LAND PRESERVATION

Sink Creek Project Awarded U.S. Forest
​Service Grant
The City of San Marcos will receive a $423,500 grant from the United States Forest Service to fund the land purchase of the Sink Creek Community Forest Tract. This is the first Community Forest and Open Space Program grant awarded to a project in Texas.

The City purchased the 102-acre tract through a three-year lease with The Trust for Public Land in 2017 for a total purchase price of $1.27 million. City Council approved the lease-purchase agreement with the expectation that external funding sources would be sought to match the commitment of public funds. Read more here.
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Land Conservation in San Marcos
In 2013, the San Marcos River Foundation purchased 75 acres in the highly sensitive Sink Creek recharge zone. The Foundation is also encouraging other land owners in the area to consider land conservation easements and protections, and is helping to guide them through the process. Read more here.

Conservation Easement for Puryear Ranch
On July 30th, 2018, Travis County and the Puryear family celebrated the closing of a real estate deal on their 423-acre historic ranch. The deal allows the Puryears to stay on the land, where their family has lived for 138 years. Hill Country Conservancy helped them to create a conservation easement that keeps the land from being developed in perpetuity.
​Read more here.

Restored 5,500-acre Ranch in Blanco County
The mission of Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve is to teach ethical land stewardship — by example and outreach. The ranch offers seminars for landowners and serve as a research lab for botanists, zoologists, and other scientists. They also provide nature camps and hands-on science classes for school children. The public tours and workshops attract birdwatchers, photographers, and animal and plant enthusiasts.
Read more here.

Protection of National Forest Lands
​in Texas
As part of our campaign to protect national forest lands, Texas Conservation Alliance built the support for designation of five areas in Texas’ national forests as wilderness areas, ended clearcutting on 200,000 acres of national forest land in Texas, and has been instrumental in obtaining special protections for tens of thousands of additional acres of forest.
Read more here.

WATER CONSERVATION

Edwards Aquifer Protection Program
Edwards Aquifer provides San Antonio with an abundant source of groundwater. Rainfall enters the aquifer through fractures, caves, sinkholes and other features and replenishes the aquifer. However, rapid growth continues to impact the aquifer. The citizens of San Antonio have approved increases to sales taxes in order to purchase and protect lands over the Edwards Aquifer. Millions of dollars have been collected and used toward this effort to protect the aquifer. 
Read more here.

WILDLIFE PRESERVATION

396 Acres of Wildlife Habitat Protected Forever
“T​exas Land Conservancy recently completed the permanent protection of 396 acres in the Hill Country. The newly protected Los Madrones Ranch is a beautiful landscape of limestone bluffs, open pastures, and diverse woodlands located in Travis County along Hamilton Pool Road. The ranch has been in the same family for the last 40 years.”
​Read more here.

Kirchoff Family Farm Restored to Prairie
The Kirchoff Family Farm supports reestablished grasslands in the fields as well as a dense, woody plant community commonly found in South Texas. The Kirchoff Family's "Farm to Native Prairie" philosophy is a working example of how native prairies will become invaluable as more landowners become interested in restoring their own lands to native prairies. Click here to learn more.
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Coastal Prairie Becomes Wildlife Management Area
Over 15,000 acres of the Powderhorn Ranch along the Texas coast in Calhoun County, prime unspoiled coastal prairie, is now a state wildlife management area. The newest crown jewel in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) system is the result of a unique conservation land acquisition coalition led by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (TPWF).
​Read more here.