“What About Our Legacy Acres?”
February 5, 2022
Several months ago, a Comal County resident who was isolating on family acreage during the pandemic challenge of “working virtually” reached out to me. The description was of a homestead on legacy acres that remain “in the family” to manage, use, pass on or develop in some manner. Until the lengthy working away from offices the going assumption among heirs has been that the inherited acres would be marketed at some point.
It became clear in this conversation that some “different, alternative thinking” was underway as the comments and questions were based on a deepening appreciation for how the acres had been tended through many decades and how they might have a future more natural and less developed. I thought to myself, I’d like to savor these exchanges and share anonymously some of the thoughts explored. This is my attempt to do so. My urging was that any heirs be on the same wavelength as the conversations proceed. If there are young folks of a next generation, make certain they have an opportunity to be heard as well. Then, together to the extent possible, have some pleasurable chats about memories with good stories and then move toward options that might be available. If the pandemic isolation provides some browsing and exploring times, do those together as well. I even suggested some writings of Wendell Berry and other writers that have nurtured my own heart and thoughts over the years. I explained where the sources for specific information can be found regarding land trusts, conservation easements, heritage farms and ranches, donations for public usage and more. Discover the incredible resources about our area’s watershed, aquifers and springs. Look to some models for both retaining open land space or finding a way forward to use parcels for earth friendly “footprints.” |
It is amazing and wonderful to sense the depth of emotion and responsibility inside the fortunate folks with a heritage legacy land acreage. Of course, it pleased me no end when I was told that a previous column describing a stroll through areas of a family parcel with a grandson moved my inquirer to do the same. “The description of so many things I, and we, had taken for granted until we took the time to examine and appreciate” brought a heartwarming smile for me! Even more important were endeavors underway to study the specific drainage patterns and implications for future use.
The conversation remains open, respectful but hopeful we’d be in touch again and the family involved may become interested in working with some who can assist them along their way. One of our exchanges concluded with reference to a broadcast interview with David Gessner whose 2021 offering, Quiet Desperation, Savage Delight lifted up a thoughtful, helpful statement from one of his teaching colleagues. Mistakenly suggesting “we are all in this pandemic boat together” she corrected him to recognize that we navigate our way on the sometimes challenging, sometimes inviting waters of life in our very different boats. Even more vividly Gessner pointed out that Thoreau tried to help his followers and detractors to see that his comfortable jacket is not the one that will fit all. For some it will comfort and protect, for others, it will hang loosely while still others will burst the seams! I love the images and find them helpful in the discussions about acres to protect and possibly set aside from subdividing. Perhaps the way to put it is “if this fits snug and comfortably, find a way!” |
Our Lands: Looking To Our Feet For The Answers
Our Grazing Lands
Meredith Ellis
G Bar C Ranch
G Bar C Ranch
You don't want to miss this excellent video covering land preservation, climate change, carbon squestration, and so much more.
Third generation Meredith Ellis from the G Bar C Ranch, talks about land as a national heritage and what the G Bar C Ranch does to provide a sustainable nature sanctuary while having 400 head of cattle to ensure profitability.
Of the 3,000 acres, 33% is maintained for wildlife habitat, 30% native plants — of which Meredith planted 99 wildflower species, and the rest is for their cattle.
Third generation Meredith Ellis from the G Bar C Ranch, talks about land as a national heritage and what the G Bar C Ranch does to provide a sustainable nature sanctuary while having 400 head of cattle to ensure profitability.
Of the 3,000 acres, 33% is maintained for wildlife habitat, 30% native plants — of which Meredith planted 99 wildflower species, and the rest is for their cattle.
Moulton Waring Ranch
In Susan Moulton’s experience, a ranch is the ultimate childhood playground.
“As a rancher’s daughter, the land shaped who I was—and who I am,” said Moulton, who lives in San Antonio. “What happens to us below a certain age forms who we are and stays with us forever.” Until she was five, Moulton lived on a family ranch near San Marcos. Her immediate family moved to San Antonio to care for her grandmother about the time she started kindergarten. “I don’t remember much about being in kindergarten, but I remember a lot about being on the land,” Moulton said. When she became a mother, Moulton raised her sons, Charlie and Will, as children of the land. Every chance she got, Moulton introduced them to the natural wonders of the Moulton Waring Ranch in Kendall County, where she’d been making memories for more than 50 years since her own childhood. “The ranch is our special part of a special pocket of Texas,” said Moulton, noting it is home to the Guadalupe River and plentiful native wildlife ranging from white-tailed deer to armadillos. “Here’s where my boys dug in the dirt, walked in the woods, pondered the stars. They learned to watch out for rattlesnakes, hunt, fish, and appreciate nature.” Rapid development throughout the Hill County, especially around nearby Boerne, prompted Moulton to research ways to permanently protect her land. “Waring has been spared so far, but pressure is mounting,” said Moulton, who has declined multiple offers from developers interested in purchasing a portion of the ranch. “Several neighbors had enrolled their properties in conservancies and they introduced me to conservation easements.” After weighing her options, Moulton chose a conservation easement to protect the almost 193-acre ranch, used for grazing and hay production. She donated the easement to TALT. “TALT was recommended to me because it has a good reputation for accomplishing the goals I wanted to achieve for my land,” Moulton said. “Throughout the process, the staff worked to make sure my expectations were realistic, my needs were met and that I was thinking through every eventuality clearly, so that I didn’t inadvertently paint myself into a corner.” According to the Texas A&M 2017 Land Trends study, Kendall County lost about 3 percent of its agricultural land and the population has increased 87 percent since 1997. |
“I just see so much encroachment—and it’s picking up pace,” Moulton said. “If we don’t try to keep larger tracts together, we lose the ecological integrity that our life depends on.”
She continued, “As a student of history, I know we must learn from the past or we will make the same mistakes. Destroying habitat and the natural world that gives us life is a huge mistake that we can’t recover from.” Moulton, a frequent visitor to Africa, was also motivated by changes she has witnessed in Botswana. “The way it [Botswana] was, isn’t the way it is now,” Moulton said. Highways now bisect elephant habitat. To reach water, the elephants have to cross the roadways. “The habitat was destroyed in the name of progress and in search of money,” Moulton said. “I don’t want to see Texas in the same shape.” In addition to tangible ecological benefits, protecting the land in perpetuity also has spiritual benefits. “The land is my church,” Moulton said. “I believe in God, but I don’t go to services every Sunday because the outdoors is my sanctuary. For me, it’s the land, the trees, the animals and the dark night skies without the sounds of modern innovations that bring the greatest joy and peace. These things can’t stop with us.” And for Moulton, conserving the land has a huge emotional component. Keeping the Moulton Waring Ranch intact forever honors the memories of her sons. Will died when he was 8 and Charlie when he was 28. Through The Will Smith Foundation, Moulton supports a variety of life-changing efforts for children in Africa, Hawaii and Texas, including the Will Smith Zoo School, which incorporates the outdoors as a classroom giving youngsters indelible early experiences. “This land is part of my legacy,” Moulton said. “I hope it points to a woman who appreciates what nature gives us and wants to share it with future generations. A conservation easement gave me a way to ensure that children, whether they are in my family or not, have the same opportunities that my children and I had to appreciate nature in its raw form. |
Creating Landscapes of Conservation—295 Acres Protected Forever
By Ellen Gass
We are excited to announce the recent permanent protection of 295 acres in Mason County with a donated conservation easement! The newly protected Flat Tire Ranch sits in the Llano Uplift and hosts inviting granite outcrops amidst typical Edwards Plateau habitat, including grasslands, bottomland hardwood forest, and post oak woodlands.
Jane and Tom Titus contacted TLC in late 2019, interested in placing a conservation easement on their property. The owners of Flat Tire Ranch since 2002, they had originally grazed the property, then switched to wildlife management. A conservation easement fit with their long-term plans of keeping the property in its natural state and providing habitat for Hill Country flora and fauna while continuing to enjoy the unique features of the property including its landmark large granite outcrops. While we all know that everything is bigger in Texas, the actual size of the state is sometimes hard to appreciate. One of the challenges in land conservation in Texas is that while we have had huge conservation successes (to the tune of over 1.7 million acres protected by Texas land trusts) we have faced challenges in connecting those protected lands to each other. By creating connected, protected landscapes, we can drastically increase the impact on the conservation values protected. Flat Tire Ranch does just that! Its location adjacent to Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Mason Mountain Wildlife Management Area increases its impact on Texas conservation, helping to create and expand this protected landscape. TLC is so excited to continue our conservation work in Mason County and to welcome the Titus’s into the family of TLC landowners. |
A Special Place to Practice Land Stewardship
By Errol and Susan Candy
By Texas standards, our property in the Texas Hill Country is relatively small. But for us, the enjoyment and connection to nature, we derive from living here is big. Over the years, we've invested sweat equity, some financial resources, and lots of emotion to be decent stewards of the land. It is a work in progress, and each year brings new experiences and more opportunity to learn about the wildlife and plants we share our days with. We realized that protecting our property from ever-encroaching subdivision and urbanization was essential to keep this space intact and in its natural state.
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Since we have no direct heirs, donating a conservation easement on our property was a good fit for us. Working with the Hill Country Land Trust, we crafted our own easement guidelines to ensure that our land will never be subdivided, bulldozed over, or subjected to poor land management practices once we're gone. It's a great sense of relief to know that the next folks to live here will see the value we place on open space and the natural world, and will carry on in supporting the investments we've made to it. A conservation easement makes that possible.
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Committed to the Dream of Land Ownership
Kim and Pam Bergman pursued a shared vision of buying some property in Gillespie Country, and their story is how acquiring a ranch changed them and the land forever. In 1996 the Bergmans acquired 685 acres south of Stonewall after working for 15 years in Saudi Arabia. The ranch possessed many of the aspects Pam and Kim had come to value most; dramatic topographic relief, high plateaus with views, and valleys and wooded creeks.
With the acquisition of this parcel, the Bergmans began working on the land. They sought advice from the local NRCS agent, who taught them how to develop a progressive, but conservative strategy for tackling the brush clearing on their land, and also showed them the value of continuously planting native grasses, and of protecting native vegetation from over-browsing. Kim, Pam and their children did the chain sawing, stacking, burning, and planting, often for 10-12 hours a day, spurred on by the positive way the land was responding to their efforts. Eventually, they high-fenced the 685 acres to control deer and hog populations. Other conservation management tasks included adding water wells and troughs, caging individual hardwood species, conducting managed burns and deer counts/culls, clipping return growth cedar from cleared areas, |
and adhering to strict rotational grazing and minimal stocking rates in response to lack of rainfall in order to maintain healthy grasslands.
The Bergmans were introduced to the Hill Country Land Trust in 2004 through friends, and also because a large property adjacent to them was put into a conservation easement. "It gave us great comfort to look across the fence and know we would never be seeing a subdivision," recalls Pam. Pam joined the all-volunteer HCLT board in 2012, and in 2013, she and Kim began the process of placing a conservation easement on their property. They agreed after so many years of working hard to restore native grass and protecting native diversity and riparian areas, they couldn't bear the thought of it being carved up and ruined. The advice Pam and Kim would give others who are interested in becoming good land stewards is this: Know your land, take your time, ask questions, and get information by reading and talking to the experts, including other conservation easement donors. |
SO3 Ranch
Gib Lewis has accomplished much in his long life. From raising a family, to building a multi-million-dollar business, to serving five terms as Speaker of the House in the Texas Legislature, Lewis has much to be proud of. Stewarding his own patch of Texas is another source of satisfaction. He’s spent the last 40 years taking care of his ranch northwest of Austin in Williamson and Burnet County.
The 1,000-acre SO3 Ranch is in the San Gabriel River Watershed, providing protection for the North Fork of the San Gabriel River, which is a tributary of the Brazos River. The property includes native prairie and open space which provides habitat for myriad species of native wildlife. The ranch is also home to 15-20 species of exotic animals, which Lewis breeds and sells. Lewis has been eying the fast pace of growth near Austin with some alarm, and a few years ago he reached out to his friend Blair Fitzsimons to learn how he might protect his property from future development. In July 2020, Lewis donated a conservation easement on the property to the Texas Agricultural Land Trust. “We’re seeing so much land fragmentation out here, where 400-acre tracts are being cut up into smaller and smaller plots,” he said. “I want to do what I can to conserve this ranch for future generations of my family.” Data from the 2017 Texas Land Trends Report confirms Lewis’ observations. Burnet County has seen a population increase of 67% from 1997 to 2017, and Williamson County has seen a whopping 133% population increase during that same timeframe. That population increase has been one factor in the decrease in agricultural working lands in both counties. “Gib left his mark on Texas as Speaker of the House,” says CEO Emeritus Blair Fitzsimons. “With this conservation easement, he furthers that legacy by permanently protecting his cherished piece of the Texas landscape.” Lewis says there are many benefits to a conservation easement, including tax breaks. For him, the biggest benefit is knowing the place he’s worked so hard to preserve will be around forever. “I love spending time here, watching the birds and wildlife,” he said. “The older I get, the more I appreciate it. It’s satisfying to know that my grandchildren and great grandchildren will be able to enjoy the same piece of Texas that I have loved for most of my life.” |
“When we bought the ranch in 1981, it was chock full of cedar,” recalled Lewis. “For five years straight, all I did every spare minute was cut cedar. My wife joked that I wore out all my friends. But when I think back on what it was like then and what it’s like now, there’s a lot of pride in that. It’s a beautiful place.” |
Open V Ranch
Sky Lewey listens to the lessons of the land.
“Over the years, the land becomes your teacher. If you are listening and if you are paying attention, land is the best teacher you can have. It makes you who you are.” Lewey has been paying attention to her family’s land in Uvalde County since she was a girl. Her parents purchased the land in 1968 to retire from bigger rougher drier South Texas ranching. At a time when there was little appreciation for it, Lewey’s parents Marge and Elmo Jones, recognized the diversity of the plants and animals that thrive at the intersection of ecoregions and the soil richness that results from the confluence of waterways. Their strategy was to work with nature and let the natural processes of recovery take their course. Their daughter picked up the mantle and moved to protect the land forever through a conservation easement with the Texas Agricultural Land Trust (TALT). The Open V Ranch sits on more than 200 acres along the Nueces River and Bird Springs Creek in Uvalde County and is part of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. The upper Nueces River basin is responsible for about 60% of the annual recharge to the Edwards Aquifer, and for the most part that recharge occurs in streambed and riparian areas like that found on the Open V. The Edwards Aquifer provides water for more than two million people in Texas, including the city of San Antonio. “The Open V is a small piece of the Upper Nueces landscape, but its contributions to water resources are significant,” said Lewey. “In my lifetime, I have seen Bird Springs Creek transition from a heavily overgrazed water-shedding stream to spring-fed perennial sponge flanked by robust riparian vegetation. The protection and conservation of the upper Nueces Watershed is pivotal to ensuring the health of the Edwards Aquifer for generations of Texans to come.” The Open V is a small piece of the Upper Nueces landscape, but its contributions to water resources are significant. When Lewey’s parents purchased the land more than fifty years ago, it was one of the smallest parcels available on the Nueces. It is now one of the largest parcels, and land fragmentation is impacting river front property faster than in any other location in Texas. The conservation easement that will preclude development forever was funded through the Texas Farm and Ranchland Conservation Program, administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation came to the table with some additional dollars when the land appraisal came in higher than expected. The Texas Land Trust Council also pitched in to make the transaction happen. “Development pressures are mounting all around, especially along the rivers. We really needed the support of the conservation community to continue our legacy of stewardship on the Open V that shares benefits far beyond the fence line,” said Lewey. “Until the development of the Texas Farm and Ranchlands Conservation Program, an easement was unattainable for us. We are thankful for TALT and TPWD, the Hershey Foundation, and the Texas Land Trust Council for making it work. We could not have done it without their support.” |
Development pressures are mounting all around, especially along the rivers. We really needed the support of the conservation community to continue our legacy of stewardship.
“Terry Hershey championed conservation easements while she served on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission, and was instrumental in the development of conservation easements as a tool for land conservation in Texas,” said Andy Sansom, who founded the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, and serves on the board of the Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation. “Helping people and organizations to conserve private land is a bedrock and core principle of the Hershey Foundation, and we are really excited to participate in the easement on the Open V.” Besides the riparian areas that are critical for the recharge of the Edward’s Aquifer, the Open V is home to myriad wildlife species, two national champion trees, and 23 registered archeological sites, with artifacts dating back more than 10,000 years. The Open V supports a conservation ranching operation and was honored with TPWD’s Lone Star Land Steward Award in 2014. Lewey is grateful that the land she and her parents cherished will be protected for future generations of her family. “A conservation easement is a powerful tool to protect the lands you care for and pass on the values that have formed you,” she said. “We hope that future generations will love and steward the ranch as we have and continue to learn from it.” |
Financial, Ecological Benefits of Conservation Easements on Working Lands
By Alison Lund & Brittany Wegner
January 11, 2022
January 11, 2022
A recent report by the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, Texas Water Resources Institute and Texas Land Trust Council shows state-funded conservation easements in Texas provide numerous financial and ecological benefits.
The purpose of the 2020 Evaluation Report was to examine the benefits of conservation easements established on privately-owned lands under the Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Program, TFRLCP, a state-funded program that purchases development rights from willing and interested landowners. “Conservation easements are a voluntary agreement between a landowner and a qualified non-governmental organization or government entity,” explained Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute director Roel Lopez, Ph.D., San Antonio. “In this agreement, the landowner still owns the land and remains in charge of its day-to-day management but commits to minimize or avoid certain types of non-agricultural development on their property by selling or donating some property rights. The land trust or public entity holding the easement monitors the property to ensure the terms are upheld in perpetuity.” WHY CONSERVATION EASEMENTS ARE IMPORTANT Lopez said Texas has one of the most diverse and ecologically rich landscapes in the U.S., much of which is open space falling under the designation of privately-owned working lands to include farms, ranches and forestlands. The state has approximately 248,000 farm and ranch operations accounting for more than 141 million acres of land use. “Currently, more than 82% of the land in Texas is classified as privately-owned working lands, signifying the critical role private landowners play in protecting the state’s valuable resources,” Lopez said. “These lands support agricultural systems, foster healthy environments, and support recreational needs. But despite their importance, they are consistently under the threats of increasing land conversion and fragmentation pressure — much of it due to rapid population growth and rising land market values.” He said to help safeguard the public benefits derived from private working lands, the Texas Legislature created the TFRLCP in 2005 to fund the establishment of agricultural conservation easements on private lands. Landowners apply for grants from the TFRLCP to create a conservation easement on their property. The program ranks and selects applicants to receive funding based on weighted criteria in various categories, including threat of development or other conversion of productive working lands, cost effectiveness, watershed value, fish and wildlife value, and contribution to a conservation landscape. VALUES RELATED TO NATURAL RESOURCES “In the report, we put numbers to the ecological and economic values secured through protecting properties by the use of conservation easements,” said Alison Lund, program coordinator for the NRI. Conservation easements provide an economic value to the state by enhancing the value of the land based on its ability to produce agricultural commodities, Lund said. They also help protect land-water contributions by conserving undeveloped, permeable working lands that can capture rainfall, reduce water runoff, and increase groundwater recharge. |
Additionally, they provide benefits toward wildlife conservation and land management for the purposes of hunting, ecotourism and other forms of recreation.
Lund said some of the key findings of the annual estimated conservation value were that these conservation easements provided benefits of:
She said the report also gives examples of working land operations throughout the state that have enacted a conservation easement and shows how they have benefitted. It also demonstrates how these benefits extend to the entire state. “Through this program, a variety of working lands of every type throughout the state are being protected,” Lund said. “Texas has myriad landscapes as well as tremendous biodiversity. This program directly addresses how to make positive changes that will help ensure the long-term future of the state’s most important natural resources and support the diversity of these landscapes that provide so many benefits for residents of the state.” FINANCIAL EFFICIENCY OF THE PROGRAM “For the report, we also looked at the economic or financial efficiency of conservation easements,” Lund said. She said maximizing the state’s investment is a key objective of the TFRLCP, and though not required, it can use state funds as leverage to gain funding support from other sources such as federal conservation programs that often require a cost-share or match. “Landowners in the program also make financial contributions toward making these conservation easements possible,” she said. “Often, the landowner will take a considerable reduction in property value while some fully donate the conservation easement, and many contribute funds that cover long-term stewardship monitoring of the land.” Lund said the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, TPWD, which runs the program and participating easement holders, provided the financial datasets including property land market values, grant award amounts, and other financial contributions to help determine the financial leverage and return on investment for the program as a whole. Analysis of TPWD data from projects finished by the end of September of 2020 showed:
“This demonstrates the program is also highly cost-effective in addition to being a means to help preserve and protect all the practical — as well as intrinsic — benefits provided by the state’s working lands,” she said. “The program has proven its worth. We hope state residents will continue to see its value and support its continuation and expansion throughout the state in future funding cycles.” Originally published with AgriLife Today |
What You Can Do
If you love the land, there's a lot you can do. Land is the key to a healthy and
secure future for all Americans.
It provides pure drinking water, healthy food, clean air, and places to reflect and recreate.
secure future for all Americans.
It provides pure drinking water, healthy food, clean air, and places to reflect and recreate.
By Land Trust Alliance
Conserved, well-managed land also provides protection from natural disasters, such as floods and drought, while absorbing carbon and keeping it from the earth’s atmosphere.
Across the country, land trusts give people opportunities to connect with nature and each other: a child exploring a clear stream, a family enjoying a picnic, a grandfather teaching the quiet art of fishing, a farmer growing fresh food for his neighbors. When we save land, we build community, we strengthen economies, and we instill hope.
People who are connected to special places energize the land trust movement — be a part of it!
Maybe you own land that you can protect. Maybe you can donate or volunteer. Or maybe your contribution is to spark new ideas, spread the word or inspire children to love nature, too.
Continuing learning how you can help.
Conserved, well-managed land also provides protection from natural disasters, such as floods and drought, while absorbing carbon and keeping it from the earth’s atmosphere.
Across the country, land trusts give people opportunities to connect with nature and each other: a child exploring a clear stream, a family enjoying a picnic, a grandfather teaching the quiet art of fishing, a farmer growing fresh food for his neighbors. When we save land, we build community, we strengthen economies, and we instill hope.
People who are connected to special places energize the land trust movement — be a part of it!
Maybe you own land that you can protect. Maybe you can donate or volunteer. Or maybe your contribution is to spark new ideas, spread the word or inspire children to love nature, too.
Continuing learning how you can help.