the addition of a seventh natural area to the San Marcos Greenbelt. Known for years simply as the Buie Tract, these roughly 94 acres have been renamed River Recharge Natural Area (RReNA), due to the many karst features on the property....
Private lands are the next battleground in state conservation policy.
Since last year, staff members at the Land Trust of Virginia have fielded phone call after phone call from landowners seeking to set aside their property for conservation. “We’re getting calls like crazy,” said Sally Price, executive director of the nonprofit, which...