The Making of a Million: West Texas

The Texas Chapter's first land project⁠—an acquisition of 2,600 acres of native coastal prairie—was completed, establishing the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge.

We established the Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary in the Big Thicket of East Texas in 1977. This 5,654-acre preserve protects a variety of plants and animals, including one of the last remaining longleaf pine communities in Texas, and is open year-round to the public.

The Texas Chapter acquired and conveyed the 1,640-acre Enchanted Rock property to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Today, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is one of Texas’ most popular state parks.

TNC purchased the 8,942-acre Texas Point Ranch and 41,682-acre McFaddin Ranch on the upper Texas coast, creating two new national wildlife refuges for waterfowl and other threatened species.

TNC helped acquire lands for the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge along the U.S.-Mexico border, an internationally renowned birding and wildlife viewing destination that has grown to 92,000 acres.

The Texas Chapter purchased the first tract establishing Clymer Meadow Preserve, the largest protected example of Blackland Prairie, which once covered millions of acres of Texas.

TNC transferred the 57,000-acre North Rosillos Mountains Ranch to the National Park Service in 1989, which was then added to Big Bend National Park.

Our Clive Runnells Family Mad Island Marsh Preserve in Matagorda County, now 7,000 acres of critical coastal and marsh habitats, was established in 1989. The preserve is widely known as a prime locale for birdwatching in North America, with over 250 species observed here.

Dolan Falls Preserve was created in 1991, beginning two decades of conservation work along the Devils River—the most pristine river in Texas.

TNC assisted the City of Austin in acquiring five tracts, forming the core of the City’s Balcones Canyonlands Preserve system. In 1994, the Texas Chapter dedicated the 4,047-acre Barton Creek Habitat Preserve.

The Texas Chapter purchased the U Up, U Down Ranch to establish the Davis Mountains Preserve—now TNC's largest preserve in Texas. We also hold conservation easements on 67,000 acres in and around this mountain range.

TNC acquired the Lennox Foundation Southmost Preserve on the Rio Grande at the southernmost tip of Texas, which protects one of the two remaining native palm groves in the state and serves as a plant nursery.

TNC and partners purchased 24,500 acres of dunes and beachfront on South Padre Island, which was added to the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. This land provides habitat for endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles.

The Texas Chapter acquired 1,400 acres of ranch land from Baxter and Carol Adams to create Love Creek Preserve near Medina, Texas, which protects the scenic canyons and bigtooth maples of the southern Edwards Plateau.

TNC supported the City of San Antonio’s Edwards Aquifer Protection Initiative, which approved a sales tax increase, generating $90 million to protect land over the aquifer—the city’s primary supply of drinking water.

In 2007, the Texas Chapter accepted the donation of conservation easements totaling more than 40,000 acres that protected sensitive lands on the Guadalupe, Pedernales, Devils and Blanco rivers.

The Texas Chapter negotiated the purchase of 4,871 acres of former ranch land for Palo Pinto Mountains State Park. This will be the first new state park in North Texas in nearly 20 years.

Working with partners, TNC acquired the 17,350-acre Powderhorn Ranch on the central Texas coast using funds from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill; the ranch contains one of the largest remaining undisturbed tracts of native coastal prairie habitat left in Texas and will eventually become a state park and wildlife management area.

TNC acquired the Brazos Woods and San Bernard Woods preserves in the Columbia Bottomlands. Their old-growth forests and wetlands provide habitat for 400+ wildlife species and protect freshwater for millions of people.

TNC purchased 536 acres of the El Rancho Cima Boy Scout Camp, now called Sentinel Peak Preserve—a pristine piece of Hill Country land with a mile of Blanco River waterfrontage and habitat for rare wildlife and plants.

The Texas Chapter purchased a conservation easement on the 621-acre Honey Creek Spring Ranch. The easement buffers the Honey Creek State Natural Area and protects the entrances to Texas’ largest cave system.

TNC worked with landowners and a number of partners to protect 515 acres of land and water in the Texas Hill Country. The acreage was added to the Honey Creek State Natural Area and will be used for recreation.

TNC purchased the 9,550-acre Rock Creek Ranch property in the Texas Panhandle near Lake Meredith as part of its Southern High Plains Initiative. We intend to put a conservation easement on the tract before reselling it.

The Texas Chapter celebrates its 60th anniversary and a major milestone: the protection of its 1 millionth acre of land! Already, we're working on several new land deals to continue to preserve Texas' natural legacy.

TNC and TPWD acquired Heath Canyon Ranch, conserving 671 acres of habitat along the Rio Grande. The property secures vital wildlife corridors and public river access through Big Bend National Park.

In Lampasas and Burnet Counties, TNC helped TPWD acquire 1,100 acres of Big Springs Ranch. Combined with other acreage, this land will become a new state park with river access, trails and springs in Central Texas.

Using RESTORE Council funding, TNC acquired a conservation easement on 6,409 acres of the historic T.M. O'Connor Ranch, protecting significant coastal prairie and marsh habitat in the Refugio-Goliad Prairie.